St. Mary’s School Self Study 2007-2009
Who are we?
The city of Moscow is located in northern Idaho, nestled between Moscow Mountain and the beautiful rolling Palouse hills. With a small town friendliness and safety, Moscow is also a great location for higher education, being home to the University of Idaho. Washington State University just across the state line is seven miles to the west.
Moscow is the "Heart of the Arts", with the annual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Rendezvous in the Park, Farmers Market and summer theatre at the University of Idaho. There are several art galleries and a local combined symphony and choral group made up of performers from both Idaho and Washington.
Moscow is also a great place for those who love the outdoors. Camping, mountain biking, skiing, fishing and snowmobiling abound, with some of the best big game and upland game hunting in the world located nearby. The best rapids are found not in Colorado, but right here in Idaho.
After settlers arrived in 1871, the town became known as Hog Heaven and then as Paradise Valley. In 1877, Samuel Neff filed for a postal permit under the name of Moscow because the area reminded him of his hometown of Moscow, Pennsylvania.
In 1875, the city's first store was opened on what is now the main street. Moscow grew with the arrival of the railroad in 1885 and the town became incorporated in 1887. It was later chosen as the site for a land-grant institution, the University of Idaho (1889) as part of a deal to place the capital of Idaho in Boise, Idaho. Idaho achieved statehood in 1890.
Eighteen years later, 1908, three Ursuline nuns from Ohio answered the call by Bishop Glorieux of Idaho to come to Moscow to open a school for the young people of the Palouse.
The school has undergone many changes. The original Ursuline Academy was housed in an old farmhouse in 1908. Many add-ons occurred in the next 50 years to meet the needs of the students. Those who were able to come to the school were educated; those who needed to be boarded, due to distances, were given the space to live, eat, and study for an education. Through World Wars, the Great Depression, epidemics, good times and bad, the Ursuline Sisters and their many co-workers educated hundreds of elementary school students through the years. High school education was added when it was needed. In the late 1940’s, University of Idaho employees expressed the need for quality education and childcare before elementary school. So the Ursuline Sisters established St. Rose’s kindergarten and preschool, which was unheard of at that time. Ursuline Academy continued until the 1950’s when student population was booming and building codes were changing. The Sisters knew they could no longer do their education work on their own auspices so they undertook the aid of St. Mary’s parish. They sold the property for the new school for $1000 to the parish in May 1956. Groundbreaking and raising funds for the new school began. By September 1956 students from Grades 1 through 8 moved their books and desks from Ursuline Academy into the newly built St. Mary’s Parish School across the street on North Monroe.
The school continued to flourish and grow but there were a few bumps in the road. There was the promise of a new gym, which did materialize until 2008. Grades 7 and 8 were closed in 1966 after Moscow Junior High/High School switched to a 3-year configuration (grades 7,8,9 for Jr. High). This allowed the school to convert two rooms into a multi-purpose room. Since that time, the multi-purpose room was used for: PE classes, music, assemblies, lunchroom, Mass (on inclement days), parish events (until the parish built a center in 1980).
By 2002 the discussion for a new gym reached a climax when the School Board did initiate a Feasibility Study. Through many ups and downs dealing with the raising of funds, neighbors, city council, diocese, and the architects, the building began in July 2007 and the gym was able to be occupied by the 100th Anniversary on September 14, 2008.
Self-Study WCEA
In 2007, St. Mary’s Elementary School was asked to be a pilot school for the WCEA/WASC Process for School Improvement, which will be the accrediting program for the schools in the Diocese of Boise. The Catholic schools in Idaho previously had been accredited by the State of Idaho. This program ended in 2007 requiring the Catholic schools to look for a new source of accreditation. Although the WASC/WCEA Process for School Improvement was new, St. Mary’s School had previously been working on its School Improvement Process through the state of Idaho during the past several years.
In November 2007, the principal, and vice-principal /second grade teacher went to Boise to meet with the Superintendent of Catholic Schools and Brother William to start the WCEA/WASC process. The first assignments were the mission statement, data collection, beginning surveys, and the adoption of our vision statement. St. Mary's school also chose committees. The committees began working during the winter and spring of 2008 in order to complete the report in a timely manner.
The faculty and staff met in January 2008 and committees were organized to begin collaboration for different areas of the document. Since we are a very small school, committees set their own meetings to work on their different areas. Committees were asked to finish input by mid-May. The two in-depth studies for our WASC self-study were religion and language arts. The report was written during the summer of 2008. Staff met for corrections and other input in the fall of 2008.
