MAPLESHADE SCHOOL

Mapleshade School provides a rich and challenging educational environment for over 300 students. Our student body is comprised of children in grades three through five. We strongly believe in providing our children with a well-rounded education that includes a strong academic base and that reflects the values and character of our local community. It is a basic underlying theme of our school that everyone (students, staff and community) can learn from one another. Our professional staff works to recognize and respond to the intellectual capacity and learning style of each individual student. Individuals grow intellectually in different ways and at different rates. We believe that a complete education exposes children to a wide variety of learning opportunities.

Our academic goals for the past year focused on three specific areas. First, we increased the amount of active math instruction for all Mapleshade students. This resulted in an increase in the amount of time that students were actively involved in working with manipulatives, the teacher, and each other, in solving “real world” math problems. Second, our staff worked to improve the performance of our students with special needs on the English Language Arts section of the MCAS tests. As a result of these efforts, this group showed significant measured gains over the previous year. Third, as part of our “We Care” program, we endeavored to increase the number of community service outreach efforts made by our school. Involvement in Coats for Kids, Scholastic Classroom Cares, Red Cross Hurricane Book Drive, Big Y Letters to the Troops, The Giving Tree, Pennies for Meals, Jump Rope for Heart, Hurricane Katrina Relief, Walk for Diabetes, St. Jude’s Hospital and a Food Drive were among the many significant ways by which our students and staff stepped forward to help people in need outside of our school community.

In January, award-winning children’s author, Doreen Rappaport, spent two days “in residence” at Mapleshade. She addressed the student body in three grade level assemblies. In the evening Ms. Rappaport shared her thoughts on writing with a full house of students, parents and teachers. The following day, she presided over three writer’s workshops where she stressed editing and revising. Thirteen of our fifth graders were chosen as student editors for two of her upcoming books. They continued to correspond with Ms. Rappaport on these manuscripts for the remainder of the year.

The Mapleshade PTO has a very active group of parents who work extremely hard to support and enhance the opportunities for student learning. We are grateful to them for sponsoring student field trips and a variety of enrichment programs during the past year. These programs included FOODPLAY, an Emmy award winning nutrition education program, the Little Theater of the Deaf’s “Figures around the World”, an actor portraying the life of Mark Twain, Rob Cheret with his Amazing Hero Art and mime Robert Rivest.

The E.L. Jaycees made a substantial contribution which enabled Mapleshade to create a closed circuit TV studio. This capability allows us to broadcast student-written and student-produced news programs to each classroom. Mapleshade was also the recipient of generous donations by both The East Longmeadow Education Endowment Trust and the Lions Club. Through grants provided by the Endowment group, our school received Listening Center cassette players, Japanese story boards (Kamishibai), and Social Studies supplements on the “First Americans”. The Lions donated money to purchase new books for the Mapleshade library.

Mapleshade is committed to educational excellence. However, it is not our school alone that determines the future of our students. But rather, it is the school working in partnership with a strong, supportive community that ensures success for our children.