2017-18
Annual School Performance Report Challenger Elementary School
Challenger Elementary School
25200 SE Klahanie Blvd., Issaquah, WA 98029 (425) 837-7550 https://connect.issaquah.wednet.edu/elementary/challenger/ Principal Sara Jo Pietraszewski
Mission The Challenger community will create a positive, friendly, respectful learning environment where staff and students feel safe, are willing and encouraged to take risks, and individual learning styles are recognized and nurtured.
Welcome Parents and community members are vital members of our team. Their support enables us to provide a wide variety of enrichment programs. Thanks for working with us to make every student’s success our top priority.
Teacher Experience
1
Teacher’s with National Board 62.2% Teacher Experience Data for the Certification
2017-18 School Year will be available December 2018. Average Years Teachers with Master’s/Ph.D
8.9
Teaching Experience
OSPI Data In March 2014, the U.S. Department of Education declined to renew the state of Washington’s conditional Elementary and Secondary Education Act Flexibility Waiver for schools receiving Title I, Part A funds. This decision affects all schools in Washington State, which are now subject to the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Washington is the only state that has lost its waiver and must revert to NCLB standards and timelines of assessment. For schools and districts to be considered succeeding under NCLB, schools must meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards. For schools to meet AYP, 100 percent of all students, regardless of special needs or English language mastery, must meet proficiency standards. Challenger met AYP this year. For complete information about the Issaquah School District’s assessment data, highly qualified teachers, annual yearly progress, and state NAEP (of Educational Progress) results, please visit the state’s online district report card.
District Report For budget details and more go to 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 school. See the Community Polling Study site at www.issaquah.wednet.edu/district/polling for more information and survey results.
Demographics Grades: K-5
Enrollment: 617 95.0%
43.4% 34.2%
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6.8%
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Highlights Challenger has a very warm and friendly atmosphere. We strive to be a central part of the local Klahanie neighborhood community and aim to be a place of learning and growth for all students and families. It is through this partnership that we can best serve our students! We gather together through our traditional assemblies including Veterans’ Day, Winter Sharing, and Martin Luther King Jr. Observance. We are proud of our continued strong partnership with our parents and the community. Parents are actively involved in the life of the school as they volunteer countless hours to support student learning. The power of our volunteers directly benefits student learning. This year in partnership with the Issaquah Schools Foundation, 30 Challenger students were matched with V.O.I.C.E mentors. We are also fortunate to have many middle and high school students who volunteer to support students with academic skills and teachers with preparation of materials. Challenger celebrates a strong tradition of before and after school enrichment programs. We partner with community groups to host after school chess, Lego, art, drama, and science clubs. Our teachers also provide enrichment by leading a number of clubs: Student Council, Safety Patrol, Comet Choir, Waste Watchers, Drum Group, Running Club, and Math Club. Fifth graders attend camp for three days at Camp Orkila on Orcas Island. Our teachers and students are enthusiastically engaged in the integration of technology into all aspects of learning. Classrooms are equipped with a high ratio of computers, document cameras, digital cameras, ActivBoards, ActivVotes, and ActivExpressions. In addition, each grade level has Netbooks and iPads for student use and we have five complete laptop carts that are available for classroom check-out. Challenger recognizes students each month through PRIDE skill awards and honors students for showing important life and social skills such as: respect, friendship, decision-making, and several others. Students who follow school rules are recognized with SHAZAM cards, a positive behavior recognition tool. We are a King County Level 4 Green School with composting in both our lunch-room and our classrooms. Also, our student-led Waste Watchers provide food and paper waste recycling at lunch. We also have a No-Idle Zone in our pick-up loop to minimize air pollution. Challenger is proud of its outstanding music program. All grade levels perform curriculum-related concerts that incorporate music,
Highlights Continued dance, instruments, solos, and speaking parts. We also offer Comet Choir and Drum groups for interested 4th and 5th grade students. Our PTA works closely with the school to provide both academic enrichment opportunities and social opportunities for our students. These include: Science to Go lessons, assemblies, teacher and school grant opportunities, popsicle social before school starts, Color Run, Art Reflections, Festival of Cultures, Eager Reader, Free Popcorn Fridays, Book Swap, BINGO Night, and Science/STEM Fair.
