2015-16
Annual School Performance Report Cascade Ridge Elementary School
Cascade Ridge Elementary School
2020 Trossachs Blvd. SE, Sammamish, WA 98075 (425) 837-5500 http://connect.issaquah. wednet.edu/elementary/ cascade/default.aspx Principal Natalie Fowler
Welcome The Cascade Ridge Elementary mission is to challenge, support, and celebrate each student as they learn, work to meet standards, and excel to be their best—both academically and socially.
Mission Involved parents and community members enrich our school and enhance our students’ learning experiences. Thanks for making a difference!
Demographics Grades: K-5
Teacher Experience Enrollment: 561 96.4%
51.5%
Teachers with Master’s/Ph.D
Teacher’s with National Board Certification
11.5
1 Average Years 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. Cascade Ridge 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.
52.0%
34.3%
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District Report
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For budget details and more go to www.issaquah.wednet.edu/district/annualcommunity-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.
Highlights An ongoing point of pride for Cascade Ridge is our community. 100% membership in the PTSA provides a deep and caring commitment to the important partnership between the school and families. Thousands of volunteer hours provide enrichment opportunities, academic support, and social events for all students and families. With substantial financial support, students benefit from extra reading instruction, science focused guest presenters, the GREAT kid program, a drama residency, Science Fair, the Eager Reader program and teacher/grade level grants that allow for a variety of enrichment activities and experiences for our students. Cascade Ridge is one of three elementary schools in the District offering a Science Technology magnet program. This program features a multiage classroom for fourth and fifth graders that provides the standard district curricula with an emphasis on science and technology. Students use technology and its resources through engaging projects, simulations, robotics, probes and scientific investigations. Technology enhances student learning experiences daily. Every classroom is equipped with computers, a projector and document camera, and an interactive whiteboard. Many classes are equipped with student response devices (ActiVotes and ActivExpressions), with some classrooms having additional student i-Pads or small student laptops. The PTSA also recently allocated close to $30,000 for the purchase of forty laptops for student use.
Music is also a significant focus at Cascade Ridge. Led by our dynamic music teacher, all grade levels learn foundational music skills that build on each other each year. All students display their musicianship at their grade level concert, with additional opportunities for students to perform made available through Chorus and Marimba Club.
Improving Student Achievement Staff works collaboratively on a weekly basis to plan and implement quality, rigorous curriculum aligned across the grade levels. Wednesday early release provides staff members time to work as teams, as well as a whole staff, to develop and support school improvement plans as well as delve deeper into curricula. The 2015 - 2016 School Improvement Plan focused on writing and through the newly district adopted writing curriculum, Units of Study, teachers delivered quality and explicit writing instruction in a variety of genres. Teachers engaged in staff development and focused conversations with their colleagues around instruction and assessment to strengthen their classroom practices. The Literacy Support Teacher (LST) provides multiple learning opportunities in individual classrooms and in formal in-service settings. Teachers work closely with the LST to model, design lessons, share instructional strategies, and reflect on their teaching. Student Council, Safety Patrol, Chorus,
Before/After School Marimba Club, Math Club, Eastside Enrichment class/club offerings, Scratch Club and Caring Coyotes. We also have a wonderful before and after school child care program—Coyote Club.
Special Programs We are proud to host three Learning Resource Center (LRC) classrooms delivering quality education to students with special needs and those needing additional academic support. LAP and Reading Club offers support for students who may benefit from additional help with reading. Highly capable students participate in the PEP/SAGE program for additional academic challenge.
What’s New... This year, we have worked hard to fully implement our Coyote Code – Be Safe, Be Kind, Do Your Job. At the beginning of the year, all students were taught explicit expectations for a variety of areas around the school including the playground, lunchroom and hallways. When students were seen following the Coyote Code by staff, they would earn Coyote Coins which were then collected in each classroom. Once a class collected a set amount of coins, they chose their reward. This could be an extra recess, crafts with the principal, electronics free time or games in the gym. With the support of our Student Support Coach, we have made great strides in our PBSES work (Positive Behavior Social Emotional Support) and look forward to building on our successes in the future.
Grade Level Total ELA
Assessment
93.1
Two tests given to elementary school students—The Smarter Balanced Assessments and the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP)—help indicate how well Issaquah students are learning.
86.8
84.3
81.2
77.7
74.7
Smarter Balanced Assessment The Smarter Balanced Assessment is a system of valid, reliable, and fair nextgeneration assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts/literacy (ELA/ literacy) and mathematics for grades 3-8 and 11. The system—which includes both summative assessments for accountability purposes and optional interim assessments for instructional use—will use computer adaptive testing technologies to provide meaningful feedback and actionable data that teachers and other educators can use to help students succeed. Smarter Balanced assessments will go beyond multiple-choice questions to include extended response and technology enhanced items, as well as performance tasks that allow students to demonstrate critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Performance tasks challenge students to apply their knowledge and skills to respond to complex real-world problems. They can best be described as collections of questions and activities that are coherently connected
to a single theme or scenario. These activities are meant to measure capacities such as depth of understanding, writing and research skills, and complex analysis, which cannot be adequately assessed with traditional assessment questions. The performance tasks will be taken on a computer (but will not be computer adaptive) and will take one to two class periods to complete. Smarter Balanced capitalizes on the precision and efficiency of computer adaptive testing (CAT). This approach represents a significant improvement over traditional paper-andpencil assessments used in many states today, providing more accurate scores for all students across the full range of the achievement continuum.
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Grade Level Total Math 94.0
89.8 76.8
84.3 77.4 74.4
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MSP The MSP is an exam developed by and mandated by the state; it replaced the state’s original annual exam, the WASL, in spring 2010. Washington’s education reform efforts began in 1993 and involve annual state-specific tests for students in grades 3-8 in reading, writing, math, and science (MSP) and then again in grade 10 (High School Proficiency Exams in reading and writing and End of Course assessments in math and biology). MSP goes beyond multiple choice tests. The tests are much shorter than the WASL and include multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Four-point essay questions have been eliminated on science tests. This change allows students to show they are able to solve the problems, while not being scored on their writing ability on the science tests. Besides being a state test rather than a national assessment, MSP results are reported differently. Each student either “Meets Standard,” “Exceeds Standard,” or “Does Not Meet Standard” in each subject—reading, math, writing, science— and subjects tested vary among grade levels. MSP scores do not compare students to other students; instead they show the learning level of each student as compared to the state’s expectations for a well-taught student at that grade level. MSP results help parents know how well
each student is meeting learning targets, and the results help schools plan instruction and curriculum focused on these learning targets. Numbers represent percentage meeting or exceeding standard.
Grade 5 MSP-Science 94.8 84.5
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