U.S. Department of Education November 2002
2002-2003 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Cover Sheet
Name of Principal Dr. James Scoolis______
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other) (As it should appear in the official records)
Official School Name Monarch Grove Elementary School______
(As it should appear in the official records)
School Mailing Address 348 Los Osos Valley Road______
(If address is P.O. Box, also include street address)
Los Osos California 93402-3120
City State Zip Code+4 (9 digits total)
Tel. ( 805 ) 534-2844 Fax ( 805 ) 528-5374
Website/URL www.fix.net/~monarch Email
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date______
(Principal’s Signature)
Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
Name of Superintendent Dr. Steven Ladd______
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
District Name San Luis Coastal Unified School District Tel. ( 805 ) 549-1334
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date______(Superintendent’s Signature)
Name of School Board
President/Chairperson: ______
Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
I have reviewed the information in this package, including the eligibility requirements on page 2, and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date______
PART II DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
DISTRICT (Questions 1-2 not applicable to private schools)
Number of schools in the district: _ _10_ Elementary schools
___ 2_ Middle schools
______Junior high schools
___ 3_ High schools
___15_ TOTAL
2. District Per Pupil Expenditure: _____$6,361.00______
Average State Per Pupil Expenditure: _____$6,414.00______
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3. Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ ] Urban or large central city
[ ] Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[ ] Suburban
[ ü] Small city or town in a rural area
[ ] Rural
4. ___6__ Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
______If fewer that three years, how long was the previous principal at this school?
5. Number of students enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalK / 29 / 27 / 56 / 7
1 / 28 / 40 / 68 / 8
2 / 31 / 28 / 59 / 9
3 / 47 / 40 / 87 / 10
4 / 28 / 33 / 61 / 11
5 / 49 / 47 / 96 / 12
6 / 32 / 35 / 67 / Other
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL
/ 4946. Racial/ethnic composition of __76.3% White
the students in the school: ___1__% Black or African American
__16.5 % Hispanic or Latino
___5.8% Asian/Pacific Islander
____.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native
100% Total
7. Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year _____8_____%
(This rate includes the total number of students who transferred to or from different schools between
October 1 and the end of the school year, divided by the total number of students in the school as of
October 1, multiplied by 100.)
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 29(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 21
(3) / Subtotal of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)] / 50
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1 / 494
(5) / Subtotal in row (3) divided by total in row (4) / .1012
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100 / 10.12
8. Limited English Proficient students in the school: __10.5__%
__52___Total Number of Limited English Proficient
Number of languages represented:__4____
Specify languages:
9. Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: __22.6___%
__112____ Total Number Students Who Qualify
If this method is not a reasonably accurate estimate of the percentage of students from low-income
families or the school does not participate in the federally-supported lunch program, specify a more
accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
10. Students receiving special education services: ____6____%
____30___Total Number of Students Served
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
____Autism ____Orthopedic Impairment
____Deafness ____Other Health Impaired
____Deaf-Blindness _13_Specific Learning Disability
__2_Hearing Impairment _15_Speech or Language Impairment
____Mental Retardation ____Traumatic Brain Injury
____Multiple Disabilities ____Visual Impairment Including Blindness
11. Indicate number of fulltime and parttime staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of Staff
Full-time Part-Time
Administrator(s) ___1______
Classroom teachers __22______
Special resource teachers/specialists ___1______5____
Paraprofessionals ______4____
Support staff ___3______6____
Total number __27______25____
12. Student-“classroom teacher” ratio: __22.4:1_____
13. Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students. The student drop-off rate is the difference between the number of entering students and the number of exiting students from the same cohort. (From the same cohort, subtract the number of exiting students from the number of entering students; divide that number by the number of entering students; multiply by 100 to get the percentage drop-off rate.) Briefly explain in 100 words or fewer any major discrepancy between the dropout rate and the drop-off rate. Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout and drop-off rates.
2001-2002 / 2000-2001 / 1999-2000 / 1998-1999Daily student attendance / 95.22% / 94.94% / 94.99% / 95.51%
Daily teacher attendance / 96.8% / 95% / 94.5% / 93%
Teacher turnover rate / 4.2% / 4.3% / .17% / 9.5%
Student dropout rate / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Student drop-off rate / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
PART III – SUMMARY
Monarch Grove Elementary School, a National Blue Ribbon nominated school is located in Los Osos, California. To reach our school by automobile you must exit the U.S. 101 Freeway at Los Osos Valley Road and turn west. Within minutes you are beyond the outskirts of the city of San Luis Obispo. You meander through a verdant valley of colorful flowers, well tended rows of vegetables and acres of grazing land bordered by volcanic peaks on the right hand side and the radiant green Irish Hills on the left. After a ten-minute drive you enter Los Osos, a small town of about 15,000 residents. Monarch Grove Elementary School lies on the western edge of town nestled between majestic Montana De Oro State Park and the serenity of the Morro Bay Estuary. The campus is situated on an approximately six acre site in a beautiful setting, surrounded on two sides by towering eucalyptus trees that each spring attracts thousands of monarch butterflies, our migrating school mascot.