St. Mary’s Elementary
WCEA/WASC 2007-2009
Leadership Team
Father Joseph Schmidt - pastor
Sister Margaret Johnson, osu – principal
Peggy Quesnell – vice-principal/ 2nd grade teacher
Pam Wimer – vice-principal/3rd grade teacher
WASC Committees
Category A Student/Community Profile
Peggy Quesnell – vice-principal/2nd grade teacher
Elizabeth McEvoy – 5th grade teacher
Diane Payton – secretary
Category B Curriculum and Instruction
Pam Wimer – vice principal/3rd grade teacher
Rose Helbling – technical specialist, aide, librarian
Monique Lillard – parent
Beverly Wolff – 1st grade teacher
Category C Support for Student Personnel/Support for Spiritual and Academic Growth and Support for Catholic Identity
Sister Margaret Johnson, osu – principal
Sandy Otto – classroom aide, and former parent
Karen Herrenbruck – 4th grade teacher
Donna Plummer – classroom aide, school board member, and parent
Christine Lohrmann – 6th grade teacher
Category D Management and Development
Ed Wimer – business manager
Mary Edwards – parent, school board member
Peggy Quesnell – vice-principal/ 2nd grade teacher
Pam Wimer – vice-principal/3rd grade teacher
School Improvement Plan
WASC/WCEA Report
/Committees
Chapter 1
Student/Community ProfilePeggy Quesnell
Elizabeth McEvoy
Diane Payton
Chapter 2
Surveys/Progress ReportsSister Margaret Johnson, osu
Chapter 3
Schoolwide Learning ExpectationsPeggy Quesnell
Sister Margaret Johnson, osu
Pam Wimer
Chapter 4
A. Organization for Student Learning / Peggy Quesnell, Elizabeth McEvoy, Diane PaytonB. Curriculum and Instruction / Pam Wimer, Rose Helbling, Monique Lillard, Beverly Wolff
C. In- Depth Studies / Sister Margaret Johnson, osu,
Sandy Otto, Karen Herrenbruck,
Donna Plummer, Christine
Lohrmann
D. Support for Student Growth / Ed Wimer, Mary Edwards, Pam Wimer, Peggy Quesnell
Chapter 5
School Improvement Plan / Sister Margaret Johnson, osu,Peggy Quesnell, Pam Wimer
Chapter 6
Implementation of School Improvement Action Plan / St. Mary’s SchoolTeachers, Staff, and School Board
Addenda
St. Mary’s Elementary Faculty and Staff 2008-2009
Administration
Father Joseph Schmidt / PastorSister Margaret Johnson, osu / Principal
Peggy Quesnell / Vice-principal
Pam Wimer / Vice-principal
Faculty
Beverly Wolff*/Rachel Elliot** / Grade 1Kara Klaveano** / Grade 1 Sub/Aide
Peggy Quesnell / Grade 2
Pam Wimer / Grade 3
Karen Herrenbruck / Grade 4
Elizabeth McEvoy / Grade 5
Christine Lohrmann*/Katherine Crump** / Grade 6
Debby Davis / PE
Nikki Crathorne / Music
Staff
Diane Payton / SecretaryJudy Divilbiss* Erin O’Rourke** / Aide
Donna Plummer / Aide
Mercedes Frausto / Aide/Afterschool
Chris Lohrmann / Aide
Sandy Otto / Aide
Siri Ward / Aide
Rose Helbling / Technology Specialist, Librarian, Aide
Ben Bayley / Afterschool Director
Scott Olivera / Custodian
Ed Wimer / Business Manager
* Denotes former staff as of fall 2008 ** Denotes new staff as of fall 2008
Chapter 1
A. School Community Profile and Supporting Data
St. Mary’s School is a cornerstone of education in Moscow, Idaho. The Ursuline Sisters founded St. Mary’s School in 1908. Our mission is to educate the whole person. It flows from our Vision Statement that states:
“Imagine your child…
Increasing daily in respectfulness, resourcefulness and responsibility,
Focused daily on God’s loving presence,
Being guided daily by devoted and professional teachers,
Being equipped to excel…and growing daily in confidence.
Imagine your child changing the world!”
St. Mary's/St. Rose'sSchool is the foundation that gives students these gifts so they may become
Dream makers and world changers.”
