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Davis Elementary School "focusing on kids and their learning" 31 SE Ash Street • College Place, WA 99324
Phone: 509-525-5110 |
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2002-2003 ANNUAL REPORT
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Davis School Mission Statement |
Principal's Message
Dear Parents, This is the ninth Davis Elementary School Report to parents. We hope you will take a few minutes to peruse the information and focus on areas of interest to you. Our total K-4th population at Davis is equal to that of last year's enrollment. We are presently serving 391 students in grades Kindergarten through multigrade 3/4 classes. Our district preschool now serves 28 students and our Special Education preschool serves 12 students. With the inclusion of preschool our numbers equal 431 students. Davis Elementary School serves a mobile and ethnically diverse population. The Davis School annual student turnover is in the 35-40% range. During the school year 2002-2003 extensive plans for school improvement in instruction and teacher preparation in Reading, Mathematics and Writing were determined. The Davis School Staff and parents worked collaboratively with the staffs and parents of Meadow Brook and Sager Schools in developing school improvement plans (SIP) for the school district and for each school. The three subject areas will receive renewed emphasis over a three to five year period in an effort to meet state Essential Academic Learning Standards on the state's Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) tests. Various teacher collaboration opportunities and trainings in Reading, Mathematics, Writing and student progress data collection will be presented to staff through the 2003-2004 year in support of the new School Improvement Plan (SIP). The overall goal of the SIP effort is that Davis Students and Staff would reduce by 25 percent the number of students not meeting the state standards on the annual 4th grade WASL test given at both Davis and Meadow Brook Schools. The SIP effort was instrumental in Davis School becoming an applicant to become a Title 1 School. Title 1 School status, when approved, will enhance the staff's ability to meet the needs of all students within the school. The plan also includes the assignment of specialist teacher coaches in Reading and Mathematics to assist Davis Staff members with the improvement of teaching technique and curriculum implementation. Many schools in our state have become Title 1 schools to great advantage, and more are moving in that direction now. Multi-age Classes will continue
at Davis School in grades 1 and 2 with two classes participating. During
the 2002-2003 school year there were several staff members who indicated
a great desire to move into a popular 'Looping' class configuration and
they received school board approval to proceed. Looping classes will be
available in certain classrooms at grades 1, 2, 3 and 4. Looping classes,
unlike Multi-age classes, will contain students of just 'one' grade. Looping
classes are designed to keep students with the same teacher for two 'consecutive'
years. It is believed that this approach will give the teachers and students
one additional 'quality' month of instruction each year with the elimination
of the typical 'get acquainted' month at the beginning of each school
year. Six Davis Staff will begin Looping in the Fall 2003 and all are
most excited! Special programs such as Title 1, Migrant, State Bilingual and Special Education will be maintained to assist children that qualify with Reading, Math and Social Skills. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the community businesses, volunteers, and parents that have been instrumental in helping us to better serve the students of our school district. Jack Brennan
Principal The mission of the College Place School District is to assure learning experiences to help all children develop skills and attitudes fundamental to achieving individual satisfaction as responsible contributing citizens. The mission of Davis Elementary is to provide students the opportunity:
A variety of assessment tools are used to measure student achievement in the College Place Public Schools. One of these is the state mandated Iowa Test of Basic Skills (I.T.B.S.) which unfortunately must be given in English only to all students in the 3rd and 6th grades. Davis School is presently administering these tests in English to more than 30 % of its students who are non-native English speakers. I.T.B.S. tests are used in part to determine student eligibility for special needs instructional programs as well as to measure "individual" student progress in school. I.T.B.S. tests are used in addition to daily observations, classroom work, and unit tests to help measure how well each child is learning. 3rd GRADE ITBS SCORES 2003
Percentages listed are compared to the National mean
College Place School District & State (2003)
To view information on the results of assesment from Davis Elementary, please examine the data at the OSPI WASL Report Card for Davis Elementary School website. What is the Washington Assessment
of Student Learning?
The Washington Assessment of
Student Learning (WASL) measures student achievement of the state's rigorous
new academic standards in reading, writing, mathematics, and other core
subjects. The test is administered at the elementary, middle, and high
school levels. It is designed to help teachers refine instructional strategies,
increase student achievement, and provide data on the performance of schools
and districts over time. Numbers below indicate the percentage of College
Place 4th grade students who have achieved or exceeded proficiency on
the WASL.
What's the difference between the WASL and other tests?
Both the WASL and traditional norm-referenced tests focus on important
academic skills. Norm-referenced tests rely heavily upon multiple-choice
questions and emphasize basic or foundation skills. The WASL measures
the application of those skills to problem solving tasks and real world
situations. In addition to multiple-choice questions, the WASL requires
students to complete short-answer questions, draw graphs, compare and
contrast information from multiple texts, and draft short essays. These
types of questions require students to do more with their knowledge than
they have in the past.
Another important distinction is that norm-referenced tests are designed to evaluate a student's performance relative to the performance of other students. This helps parents and schools make regional and national comparisons. Standards-based tests, such as the WASL, emphasize the evaluation of each student's performance against a fixed and challenging standard of knowledge and skills. Finally, unlike traditional tests, the WASL is not timed. Students will be extended as much time as they need, subject to the discretion of teachers. Most students probably will not need more than six to eight hours over the course of several days to complete the exam. Blended 4TH GRADE WASL SCORES of Davis and Meadow Brook Schools.
The following WASL scores are a 'blend' of the scores of Davis Elementary and Meadow Brook Intermediate Schools. Both schools serve 4th graders. Davis currently serves a 'quarter' of the 4th grade students in the College Place School District. 4TH GRADE WASL SCORES
Percentage Meeting the New State Standards
Education is truly a cooperative effort among parents, students, staff, and the community. Your support and help are appreciated. If your business is interested in a school/business partnership, contact the Superintendent's Office at 525-4827. If you are interested in volunteering at Davis School, please contact the principal's office at 525-5110. All volunteers are required to complete a Washington State Patrol background check. In addition, we encourage you to join the College Place Combined PTA. This parent/teacher organization is very active in school projects. Davis Elementary School is located one block east of College Avenue in the center of College Place, Washington. The school is situated next to the Walla Walla College campus east boundary on Ash Street. Our facility sits on a 9 acre plot and is a one story building the Superintendent's Office housed in two rooms of a separate four room classroom portable on the south end. The building is in a square configuration with courtyard at center. Students can walk the halls in either direction and arrive at all locations. The building was constructed in 4 phases: gym in 1930's, older classrooms' north side 1955, west side 1958, and newer east side classrooms in 1986. The Davis School facility is used by community groups for meetings and recreational events, both outdoors and indoors. Our P.T.A. is very active in providing evening family activities and assists with the district testing by providing treats for testing week Davis School has recently installed underground sprinkling systems in the West and South grounds. Work is now being done to improve the landscaping. This year the principalship was shared by Jack Brennan and Lois Fuller under the direction of our new Superintendent Tim Payne. Mr. Payne's emphasis for the district is to focus on kids and their learning and, as such, was able to successfully lead out in the passage of a 4-year Maintenance and Operations Levy. Special note has been paid to the area of safety at Davis School and all employees have completed 14 lessons on Safety as an OSHA requirement. This program is known to staff as ERASR training and will be an employment requirement for each ensuing year. We have practiced fire drills, earthquake drills, evacuation of buildings and initiated "Shelter in Place" this year. Nearly all staff use walky-talky radios to maintain contact with the school office from all campus locations. In 2002-2003 the district received 69.83% of its revenues from the state, 18.52% locally, and 11.65% federally. The total budgeted for the 2002-2003 school year is $6,148,484. |
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