U.S. Department of Education November 2002September 2003
2003-2004 No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Cover Sheet
Name of Principal Mr. Charles Allen
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other) (As it should appear in the official records)
Official School Name Richfield Elementary School
(As it should appear in the official records)
School Mailing Address 6275 Olive Rd. ______
(If address is P.O. Box, also include street address)
Corning CA 96021-9771
City State Zip Code+4 (9 digits total)
Tel. ( 530 ) 824-3354 Fax ( 530 ) 824-0569
Website/URL www.resd.tehama.k12.ca.us (under construction) E-mail
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 February 5, 2004
(Principal’s Signature)
Name of Superintendent* Mr. Charles Allen
(Specify: Ms., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Mr., Other)
District Name Richfield Elementary School Tel. ( 530 ) 824-3354
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 February 5, 2004
(Superintendent’s Signature)
Name of School Board
President/Chairperson Mr. Greg Ross
(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 February 5, 2004 (School Board President’s/Chairperson’s Signature)
PART I ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATION
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school's eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
1. The school has some configuration that includes grades K-12. (Schools with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
2. The school has not been in school improvement status or been identified by the state as "persistently dangerous" within the last two years. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s adequate yearly progress requirement in the 2003-2004 school year.
3. If the school includes grades 7 or higher, it has foreign language as a part of its core curriculum.
4. The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 1998.
5. The nominated school or district is not refusing the OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a districtwide compliance review.
6. The OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if the OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
7. The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school, or the school district as a whole, has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution's equal protection clause.
8. There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
All data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 12 not applicable to private schools)
1. Number of schools in the district: 1 Elementary schools
_____ Middle schools
_____ Junior high schools
_____ High schools
_____ Other (Briefly explain)
1 TOTAL
2. District Per Pupil Expenditure: $6,406
Average State Per Pupil Expenditure: _ $6,837
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
[ ] Small city or town in a rural area
[X ] Rural
4. 4 Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
If fewer than 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 / 6 / 12 / 18 / 7 / 11 / 11 / 22
1 / 12 / 7 / 19 / 8 / 10 / 13 / 23
2 / 10 / 11 / 21 / 9
3 / 9 / 11 / 20 / 10
4 / 15 / 10 / 25 / 11
5 / 17 / 11 / 28 / 12
6 / 13 / 8 / 21 / Other
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL ® / 197
6. Racial/ethnic composition of 68% White
the students in the school: 0% Black or African American
32% Hispanic or Latino
0% Asian/Pacific Islander
0% American Indian/Alaskan Native
100% Total
7. Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: 19%
(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. / 18(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 20
(3) / Subtotal of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)] / 38
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1 / 201
(5) / Subtotal in row (3) divided by total in row (4) / .19
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100 / 19
8. Limited English Proficient students in the school: 25%
50 Total Number Limited English Proficient Number of languages represented: 1
Specify languages:
9. Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 50%
99 Total Number Students Who Qualify
If this method does not produce a reasonably accurate estimate of the percentage of students from lowincome families or the school does not participate in the federallysupported lunch program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
Students receiving special education services: 6%
12 Total Number of Students Served
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
0 Autism 0 Orthopedic Impairment
0 Deafness 0 Other Health Impaired
0 Deaf-Blindness 0 Specific Learning Disability
0 Hearing Impairment 0 Speech or Language Impairment
0 Mental Retardation 0 Traumatic Brain Injury
0 Multiple Disabilities 0 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 0
Classroom teachers 10 1
Special resource teachers/specialists 0 1
Paraprofessionals 4 4
Support staff 5 1
Total number 20 7
12. Average school student-“classroom teacher” ratio: 22 to 1
13. Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. The student dropout rate is defined by the state. 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 rates and only high schools need to supply drop-off rates.)
