2010 - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Type of School: (Check all that apply) / []Charter / [X]Title I / []Magnet / []Choice
Name of Principal: Ms. Tonya Gubin
Official School Name: Lincoln Elementary School
School Mailing Address:
210 Gould Street
Beaver Dam, WI 53916-1997
County: Dodge State School Code Number*: 0336-0100
Telephone: (920) 885-7396 Fax: (920) 885-7399
Web site/URL: www.beaverdam.k12.wi.usE-mail:
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date
(Principal‘s Signature)
Name of Superintendent*: Dr. Donald Childs
District Name: Beaver Dam Unified School District Tel: (920) 885-7300
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date
(Superintendent‘s Signature)
Name of School Board President/Chairperson: Ms. Beverly Beal-Loeck
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date
(School Board President‘s/Chairperson‘s Signature)
*Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
The original signed cover sheet only should be converted to a PDF file and emailed to Aba Kumi, Blue Ribbon Schools Project Manager () or mailed by expedited mail or a courier mail service (such as Express Mail, FedEx or UPS) to Aba Kumi, Director, Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Office of Communications and Outreach, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Room 5E103, Washington, DC 20202-8173
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school‘s eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
1. The school has some configuration that includes one or more of grades K-12. (Schools on the same campus with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
2. The school has made adequate yearly progress each year for the past two years and has not been identified by the state as “persistently dangerous” within the last two years.
3. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement in the 2009-2010 school year. AYP must be certified by the state and all appeals resolved at least two weeks before the awards ceremony for the school to receive the award.
4. If the school includes grades 7 or higher, the school must have foreign language as a part of its curriculum and a significant number of students in grades 7 and higher must take the course.
5. The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 2004.
6. The nominated school has not received the Blue Ribbon Schools award in the past five years, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 or 2009.
7. The nominated school or district is not refusing OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a district-wide compliance review.
8. OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
9. The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school or the school district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution‘s equal protection clause.
10. There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II - DEMOGRAPHIC DATAAll data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 1-2 not applicable to private schools)
1. Number of schools in the district: (per district designation) / 7 / Elementary schools (includes K-8)1 / Middle/Junior high schools
2 / High schools
K-12 schools
10 / TOTAL
2. District Per Pupil Expenditure: 11383
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3. Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ ] Urban or large central city
[ ] Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[ ] Suburban
[ X ] Small city or town in a rural area
[ ] Rural
4. 2 Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
5. Number of students as of October 1 enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school only:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalPreK / 0 / 6 / 0
K / 18 / 11 / 29 / 7 / 0
1 / 15 / 27 / 42 / 8 / 0
2 / 24 / 22 / 46 / 9 / 0
3 / 24 / 19 / 43 / 10 / 0
4 / 22 / 19 / 41 / 11 / 0
5 / 11 / 24 / 35 / 12 / 0
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 236
6. Racial/ethnic composition of the school: / 2 / % American Indian or Alaska Native
1 / % Asian
2 / % Black or African American
17 / % Hispanic or Latino
0 / % Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
70 / % White
8 / % Two or more races
100 / % Total
Only the seven standard categories should be used in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of your school. The final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic data to the U.S. Department of Education published in the October 19, 2007 Federal Register provides definitions for each of the seven categories.
7. Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: 12%
This rate is calculated using the grid below. The answer to (6) is the mobility rate.
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until theend of the year. / 10
(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 18
(3) / Total of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)]. / 28
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1. / 238
(5) / Total transferred students in row (3)
divided by total students in row (4). / 0.118
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100. / 11.765
8. Limited English proficient students in the school: 14%
Total number limited English proficient 32
Number of languages represented: 1
Specify languages:
Spanish
9. Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 62%
Total number students who qualify: 147
If this method does not produce an accurate estimate of the percentage of students from low-income families, or the school does not participate in the free and reduced-price school meals program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
10. Students receiving special education services: 13%
Total Number of Students Served: 31
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Do not add additional categories.
