Grand Ridge Elementary 2019-20 Annual School Performance Report

Annual School Performance Report Grand Ridge Elementary School

2019-20

425-837-7925 • www.issaquah.wednet.edu/grandridge 1739 NE Park Drive, Issaquah, WA 98029

Principal

Jill Ravenscraft

Welcome Involved parents and community members enrich our school and enhance our students’ learning experiences. Thanks for making a difference!

Mission Our students will be of high character, and will be prepared for and eager to accept the academic, personal, and practical challenges of life in their school, community, and ever–changing global environments

District Report

To review the Issaquah School District 2019-2020 budget details and more, please visit www.issaquah. wednet.edu/district/annual-community-report/.

The Issaquah School District believes in seeking continual feedback from a broad and diverse range of constituents regarding their experiences with the District and their neighborhood schools. See the Community Polling Study site at www.issaquah.wednet.edu/district/polling for more information and survey results.

Data from the Office of the Superintendent of Instruction (OSPI) State testing is required by Washington State (RCW 28A.230.095) and federal law. The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), enacted in 1965, is the nation’s national education law and shows a longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students. On December 10, 2015 President Obama reauthorized ESEA as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These state and federal laws result in elementary students being regularly tested by the State to assess their progress as they move through school. State tests at the elementary level which fulfill the federal Every Student Succeeds Act include the following:

• Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA): English Language Arts (ELA) and Math tests (3-5) • Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS): Science test (5)

Demographic Data

Grades: 1-5

•

Enrollment: 628

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92.8%

80 60 43.5%

39.3%

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Teacher Experience Data Teacher’s with National Board Certification

11

2

Average Years Teaching Experience

Teacher with Master’s/Ph.D

50.0%

COVID-19 Pandemic In an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Governor Jay Inslee ordered all schools in Washington closed as of March 17, 2020. While the initial order mandated school closures only through April 24, 2020, the order was extended to the end of the 2019-2020 school year due to increasing COVID-19 infection numbers across the state.

The Issaquah School District submitted its plan for remote learning at the end of March 2020, and remote learning began for all students on Monday, April 20. Students and staff moved to an online classroom setting, using various platforms such as SeeSaw, Classlink, and Office 365. District laptops and internet hotspots were distributed to families in need, and free meals were still provided for families qualifying for the Free and Reduced Lunch program at designated pick up spots around the district daily.

Highlights Grand Ridge, which opened in 2006, is perched on a hill offering “grand” sweeping views of the Olympics and Northern Cascades. A state-of-the-art facility including a gymnasium, multipurpose room, stage, music room, library, computer lab, kiln room, and an outdoor covered play area, Grand Ridge hosts five elementary grades (1 through 5) and a highly qualified, certificated faculty. Grand Ridge kindergarteners attend Kindergarten Centers at Challenger and Endeavour elementary schools, and return to Grand Ridge as first graders. In addition to a full range of academic subjects, all students participate weekly in library, music and physical education, visit the computer lab, and complete monthly art projects. Grand Ridge takes pride in being a culturally diverse school with a very active parent community.

Technology

Grand Ridge has expanded technology usage in the classroom and throughout the school. The mobile tech carts increase students’ access to laptops and provide plenty of accessibility for statewide testing. Students access technology daily in the form of our computer lab, seven lap top carts, three I-pad carts, individual classroom computers and Google Expeditions.

Teachers integrate technology daily through the use of ActivBoard’s, document cameras, student computers, and a variety of databases. Students and families have access to a variety of databases to use at school and at home,for example Brainpop, Brainpop Jr., Culturegrams, Raz-Kids and TrueFlix, as well as our partnership with the King County Library System.

Due to our high accessibility to technology, parent and teacher communication has increased as a result of the use of Seesaw and classroom websites. Teachers take their students around the world using Google Expeditions, which ties to our newly implemented Social Studies curriculum. Through the use of our two Google Expedition carts, carrying enough Google Expeditions for 25-30 students to explore and travel directly through the glasses, students are immersed in the world and cultures around them.

Positive Behavior Social Emotional Support

Grand Ridge is in its third year of implementing its Positive Behavior Social Emotional Support (PBSES) curriculum, rolling out the program to all students. The school added a full-time Student Support Coach to train, coach, and support staff and students to promote respect, strengthen and model positive relationships, and support predictable, proactive learning environments. Research shows that when a school environment is positive and predictable, students feel safer, have better academic performance, higher test results, and make better behavior choices.

A representative team meets regularly to review data, create staff trainings, and analyze systems to support all students.

That team includes: school administrators, classroom teachers, the counselor, the school psychologist, a special education

teacher, a paraprofessional, specialists, and the PBSES coach The team created schoolwide behavior expectations: Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible for all common areas around the school with posters for students to reference.