From this vision Statement comes our mission Statement, “ St. Mary’s School exists as a vital part of our St. Mary’s Parish ministry to support families in the total education of their children. We encourage students to grow spiritually, to develop a lifelong love of learning, and to strive to achieve their highest personal and academic potential.”
This mission statement is published in our handbook, and our parents sign an agreement at the beginning of each school year to demonstrate that they understand and support the vision and the mission of our school and its goals and policies.
St. Mary’s School makes a commitment to the students and families to provide a learning environment where each student is given the attention needed to be successful. We have well-trained, professional, accredited teachers, as well as numerous volunteers (including parents, members of the community of Moscow and St. Mary’s Parish) that give their time and talent so that the students can have the needed individual and group instruction to learn more effectively.
We expect our students to work hard, do their best, and challenge themselves. Due to the number of persons involved in our educational program (teachers, aides, volunteers) we have many opportunities for our students to work independently and in small groups. Our staff works hard to ensure that students are accomplished in basic skills and move ahead at their own rate, especially in math, reading, and language arts. (See test scores pages 12, 13)
Our fine arts program helps our students excel in a variety of areas, including art, drama, band, and vocal music. St. Mary’s School has an outstanding music program. Our band and choir rehearses before school and over 75% of our students participate in these programs. Our choir and/or jazz band, over the past several years (since 1990), regularly take top honors at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (including 2007 and 2008). We do music programs twice a year plus participate in the University of Idaho Homecoming parade and game. Art classes explore art concepts, encourage creativity and expose students to different mediums.
Journalism Club uses the writing and creative talents of the students. Our yearbook is totally student generated, using on-site technological tools. Our previous first grade teacher is on staff for the Northwest Inland Writing Project.
We strive to help our student become independent learners and we focus on developing leadership skills in our students. These skills are developed via student council, which plans activities and programs during the school year, students being our prayer leaders at Mass which helps them become comfortable speaking before audiences of different sizes, and our music program helps students learn, use and cultivate performance skills. We encourage our students to use their specific gifts (which we highlight on birthdays) in working with other students, and have older students buddy with younger students on activities and field trips. We are a school that works together for the support of all.
Student Information
St. Mary’s School has an enrollment of 105 students (2008-2009) in grades 1 through 6. Most of the students are Caucasian but students of Asian, African- American, Chinese, Hispanic and French descent are also enrolled. The majority of our students are Catholic and mostly belong to St. Mary’s Parish or St. Augustine’s Parish. The rest belong to parishes in Pullman, Washington, Potlatch, Idaho and other nearby communities.
Since 1995, enrollment remains between 95-115.
Moscow is a community of approximately 20,000 including university students and staff that move into and out of the area. There are 4 public elementary schools, 1 classical Christian school, 1 charter school and two other schools associated with other churches. It is estimated that over 200 families home school in Moscow. The community has always been a strong supporter of education shown by the number of schools in Moscow compared to the size of the community.
Enrollment by Grade Level for 2007-2008
Grade / Male / Female / Total1 / 11 / 12 / 23
2 / 7 / 3 / 10
3 / 10 / 8 / 18
4 / 8 / 7 / 15
5 / 5 / 9 / 14
6 / 7 / 11 / 18
Enrollment by Grade Level for 2008-2009
Grade / Male / Female / Total1 / 14 / 9 / 23
2 / 10 / 13 / 23
3 / 7 / 5 / 12
4 / 11 / 8 / 19
5 / 8 / 7 / 15
6 / 5 / 8 / 13
Facts About Moscow, Idaho:
Moscow, Idaho is situated in Latah County and its land area is 6.15 square miles. It is situated 67 miles south of Spokane, Washington (center to center) and 257 miles east of Seattle, Washington. It is considered one of the quad cities, along with Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington and Pullman, Washington.
Population in July 2007: 23,223. The last census (2000) had the population at 21,291 residents in the city. There has been a population change of +7.7% since 2000. Population density: 3695 people per square mile
Estimated median household income in 2005: $27,400 (it was $26,884 in 2000)
22.4% of the population is at poverty level (3,878)
Races in Moscow:
White Non-Hispanic (91.0%)
Hispanic (2.5%)
Two or more races (1.8%)
American Indian (1.2%)
Chinese (1.1%)
Other race (1.0%)
Black (0.9%)
Korean (0.6%)