6 / Autism / 0 / Orthopedic Impairment0 / Deafness / 1 / Other Health Impaired
0 / Deaf-Blindness / 9 / Specific Learning Disability
3 / Emotional Disturbance / 19 / Speech or Language Impairment
0 / Hearing Impairment / 0 / Traumatic Brain Injury
3 / Mental Retardation / 0 / Visual Impairment Including Blindness
0 / Multiple Disabilities / 0 / Developmentally Delayed
11. Indicate number of full-time and part-time staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of StaffFull-Time / Part-Time
Administrator(s) / 1 / 0
Classroom teachers / 13 / 2
Special resource teachers/specialists / 3 / 4
Paraprofessionals / 7 / 2
Support staff / 2 / 2
Total number / 26 / 10
12. Average school student-classroom teacher ratio, that is, the number of students in the school divided by the Full Time Equivalent of classroom teachers, e.g., 22:1 17 :1
13. Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout rates. Briefly explain in the Notes section any attendance rates under 95%, teacher turnover rates over 12%, or student dropout rates over 5%.
2008-2009 / 2007-2008 / 2006-2007 / 2005-2006 / 2004-2005Daily student attendance / 96% / 96% / 96% / 96% / 96%
Daily teacher attendance / 97% / 97% / 97% / 97% / 97%
Teacher turnover rate / 24% / 6% / 0% / 12% / 6%
Student dropout rate / % / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
Please provide all explanations below.
Many of our teachers have taken leadership roles in the district which accounts for the majority of the turnover. The other factor is our SAGE (Student Achievenment Guarantee in Education) funding keeps student to teacher ratios at 1:15. Because enrollment fluctuates in certain grades, we have needed fewer teachers in some years.
14. For schools ending in grade 12 (high schools).
Show what the students who graduated in Spring 2009 are doing as of the Fall 2009.
Graduating class size / 0Enrolled in a 4-year college or university / 0 / %
Enrolled in a community college / 0 / %
Enrolled in vocational training / 0 / %
Found employment / 0 / %
Military service / 0 / %
Other (travel, staying home, etc.) / 0 / %
Unknown / 0 / %
Total / %
PART III - SUMMARY
For over five years, Lincoln has been one of the most innovative of the district’s seven elementary schools. Despite a poverty rate that has more than doubled in four year to 62% and an ELL population that has also doubled to 31%, the Lincoln leadership and staff have had a laser-like focus on continuous improvement with a specific emphasis on literacy. For over a decade, the school was a Reading Recovery training site, producing Reading Recovery teachers for every elementary school in the district. It was also the home of the two reading specialists - one of whom is now the school’s principal and the other of whom is principal of another district K-5 building - who were instrumental in developing and implementing the district’s Comprehensive Literacy Framework, which is now the district-wide literacy program. The previous principal, who led many of the school’s initiatives, is now the district’s director of teaching and learning. These three led the Lincoln staff to the point of Lincoln becoming the initial site of the reading program and developed the school as a demonstration site for the rest of the district’s K-5 staff and for other districts wishing to replicate Lincoln’s successes. It is not a surprise the five of the district’s seven elementary grade-level leaders are Lincoln staff. Seventeen teachers in the building have advanced degrees and three have been awarded teacher of the year in the district. The school’s leadership has focused as diligently on staff capacity-building as it has on continuously-improving student achievement.
Lincoln’s traditions and milestones surround parent involvement and service to the community. An overnight outdoor trip for our 5th grade students exposes them to environmental issues while being a culmination to their career at Lincoln. Our 5th grade safety patrols and student council provide additional leadership opportunities. The parent/teacher organization sponsors many family nights, such as a dance, a breakfast, a reading night, and a fall festival. Once a month, we host “Read Around Lincoln” and invite guest readers to read books to our students. Books are given to each child as well on his/her birthday. The student council has sponsored service projects to help the Ronald McDonald House, cancer walks, and homeless shelters.
Despite rapid increases in poverty and in non-native English speakers, Lincoln School’s students’ test scores continue to improve and generally score above their counterparts in other schools and other districts. The implementation of building consultation teams (BCT’s), true professional learning communities, has fostered problem-solving around struggling learners that have proven successful. In addition, extending time by way of the school’s after-school 21st Century Community of Learners program allows students to apply reading, writing, thinking and problem-solving skills in social environments that are different than the structures of the regular school day. It also allows further development of the character traits typified in the six pillars of character espoused by the district: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. These activities provide a cultural enrichment that children in poverty otherwise would never experience.
Finally, also noteworthy is the fact that, while special education scores continue to reflect a gap in performance, the literacy initiative in combination with the BCT’s and after-school program have led to a reduction in the number of special education referrals. The vast majority of special education placements at Lincoln school are coming from outside the school as a consequence of both in-district and out-of-district mobility.
Lincoln school and its outstanding staff are a lighthouse for the community they serve, a model for the state, and a safe harbor for the students they serve: truly a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.