GILROY
– Las Animas Elementary School, which boasts the district’s
highest improvement in its academic ranking this year, is taking a
proactive approach to improving student performance.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Las Animas Elementary School, which boasts the district’s highest improvement in its academic ranking this year, is taking a proactive approach to improving student performance.
Each school in Gilroy Unified School District must formulate a school action plan that coincides with the district’s student performance goals of having 90 percent of students at grade level, with a difference of no more than 5 percent between all groups of students, by June, but Las Animas took it one step further.
The school created a plan specifically tailored to improving professional development, parent involvement and student performance in reading, writing and math. The plan was originally part of a grant application for a program that provides funding for improving student performance at low-performing schools. If Las Animas had received the $400,000, it would have been accountable for improving its academic ranking and maintaining a school leadership team to review the plan.
“Most schools, if they don’t get funded, they abandon the plan,” said Olivia Schaad, GUSD’s director of curriculum and instruction.
Although Las Animas was not chosen to receive grant funds, the school still implemented the plan and has continued to strive toward the goals the plan lays out.
“They spent so much energy and so many good ideas came into the plan that they wanted to keep it and use it as their three-year school improvement plan,” Schaad said.
Parents, school and district staff spent a semester creating the plan last year.
At a recent school board meeting, Diaz praised Principal Sylvia Reyes and the Las Animas staff for continuing to implement and update the plan, even without grant funds.
“I think that just shows a lot of commitment on behalf of the whole school community,” he said.
Las Animas improved its Academic Performance Index score from 584 to 648 this year.
The plan contains a checklist for the management team to discuss, organized by priorities such as school climate and facilities, parent involvement, language arts goals and math goals.
For example, as part of the school’s focus on improving language arts test scores, all grade levels schedule a two- to three-hour block of language arts instruction every day.
To focus on improving instruction of English language learners, all teachers at Las Animas participate in peer coaching, teaming with fellow grade level teachers or the school’s literacy facilitators to master effective lessons.
To foster communication between the school and parents, a newsletter is mailed out monthly and Reyes invites parents to meet with her on a weekly basis. In the so-called “Chocolate Club,” parents often guide the conversation and are welcome to discuss whatever interests them, Reyes said.
A case management team meets monthly to review the plan and gauge the school’s progress. The team includes Reyes, Diaz, Schaad and school staff from each grade level.
