Mountain View School

2004-2005

     Mountain View School, along with our sister school, Maple Shade, is devoted to the intermediate elementary age students in grades three, four and five.  As such, we focus on reading to learn across all subject areas as well as expanding students' knowledge from basic facts to in depth concepts and skills.  It is in this capacity that the staff dedicates their work with our students and their families.

      This year grade level staff expanded their work with curriculum maps by beginning to create maps in the area of reading.  These maps articulate the skills, strategies and assessments of the grade level.  They allow teachers to be sure that students in each grade level are exposed to the same knowledge before moving to the next grade.  These maps also allow parents to understand the skills expected at each grade level.  This important work will continue during the next school year to finalize these maps and add them to the science and math curriculum maps that are already on the district web site. 

       Reading in the third grade was also identified in the school's annual school improvement plan as an area for growth.  The third grade staff analyzed previous third grade MCAS scores to pinpoint areas of weakness over the past three years.  Once these topics were established, several steps were carried out to strengthen these skills.  Weekly skill units were developed, at-risk students were identified and given a focused support class before or after school, and the gifted and talented teachers increased instructional time for reading in third grade by devoting their class time appropriately.  These efforts were effective as measured by MCAS scores.  In the spring of 2004, seventy-three percent of Mountain View third graders scored in the proficient range and twenty-five percent scored in the needs improvement range.  In the spring of 2005, seventy-seven percent of the third graders scored in the proficient range with only twenty-one percent in the needs improvement range.  This work will also continue during the next school year.

      The Mountain View staff focused on increasing parental involvement during this school year.  Principal Susan Mitchell and Guidance Counselor, Mrs. McKenna created a discussion forum called, 'Sip and Chat'.  These discussions focused on areas of parental concern such as homework, children's use of instant messaging and coping with stress.  The purpose of these 'Sip and Chat' meetings was to open communications between the school and the home.  There were sixty participants in this program during the year and statistics showed that these participants were more likely to contact the school with questions and problems after attending.                                   The staff as a whole worked to increase parental involvement by creating opportunities for parents to come in to classrooms to participate in the daily events of the school.  An average of one hundred and thirty-eight parents came into the school each month to help.  Parents helped with projects, literature circles, read-alouds, science experiments, contest judges, author's teas, etc.  It was exciting to have so many parents in and out of the building to support the learning of their children.

      The year ended on a bittersweet note with the retirement of Dr. Susan Mitchell.  Dr. Mitchell had been the Principal of Mountain View for seventeen years.  During those years, she created a strong learning community that focused on the continued growth and achievement of the students in her charge.   We are all appreciative of the dedication and care Dr. Mitchell gave everyone who came through Mountain View's doors.  She will be missed.