Grantham Staff, Parents, Students and the community working together to reach EXCELLENCE!

1. Grantham School2013-2014Partnering with you provide your child’s education the best it can be with the goal of ensuring each child graduates. Grantham Staff, Parents, Students and the community working together to reach EXCELLENCE!

2. GRA Direction: The staff of Grantham School is committed to ensuring students meet and/or exceed annual student growth and proficiency expectations as well as prepare students to be productive citizens.

3. GRA Core Values: • We are committed to being life-long learners and achieving excellence. • We are committed to being reliable, trustworthy, honest, efficient, and loyal. • We are committed to being respectful and nurturing. • We are committed to inspiring others by being passionate about our profession • We are committed to being creative and innovative. • We are committed to being a good steward of all we have. • We are committed to serving others with a positive attitude. • We are committed to the well being of all. • We are committed to working together as a team.

4. GRA Belief Statement: Grantham School believes all students can learn in an engaging, rigorous, and relevant learning environment enhanced by appropriate and meaningful relationships between students, parents, staff, and extended community.

5. We believe that every individual… • deserves respect and needs to respect others. • needs a safe and orderly environment. • needs a positive support system which includes parents, peers, and staff. • deserves resources and opportunities to experience success. • deserves education in the use of technology which is essential in today's world. • needs discipline.

6. GRA Purpose and Mission • Grantham School shall provide an exemplary education to produce globally competitive, healthy, and responsible students led by 21st Century professionals governed by quality leadership and supported by 21st Century systems. “…if you have a purpose in which you can believe, there’s no end to the amount of things you can accomplish.” Marian Anderson • The mission of Grantham School is to develop life-long learners by challenging, inspiring, and nurturing students to achieve through academic goal setting, character development, and stewardship.

7. Reminder of Procedures/Expectations: • Attendance: Read attendance policy and have your child at school on a daily basis. • Arrival/Departure: Parents are to sign students in when arriving late and sign students out when picking students up early. We discourage tardiness and early departure as it disrupts the learning environment. • Parents are to drop students off at the designated area of either the gym ( grades 4-8) or support/2nd grade building (grades K-3) each day. Walking students to class is prohibited by all grade levels after Independence Day -September 13. Fewer adults on campus promotes a safer environment as well as enables each teacher to begin instruction/ supervision as expected. We appreciate your support and understanding in these matters. • Confer with the teachers after school or during their planning time to establish a time for conferences, etc.. Teachers are not interrupted during instructional time to meet or answer telephone calls. Notation: Failure to adhere to published procedures will result in violator being prohibited from being on campus for a minimum of one year. The WCPS Central Office will send a letter regarding the violator being banned from campus and document the infraction.

8. Funding Sources • Federal Funding Title I • State and Local Allocation (Used for classroom needs such as consumables, copies, ink cartridges, posters, etc.) • Grantham General Fund (money from fundraising) • Grants

9. Resources and Strategies Funded • Instructional support materials • Classroom Libraries for K-8 (300 minimum books/grade level in K-4 and 100 in 5-8) • Interactive Boards in all classrooms in grades K-8 • Hands-on learning materials for grades K-8 • Staff Development in Technology Integration, Thinking Maps, Components of Literacy and Writing, as well as Math • Title I Teachers in Reading and Math • K-8 Curriculum Facilitator • K-2 Reading Specialist

10. Student Support I. Grantham School Student Support System • All students are monitored by staff working closely with them. Guardians Students report incidents or ask questions to their instructor or other apporpriate staff member such as guidance, CFST, administration, etc. as needed. • Mentor Program- Each student at Grantham School has immediate access to a mentor. Homeroom teachers function as mentors and provide direct services. If a student needs additional support, the school will attempt to link students with mentors within as well as outside of the school community. The Administration, Child and Family Support Team (CFST), Guidance Department, Behavior Specialist and Success Coach facilitate the process of connecting students with appropriate mentors based upon student need. II. Instructional Support • K-4 Title I instructional specialist Support during ACC. • K-8 instructional support providers for identified students during the day. • K-8 Exceptional Children’s services provided for students meeting specified criteria based upon results from pyschological evaluation. • Home Base, GRA Parent/Student Live Binder, GRA Website

11. Goals for 2013-2014 • Grantham School will provide a quality learning environment to: • increase student proficiency in all core subjects. • increase in student growth on district assessments/measurement. • improve student writing conventions and content. • produce globally competitive students. • produce productive citizens.

12. Team Specifics • PBIS for first grade • PBIS K-2 Criteria • Tier 1: 1 parent contact • Celebration: Sock Hop/Outside playtime with snack and drink. • Tier 2: 2-3 parent contacts • Celebration: Movie with snack and drink • Tier 3: 4-5 parent contacts • Celebration: Movie • Tier 4: 6 or more parent contacts • Class with lesson on character development • * Celebrations and lessons will be at the end of each 9 weeks. There will not be a PBIS celebration for the year.* • LiveBinder with you-Parent/Student Resources- http://www.livebinders.com/play/938738

13. Academic Focus to Accomplish Goals • Sustain Student growth through • close, analytic reading in all classes. • expository/argumentative writing in all classes. • purposeful discussion/debate in all classes. • mathematical reasoning. • engagement in critical thinking.

14. Student AssessmentsBenchmark Expectations

15. “FAB FIVE” FOCUS 1. Close, Analytic Reading Expository/Argumentative Writing 3. Discussion/Debate Mathematics – Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide, Ratios 5. Critical Thinking

16. Close, Analytic Reading • Routine activity suggestions: • Ask text dependent questions • Students should use pictures and text features to support their answers • Find the answer in the text

17. Writing • Routine activity suggestions: • Sentence structure • Stick to a topic • Use new vocabulary • Adjectives/describing words

18. Discussion/Debate • Routine activity suggestions: • Have children explain reasons for choices they make • Expository writing- Reasons for why, why not or how

19. Mathematics “FAB FIVE” • Addition -operation that represents the total amount of objects together in a collection. • Subtraction –operation that represents the inverse of addition, subtraction is a kind of addition • Multiply- operation of scaling one number by another -The basic idea of multiplying is repeated addition. For example: 5 × 3 = 5 + 5 + 5 = 15 • Divide - separate into parts • Ratios – develop relationship between two numbers of the same kind ( e.g., objects, persons, students, spoonfuls, units….

20. Routine addition activity suggestions: • Use household items to count and sort • Grocery store ideas/handout • Exposure to math vocabulary • Graphing activities • Practice, practice, practice

21. Critical Thinking • Routine activity suggestions: • Use the four block method for solving word problems • Use relevant examples and explain how they came up with their answers

22. GROWING-REACHING-ACHIEVING

23. P R E S E T I N G

24. ENGAGING

25. “GROWLITUDE” Don’t forget to display your PRIDE everyday!