Dear Oak Knoll Parents and Friends,

 

Congratulations on another fantastic year at Oak Knoll. It is true what they say,  "It takes a village." It is with your help, support, dedication and commitment that we are able to focus on accomplishing our mission: Every student an exemplary scholar, a valued friend, a courageous citizen. We wanted to take a minute to reflect on the year and share some highlights with you.

 

This year Oak Knoll School was given a California Distinguished School Award for the progress we have made in closing the achievement gap, while at the same time moving all students forward academically. If you are returning to Oak Knoll next year, you will notice the new plaque that will hang next to the Oak Knoll sign and complement all those first day of school pictures. Our California Distinguished School Award is evidence of our hardworking students, staff and parent volunteers.

 

Our theme this year was CONFIDENCE! We believe working on the social/emotional side of student development is just as important as working on the academic side. Our school counselor, Nicole Scott, and our school psychologist, Jenny Ryan, developed our Confidence Program in collaboration with our staff. The program included books that each class read, class discussions, parent coffee talks, assemblies, special projects (Free Range Kids, Speech and Debate, Passion Projects, Playing with Poetry, Did You Know Fair, Wizard of Oz production, etc.) student leadership opportunities (e.g., Calling All Kids, KNOL, Talent Show) and multiple school-wide spirit rallies. We believe that our students are capable of great things. Although it's important to spend time educating and highlighting character traits like grit, self-reliance and confidence, we believe that it is equally important, if not more important, to give our student opportunities to build these qualities through doing and practicing, rather than listening to adults talk about the traits. We can't help but think that there is a relationship between this year's important work and the unprecedented level of participation in our annual Talent Show. More to come next year! We are already working on next year's theme.

 

Every year we work with our staff and School Site Council to write measureable goals to track student progress. Here are some of the highlights from our 2013-2014 Site Plan:

 

READING:

• Goal: 95% of all 3rd-5th graders will be reading and comprehending at a Proficient or Advanced level, as measured by the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI).

• Outcome: 97% of all 3rd-5th graders met this goal!

• Additionally, in Fall, 42% of 3rd-5th grade students were in the advanced range, as measured by SRI. We end the year with 68% of students reading in the advanced range.

   

• Goal: 95% of all K-2nd graders will be reading at or above grade level as measured by the Diagnostic Reading Assessment (DRA).

• Outcome: 97% of all K-2nd grade students met this goal!

   

• Goal: Parent surveys will indicate that 85% of all Oak Knoll students read for enjoyment.

• Outcome: 90% of Oak Knoll parents report that their child reads for enjoyment.

MATH:

• Goal: 90% of all 2nd-5th grade students will score Proficient or Advanced on the MARS (Mathematics Assessment Resource Service) assessment (Common Core Aligned).

• Outcome: 2nd- 87%, 3rd- 92%, 4th- 82%, 5th- 78%

• MARS is a mathematics assessment that consists of 5 mathematical tasks. The students must problem-solve at many levels and then explain their mathematical thinking in writing. The rigor of the assessment mirrors parts of the new Smarter Balance Math Assessment. This was the first time we administered the full MARS test to all 2nd-5thgrade students. Moving forward, our teachers will be delivering more MARS like instruction given we will be fully implementing the new Common Core State Standards. We will keep our goal of 90% for the 2014-15 school year.

GROWTH MINDSET:

 

We believe that exemplary scholars have a growth mindset. Students with a growth mindset persevere through challenges, and are not afraid to make mistakes, but instead are eager to try new things. They know that taking on new challenges in fact stretches their brain and in turn makes them smarter. A student with a growth mindset knows that smart is not something you are, but rather something you get from hard work, dedication, and practice.

• Our goal: 100% of 5th grade students will be able to compare and contrast a fixed v. growth mindset.

• Outcome: 100% of 5th grade students were able to articulate and compare a fixed and growth mindset.

• Our goal: On the K-5th parent survey, a majority will indicate that their child has a healthy attitude towards learning.

• Outcome: 96% of parents report that their child has a healthy attitude towards learning.

• Additionally, 94% of parents report that their child believes that hard work will help them succeed.

As we spend time reflecting on the year, we get excited about ways to improve our school in 2014-15. Next year we will introduce you to our new Vice Principal, Leah Leff. We are excited to have Leah join our team. We will have a new school-wide theme, which will be focused on developing valued friends. We plan to spend more time delivering instruction to support our students as safe and confident digital citizens. And as always, we will continue to work in collaboration with you and the fantastic Oak Knoll staff to ensure that all students have enrichment opportunities, interesting core academics, and a year filled with friendship.  

 

Until then, have a safe summer, filled with family and fun. Keep your kids reading over the summer. Our wonderful librarian, Jane Bennion and reading specialist team, Jacqui Cebrian and Helga Dinning, put together a fantastic summer reading list for students. If you need a summer read, we recommend Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck, Teach Your Children Well by Madeline Levine, and The Read-Aloud Handbook (7th edition) by Jim Trelease.

 

As you begin to think about next school year, remember returning students MUST re-enroll using our district online form. Also, if you would like to get ahead and order your school supplies, today (Friday June 13th) is the last day to do so online. If not, school supply lists will be available in August for those who enjoy the buzz of back to school shopping. Relax, revive, and reboot, because 2014-15 is going to be amazing! Thanks again for all of your support.