2002-2003 / 2001-2002 / 2000-2001 / 1999-2000 / 1998-1999Daily student attendance / 96.61 / 96.98 / 96.51 / 97.15 / 97.42
Daily teacher attendance / 99.5 / 99.5 / 99.5 / 99.5 / 99.5
Teacher turnover rate / 0 / 10 / 0 / 0 / 0
Student dropout rate / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Student drop-off rate / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
PART III - SUMMARY
Richfield Elementary School serves approximately 200 students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. Rurally located among orchards and small farms, our school is the center of the community. Because it is the only meeting facility in the area, the school is often the site of activities such as English Language classes for adults and CPR training. Our playground equipment, basketball courts, and playing fields serve as a recreation center for area residents. Once a two-room schoolhouse, Richfield Elementary now has ten classrooms. We have one teacher for each of the grade levels, including a Resource Specialist, a PE Specialist, and a music teacher. We have a diverse student population with a wide range of economic levels, social demographics, varied ethnicities, and special-needs students. We are a culturally diverse school and all students and their families are welcomed and honored on our campus. We enjoy a high level of support from parent volunteers. On any given day, you will find parents helping in our classrooms and serving on planning committees for student and school activities. Parents serve on our School Board, Site Council, Library Committee, Budget Committee, and participate in an active PTO. Through fundraising efforts, the PTO provides our children with rich educational experiences such as field trips and assemblies. They also sponsor the many award assemblies to recognize student achievement.
Richfield School has received the Governor’s Site Performance Award, Governor’s Reading Award, and has been nominated for a Distinguished School. Having a small staff and operating budget does not keep us from providing all students with the same opportunities, experiences, and high quality education as a larger district. We simply have to be creative and work harder. Our highly trained staff includes GATE teachers, reading coaches, Student Council advisors, a counselor, a resiliency coach, athletics director and coach, a computer lab teacher, and a librarian. Richfield staff holds such honors as the Milliken, Wal-Mart, Tehama County Department of Education, and Sacramento Bee “Teacher of the Year” awards. Richfield benefits from a devoted staff with great staying power. There is a strong sense of community and once hired, teachers stay. Our paraprofessional staff is second to none; most are highly educated (with associate and bachelor degrees) and all are lifelong learners.
Our vision is to provide a strong foundation to all of our students so that they may each realize their full potential as lifelong learners, and as responsible and productive members of our society. Richfield has high academic standards and achievement, and few discipline problems. Consistently applied school-wide discipline and classroom management techniques mean more time for teaching and quality instruction. We serve a large number of inter-district students by request. We’re often asked by other school districts to divulge “the secrets to our success.” When comparing state assessment data for grades 2-8 inclusive, countywide, we continue to be at the top. Fifty-two percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch and 35% are non-native English speakers, yet we’ve shown four years of continuous improvement. We are proud to have scored at the 73rd percentile in language arts and the 80th percentile in math school wide, on the SAT 9, a nationally norm-referenced test. Richfield students are always well represented at our Countywide Literary Festival, Writing Contest, and Spelling Bee. We achieve such excellence through a strong central leadership, and relentless collaboration and refinement within our school community to develop and define common learning goals based on the California standards.
The most essential ingredient in our recipe for success is our attention to the important details. Those details are our students. No child is ignored and no child is allowed to fall through the cracks. From the bus to the playground to the classroom, people are watching over and caring for each and every child. We take our mission to teach the whole child seriously and personally. Each teacher knows he/she not only teaches a grade level, but that he/she is responsible for making sure all of his/her students are ready for the challenges of the next grade level. If a child is not reading at grade level, we all feel personally responsible to get him/her there. If a child has no friends, we notice and teach that child the skills to be and find one. In an era of disconnections and detachments, Richfield teachers and students still hug and share real pats on the back. We laugh and cry together. We are a family.
PART IV INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
1. School’s Assessment Of Results In Reading and Mathematics
All students in California in grades 2-11 participate annually in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program which includes: a standardized norm-referenced test (SAT 9, three years of data and CAT 6, one year of data); California Standards Tests, criterion referenced to assess progress towards meeting state standards in core curricular areas and the CAPA, and alternative assessments for severely handicapped students. All students must participate in the state assessment system with the exception of students that are exempted by parent request.
The results of these assessments are combined to establish an Academic Performance Index for each school in the state. The API is the cornerstone of the state’s accountability system with a numeric index between 200 and 1000. The state goal for each school is to reach 800. Richfield’s API has increased for four consecutive years, from 677 to 831. Scores for sub-groups including ethnicity and socio-economically disadvantaged students have also increased the past four years.
Sat 9 Reading, (three years of data)-Richfield’s reading scores on the SAT 9 have increased for three consecutive years. Scores for the 2001-2002 year show that 73 percent of Richfield’s students scored in the top half of students nationally, (compared to 49 percent statewide), while approximately 40 percent scored in the 75 percentile nationally (compared to 25 percent statewide). Students at every grade level scored well above the state average and every grade level scored above the 50th percentile.