2010 - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Type of School: (Check all that apply) / []Charter / [X]Title I / []Magnet / []Choice
Name of Principal: Ms. Susan Kane
Official School Name: Rock Island Elementary
School Mailing Address:
5645 Rock Island Road
Rock Island, WA 98850-9528
County: Douglas State School Code Number*: 2563
Telephone: (509) 884-5023 Fax: (509) 884-1720
Web site/URL: http://www.eastmont206.org/distoff/main_b/rock_island.htmlE-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. Garn Christensen
District Name: Eastmont School District #206 Tel: (509) 884-7169
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: Mrs. Annette Eggers
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) / 5 / Elementary schools (includes K-8)3 / Middle/Junior high schools
1 / High schools
0 / K-12 schools
9 / TOTAL
2. District Per Pupil Expenditure: 9634
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. 1 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 / 21 / 27 / 48 / 7 / 0
1 / 23 / 17 / 40 / 8 / 0
2 / 20 / 23 / 43 / 9 / 0
3 / 24 / 16 / 40 / 10 / 0
4 / 27 / 19 / 46 / 11 / 0
5 / 0 / 12 / 0
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 217
6. Racial/ethnic composition of the school: / % American Indian or Alaska Native
1 / % Asian
1 / % Black or African American
64 / % Hispanic or Latino
% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
33 / % White
1 / % 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: 27%
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. / 33
(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 22
(3) / Total of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)]. / 55
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1. / 204
(5) / Total transferred students in row (3)
divided by total students in row (4). / 0.270
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100. / 26.961
8. Limited English proficient students in the school: 50%
Total number limited English proficient 108
Number of languages represented: 1
Specify languages:
Spanish.
9. Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 82%
Total number students who qualify: 178
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: 10%
Total Number of Students Served: 21
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Do not add additional categories.
2 / Autism / 0 / Orthopedic Impairment0 / Deafness / 2 / Other Health Impaired
0 / Deaf-Blindness / 13 / Specific Learning Disability
0 / Emotional Disturbance / 3 / Speech or Language Impairment
0 / Hearing Impairment / 0 / Traumatic Brain Injury
0 / Mental Retardation / 0 / Visual Impairment Including Blindness
0 / Multiple Disabilities / 1 / 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) / 0 / 1
Classroom teachers / 10 / 0
Special resource teachers/specialists / 1 / 3
Paraprofessionals / 9
Support staff / 2 / 0
Total number / 22 / 4
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 20 :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 / 93% / 90% / 90% / 91% / 91%
Daily teacher attendance / 93% / 95% / 94% / 94% / 94%
Teacher turnover rate / 0% / 8% / 0% / 8% / 0%
Student dropout rate / % / % / % / % / %
Please provide all explanations below.
Student Attendance: Due to recent changes in data collection, we only haveverifiable records for student attendance for 2006-2009.We assume that data for theother 2 years would be similar.
Teacher Attendance: Due to change in office staff and data collection, we only have verifiable records for 2007-2009. We assume that the data for the other 3 yearswould besimilar.
Our school only goes through grade 4; so we did not fill in the drop out rate.
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
The mission of Rock Island Elementary is to create and maintain a collaborative learning environment so all students develop and demonstrate academic excellence. Our dedicated staff continually strives towards excellence. For example, on a 2009 survey, 100% of the staff agreed we adapt instructional strategies to meet student needs, we expect lesson objectives to be linked to state standards, and we accept accountability for lesson outcomes. This mission is particularly difficult to achieve due to the nature of our community.
Rock Island Elementary is a K-4 school located in a small community approximately ten miles from a larger city. Our students come from limited means financially. The 08-09 poverty rate was 84%. Many jobs are agriculturally related, which are seasonal. These occupations often include shift work and times of unemployment. In the year 08-09, 27% of our families were transitory in nature with 36% considered migrant and 67% were of minority status. The majority (64%) of our clientele come from Spanish speaking homes, making home-school communication complicated. Despite these challenges, we continue to close the opportunity gap as indicated by our Washington state assessment scores. From the year 2005, we have increased the number of our students meeting standard by 34% in reading, 51% in math, and 44% in writing. These percentages are much higher than the rest of the school district.
Because the town of Rock Island is not served by library services or other programs such as YMCA or YWCA and has a limited public transportation system, the school is an oasis for the children. We provide extended day and summer intervention programs that are widely attended. Not only are the students receiving additional instruction, they avoid going home to empty houses. Rock Island Elementary is also the focal point for the community. For many years, we have included the community in activities and programs such as musicals, Arts Festivals, Cultural Day, Grandparents’ Day, before and after school read-ins, Veteran’s Day Celebration, etc.
We feel we are a unique and successful place worthy of Blue Ribbon School status because of our achievements of particular milestones. For example, our staff has implemented and maintained a school wide citizenship program that supports students being responsible for their own behavior and learning. This program also requires teachers to be specific in their expectations for students. We continue to implement and maintain research based curriculum that aligns with state standards. As much as possible, our support staff is included in the trainings making them an integral part of the learning process. Also, in 1994 we remodeled the facility to be a student centered environment. We show our pride in our school and it remains “The Jewel of the District.” During this remodeling phase, the community was extensively consulted as to the vision of the remodel. The overwhelming response was to keep the look of the building as a small, rural school at the center of the community. In addition, we received funding for a breakfast/lunch program, which helped our families provide two nutritional meals per day for their children. Since most of our students entering kindergarten have little or no pre-school experience, one of our most critical milestones was the establishment of all-day kindergarten in 2003. We know it is essential that all our students reach benchmark by second grade. Due to time constraints, the expectations were nearly impossible to achieve prior to an all-day program. Since the implementation of all-day kindergarten, our assessment scores have improved dramatically (see response in Part V, number 1 assessment results).