Grand Ridge staff teaches, models, reinforces, and celebrates schoolwide expectations with students throughout the year. The Second Step Curriculum is used in all classrooms. Additionally, staff received training on proactive classroom management strategies, establishing positive relationships, and PBIS components. Supporting the growth and development of the whole child is a priority, and Grand Ridge will continue to make progress with the PBSES work for years to come.

Environmental Consciousness

Grand Ridge works hard to maintain its Level 4 Green School status. The Green Team monitors water consumption and how well classrooms are recycling. It also educates students and teachers on ways to save paper and energy. The Waste Watcher program includes more than 50 students who help monitor recycling and composting each day at lunchtime, which reduces the amount of waste the school produces. Grand Ridge is a walking school, with no bus transportation, further reducing the impact on the environment.

Environmental Consciousness

Grand Ridge works hard to maintain its Level 4 Green School status. The Green Team monitors water consumption and how well classrooms are recycling. It also educates students and teachers on ways to save paper and energy. The Waste Watcher program includes more than 50 students who help monitor recycling and composting each day at lunchtime, which reduces the amount of waste the school produces. Grand Ridge is a walking school, with no bus transportation, further reducing the impact on the environment.

Improving Student Achievement

This year, the schoolwide focus was on continuing the implementation of the Eureka Math curriculum. Eureka Math was developed to specifically meet the new Common Core State Standards, and is the only comprehensive curriculum fully aligned with standards for grades K-8. It is a rigorous program that was written by a team of teachers and mathematicians who took great care to present mathematics in a logical progression. This coherent approach allows teachers to know what incoming students already have learned and ensures that students are prepared for what comes next. When fully implemented, the curriculum will dramatically reduce gaps in learning, instill persistence in problem solving and prepare students to understand advanced math.

Students not only learn the process for solving a problem, they also learn to understand why that process works. Teaching mathematics as a story, the curriculum builds students’ knowledge logically and thoroughly to help them achieve deep understanding. It is an approach that has been tested and proven to be the most successful method in the world.

Grand Ridge provides a range of resources to meet all students’ needs. The Learning Resource Center (LRC) helps students with special needs, including academic and behavior support. Reading Club provides students with additional reading and writing help. The Special Approach to Gifted Education (SAGE) offers educational enrichment for students in grades 3 through 5, and a PEP (math enrichment program) for those in grades 1 and 2. The school counselor conducts in-class lessons to support all students’ social and emotional needs. A strong VOICE mentoring program, buddy classrooms, and high school mentors round out the school’s offerings to support every child.

Enrichment Activities

Teachers at Grand Ridge offer a wide variety of before- or after-school extracurricular activities, including choir, safety patrol, Global Reading Challenge, marimba club, K-Kids, Girls on the Run, and running club. Grand Ridge also offers a tuition-based before- and after-school child care for students at Grizzly Club.

The Grand Ridge PTSA is an active organization that sponsors many fun and enriching activities throughout the year including classroom art docents, after-school movies, national PTSA Reflections art contest, Cultural club, Grizzly guys, learning garden, cultural fair/science fair, engineering night, and a fall and spring social event. The PTSA helps organize a vital volunteer and advocacy base for the school, as well as leads fund-raising efforts to enhance curriculum with hands-on learning opportunities and provide for teacher grants. The PTSA raised more than $140,000 for technology support, laptop carts, iPad carts, classroom libraries, field trips, recess coach, literacy support, and other PTSA programs.

State Testing Two tests given to elementary school students—The Smarter Balanced Assessment and the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science help indicate how well Issaquah students are learning.

COVID-19 Disclaimer

Due to early facility closure and suspension of end of year testing, 2019-2020 assessment data is not available. The data below relfects the school’s scores for the 2018-2019 school year.

Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA)

The SBA consists of two parts: a computer adaptive test and a performance task. Writing is included at every grade level and students are asked to solve multi-step, real-world problems in math. Performance tasks ask students to determine an array of research, writing, and problem solving skills. The SBA results describe student achievement (how much students know at the end of the year).

The Grade Level Total ELA and Grade Level Total Math charts on the right-hand side of the page indicate the percent of students in third, fourth, and fifth grade who met or exceeded standard in ELA and Math on the SBA compared to the percent of students who met or exceeded standard in ELA and Math district-wide.

82.2%

40

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81.8%

80.6%

77.8%

78.0%

77.9%

Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS)

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77.9%

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0

75.7%

Gr ad

The WCAS fulfills the federal requirement that students100 be tested in Science once at the elementary level.

The WCAS measures the level of proficiency students 80 have achieved (what students know and can do) based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The WCAS assesses all three dimensions of the 60 learning standards (Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts).

The numbers on the chart represent the percentage of 40 students in grade 5 who met or exceeded standard on the NGSS compared to the percentage of students in 20 grade 5 who met or exceeded standard district-wide.

76.3%

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77.1%

Di st r ic

77.9%

5

73.8%

Gr ad e

74.9%

t

70.8%

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60

4

60

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80

Gr ad

80

40

Math

100

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English Language Arts (ELA)

Di st r ic

100