2016-17
Annual School Performance Report Grand Ridge Elementary School
Grand Ridge Elementary School
1739 NE Park Drive, Issaquah, WA 98029 (425) 837-7925 https://connect.issaquah. wednet.edu/elementary/ grand/ Principal Christy Otley
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.
Demographics Grades: K-5
Teacher Experience Enrollment: 763 95.3%
59.5%
Teachers with Master’s/Ph.D
Teacher’s with National Board Certification
9.5
4 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. Grand 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.
49.0%
33.3%
District Report
9.5% 5.4%
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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 Grand Ridge, which opened in 2006, is perched on a hill offering “grand” sweeping views of the Olympics and Northern Cascades. A state-of-theart 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 at least twice a month, and complete monthly art projects. Grand Ridge takes pride in being a culturally diverse school with a very active parent community.
What’s New 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
What’s New lunchtime, which reduces the amount of waste the school produces. The school also has a composting program and learning garden for students. Grand Ridge is a walking school, with no bus transportation, further reducing the impact on the environment. Positive Behavior Social Emotional Support: Grand Ridge is in its third year of implementing the Positive Behavior Social Emotional Support (PBSES) curriculum, rolling out the program to all students. The school added a Student Support Coach to train, coach, and support staff and students to promote respect, positive relationships, and 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, counselor, psychologist, special education teacher, educational assistant, specialists, and student support. 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. Specifically, using the Second Step Curriculum 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.
Improving Student Achievement This year, the schoolwide focus was on implementing 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 beforeor after-school extracurricular activities, including choir, safety patrol, student council, Global Reading Challenge, knitting club, marimba club, xylophone club, Girls on the Run, craft club, running club. Grand Ridge also offers a tuition-based before- and afterschool 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 a book swap, classroom art docents, after-school movies, national PTSA Reflections art contest, learning garden, cultural fair, engineering night, and a 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.
Assessment
Grade Level Total ELA
Two tests given to elementary school students—The Smarter Balanced Assessment and the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP)—help indicate how well Issaquah students are learning.
86.6 78.3 71.3
80.7
76.4
73.5
Smarter Balanced Assessment The results of Washington State’s Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) and Measures of Student Progress (MSP) 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 state-mandated 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 (MSP) and then again in high school (SBA in ELA and End of Course assessments in Math and Biology). 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.
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Grade Level Total Math 89.3 79.5
79.7
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81.8 76.9
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MSP
Grade 5 MSP-Science 92.0
The MSP is an exam developed and mandated by the state; it replaced the state’s original annual exam, the WASL, in spring 2010. The MSP measures what students know and can do on the 2009 science standards. Next year the MSP will be replaced by the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science which will measure what students know and can do on the Next Generation Science Standards. MSP 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.
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