Immediately upon walking on campus you are struck by the friendly and open feeling of our school. You also notice how clean and well cared for the campus is; the dramatic colors of the marine life mural and of gardens in bloom. Entering the classrooms you again are struck by the happy and positive energy in these warm and engaging places of learning. The students are invariably on task and focused on their learning activities.
Since its inception, Monarch Grove has earned a reputation for providing a high quality educational experience in a warm and caring setting. Moreover, the staff is well known as a cohesive and caring group of teachers. The school is lead by a positive, upbeat and energetic leader, Dr. James Scoolis, and a dedicated, professional and highly trained staff of 25 teachers complements him. During the six years of Dr. Scoolis’ leadership the campus has literally blossomed, not only because of the many gardens and murals, but also because of improvement in student achievement and schoolwide climate. The school’s vision focuses on providing a well-balanced academically sound educational experience for children. Teachers and staff work in teams to ensure that all students are achieving at or above grade level standards or are making reasonable growth toward that goal. The curriculum is rigorous and based upon state and district approved content standards. The staff, community and parents collaborate to provide a safe learning environment that maximizes school and community interaction.
Student achievement as measured by standardized testing is well above the national average and exceeds the state standard for school performance. In addition, The State of California has established the Academic Performance Index (API) as one measure of school performance. The state has established a score of ‘800’ as the school performance target. Fewer than 20% of school’s statewide achieve this rigorous goal. A school’s growth is measured by how well it moves toward or past that goal. Monarch Grove’s API has increased in each of the past four years going from an API of ‘825’ in 1999 to ‘856’ the ‘876’ and ‘877’ in 2002 and in each of the past two years our API was the highest in our county for a K-6 school.
Since the inception of the school eleven years ago the student population has fluctuated between about 460 to 530 with a current enrollment of 505. The ethnic make-up of the school is approximately 24% minority groups, and 76% White Anglo-American. Of the 24% minority groups, 17% are Hispanic, 5% are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% is Black. About 12% of the students are identified as English Learners (EL).
Monarch Grove Elementary is a school of excellence because we have three crucial elements in place: 1) a talented and dedicated professional teaching staff 2) strong family and community support for our educational programs and 3) a beautiful and well maintained facility.
PART IV – INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Public Schools
I. a. Brief explanation of state tests
The California Department of Education has mandated a Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program which includes a nationally normed assessment as well as a criterion referenced assessment that is specific to the California content standards.
The Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-9) is a national normed standardized test given to all students in the district. Students in grades 2-6 are assessed for reading, language usage, mathematics and spelling skills. Results from the SAT-9 are reported as “percentiles” which compare student achievement of students at that grade level to students nationally.
The California Standards Tests (CST) is a criterion referenced test which is comprised of items that were developed specifically to assess students' performance on California's content standards in English language arts and mathematics. The State Board of Education adopted the content standards that specify what all California children are expected to know and be able to do. The San Luis Coastal Unified School District likewise adopted the standards as the local curriculum. It is important to note that ‘California Standards’ Scores are reported in percent correct, NOT percentiles.
I. b. Description of students excluded from the testing program
No students are excluded from the testing program by the school system, however, parents have the right to exclude their child from testing by submitting the request in writing to the school administration. This number is less than 1%.
I. c. If data is disaggregated, the reasons for the disparities
The only statistically significant subgroup represented in our data is the ‘economically disadvantaged’ category for the 1998-99, 199-00 and 2000-01 school years as shown in the Stanford Achievement Test data for those years. The scores for this subgroup while well above national averages still lag behind the overall local school population by approximately five to ten percentile points in most instances. The staff has worked diligently to raise the student achievement of the ‘economically disadvantaged’ subgroup and while we have been successful in doing so, we are also simultaneously raising the achievement of the overall student population.
The ‘economically disadvantaged’ subgroup population has been significantly reduced in the 2001-02 school year. While we can not say why this has occurred with absolute certainty, we have also noted that housing prices in our area have dramatically risen by about 60% during the past three years.
Part IV-2. Use of Assessment Data
A variety of assessments are utilized to inform instruction, measure student achievement and modify school programs. In addition to the STAR program our district utilizes local criterion referenced assessments. Teachers use this data to place students in flexible groupings to better address individual student needs.
In the summer prior to the start of the school year the school administration collects both norm referenced and criterion referenced student achievement data from the school prior years. This data is organized and provided to teachers in two ways. First, the data is organized according to the teacher’s prior year class list so that the teacher can reflect upon the instructional plans of the prior year. Second, the teacher’s new class list is matched with student achievement data in order to assist the teacher when planning for the effective implementation of curriculum and instruction in the upcoming school year. Teachers are provided paid time to meet with grade level partners to use this data and plan instruction for the year.
The annual school improvement planning (SIP) process incorporates the analysis of data in order to target budget expenditures and school processes in order to ensure continuous improvement.
Part IV-3. Communicating Assessment Data
The assessment data is presented to the school community in several formats and in multiple mediums. Group student achievement data is presented to parents in writing in the School Accountability Report Card, the school newsletter, the school website, the California Department of Education website, the school parent handbook and at an annual Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and School Site Council (SSC) meetings.
At the PTA and SSC meetings the school principal presents the data in writing and orally. Areas of improvement and strength are identified as well as any areas of needed improvement (if applicable). Parents are invited and included in the discussions and analysis of the data presented.