Improving Student Achievement We are in the second year of our School Improvement Plan (SIP) that focuses on math. Teachers continue to dig deeply into the Eureka Math Curriculum. Professional development is designed to support teachers in the instruction of math through differentiated training and implementation of the new curriculum. In addition to math, we continue to use our instructional coach to provide high levels of supports to teachers in the areas of literacy.
Special Programs Challenger houses one of the District’s Learning Resource Center II (LRC II) programs: a special education program for K-5 students. Our LRC II students are included in general education gradelevel activities as much as possible. We know them to be a vital part of our diverse community.
Just So You Know... We are a host school for many kindergarteners from Grand Ridge Elementary. These students are bused to Challenger from the Issaquah Highlands. Because of this additional enrollment, we have eight sections of full-day kindergarten. These students and their families continue to be a vital part of our Challenger community!
What’s New This year Challenger strives to maintain Level Four status in the King County Green Schools Program in recognition of its practices to conserve water and prevent pollution. We have Waste-Free Lunches in which students make a concerted effort to pack lunches with as little waste as possible. Most weeks we measure less than 2 lbs. of waste for over 600 students! This year, our staff adopted and began implementation of the Second Step socialemotional learning curriculum in all grades. Challenger staff continues work as a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports) school and are enthusiastic about the District PBSES (Positive Behavior and Social-Emotional Supports) work. PBIS is based on principles of applied behavioral analysis and the proactive approach to positive behavior support for students. The school has worked together to adopt and organize behavioral expectations that enhance academic and social outcomes for all students. This includes developing expected behaviors for shared locations around the building (i.e. in the lunchroom, hallways, and restrooms) and recognizing students who demonstrate expected behaviors with “shazams” that are special cards that celebrate good behavior. Challenger staff is also working with outside experts in the area of Cultural Competency to grow awareness and skills in supporting our diverse population. Challenger staff is committed to being respectful and responsive to the beliefs and needs of all of our students.
Assessment 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.
Smarter Balanced Assessment The results of Washington State’s Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) and Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS) help parents know how well their student is meeting learning targets. They also help schools plan instruction and curriculum based on these learning targets. The Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) is a statemandated test that measures students’ progress toward College and Career Readiness in English Language Arts (ELA) /Literacy and Math. The SBA replaced existing tests in English and Math in the spring of the 2014-2015 school year. The tests are given as part of Washington State’s education reform efforts which began in 1993 and involve annual state-specific tests for students in grades 3-8 in ELA (SBA), Math (SBA), and Science (WCAS) and then again in high school (SBA in ELA and Math and WCAS in Science). 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 Mathematics. Performance tasks ask students to demonstrate an array of research, writing, and problem solving skills. The SBA results accurately describe student achievement (how much students know at the end of the year) and are reported in two ways: scaled scores and achievement levels. A scaled score is the student’s overall numerical score. These scores fall on a continuous scale (from approximately 2000 to 3000) that increases across grade levels. Scaled scores are used to illustrate students’ current level of achievement. Based on their scaled scores, students fall into one of four categories of performance called achievement levels. Levels 3 and 4 represent “Meeting Standard” and reflect “adequate understanding” and “thorough understanding” of the learning standards. Levels 1 and 2 represent “Not Meeting Standard” and reflect “minimal understanding” and “partial understanding” of the learning standards.
Grade Level Total ELA 79.7
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77.1
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80.2 73.4
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Grade Level Total Math 82.0
80.6 73.4
77.4
76.5 64.9
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WCAS The WCAS is an exam developed and mandated by the state; it was given for the first time in Spring 2018. The WCAS measures what students know and can do on the 2013 science standards. WCAS assesses all three dimensions of the learning standards (science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts) and goes beyond multiple choice tests. The test includes a variety of item types including selected response (multiple choice, multiple select), technology enhanced, and constructed responses (equation builder, short answer). WCAS scores show the learning level of each student as compared to the state’s expectations for a well-taught student at that grade level. The numbers on the chart below represent the percentage of students who meet or exceed standard.
Grade 5 WCAS - Science
78.7 67.4
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