From the one-room school house that educated the local farmers' children in 1855 to our present kindergarten through fifth grade school with an enrollment of 445 students, Shady Grove continues to support the rich tradition of meeting individual student needs within a diverse population. Shady Grove was originally designed as a junior high school facility in 1958. Major renovations occurred in 1990 when it was converted to an elementary school. Our school represents a cross-section of America, drawing from public housing and affluent neighborhoods in Montgomery County. Our current facility houses twenty-two regular education classes, four learning support resource classes, two Montgomery County Intermediate Unit hearing support classes, and one upper grade autistic class. Our teaching strategies promote inclusion and acceptance.

Strong links to parents, community groups, local colleges, and corporations enrich Shady Grove's learning environment. Special community partnerships offer authentic experiences designed to prepare students for their successful future. Literacy is further developed through collaboration with the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, which also supports our Turn Off T.V. Week and the Summer Reading Program.

Shady Grove prides itself on the firm belief in promoting anti-drug awareness/prevention. We have a successful partnership with our township police, which provides the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for our students. One of our fifth graders was Pennsylvania's winner of the 2000 Team Up Against Drugs Calendar Contest.

Many of the traditions at SGES are a collaboration of efforts that include the teachers, children and the Shady Grove Home and School Association. Our teachers enhance the curriculum by including hands-on activities that take place both inside and outside the classroom. For example, kindergarten students visit a local zoo to learn about native animals and their habitats. As part of a culminating activity on immigration and heritage, the second grade classes participate in a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The third grade field trip to Varner’s Farm in Collegeville, PA, as part of a unit on agriculture, provides students with the opportunity to learn about the production of cider, walk through a corn maze, and learn about local history. Fourth grade students have a hands-on learning experience in their study of Pennsylvania with a trip to Pennsbury Manor. Third and fifth grade’s trip to Lankenau Hospital provides insights on drug and alcohol awareness, an extension of a health unit they study in school. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed provides programs that enhance our understanding of our environment and local Native American history. Parents are invited to serve as class chaperones. Trip information is described in class and in school newsletters and, consequently, become family outings as well.

Our full-sized gymnasium and soccer/baseball fields are utilized routinely by the community for many student athletic events. Our library is used for book fairs, which promotes a love of reading. Several of our chorus students have the opportunity to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association chorus competition, which is held in a neighboring high school. The district’s elementary summer reading, science, and music programs are housed in SGES. The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, our local facility, provides books, speakers, and activities during weekends and the summer. Through the Wissahickon Summer Music program, many SGES instrumental students perform at Villanova University’s Pop Clinic, retirement homes, Reading Phillies game, Ocean City Music Pier, and local shopping centers. The summer science program, nationally recognized Camp Invention, offers hands-on science activities for our students who have completed first through fifth grades. Colleges and universities in the surrounding area are used as resources in the form of interns, student teachers, and facility sharing for seminars and training sessions.

The goal of SGES is to prepare our students today for their successful future tomorrow. Through our partnerships, we provide students with the opportunity to interact with the local and extended community members utilizing educational activities that bring authentic issues to the classroom. To accomplish this, SGES has organized partnerships among several groups of stakeholders, including families, local, national, and international community members. One school priority is to prepare our students for their place in our rapidly changing world. The students are exposed to a wide variety of opportunities and experiences, which brings the world to the classrooms. All of our stakeholders have benefited from these valued partnerships. Many corporate partnerships support SGES programs. In the area of reading/language arts, Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Pizza Hut have provided guest readers and reading incentive programs. Scholastic Book Club and Friendly’s Restaurant sponsor Family Reading Night. The Ambler Gazette, our local newspaper, features extended coverage of our school events and provides space to our student writers for the column, "Shady Grove Happenings." Through the Junior Achievement program, sponsored by multiple corporations, each grade level participates in extended, hands-on activities, based on our social studies curriculum. The Tastykake Corporation offers the Gingerbread Economics program to our fifth grade students. In conjunction with the Ambler Food Cupboard, SGES collects goods for distribution to community families in need. Merck Pharmaceuticals sponsors the Sky Lab program, which provides students a first hand understanding of the constellations. Our H&SA raises money for special events and educational materials through Genuardi Supermarket’s register receipts reimbursement program and General Mills Corporation’s Box Tops for Education Program. Through our association and community partnerships, opportunities are available to SGES students to reach out to help others and our environment through: The American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart, American Red Cross’s fire victim assistance, D.A.R.E.’s drug and alcohol program, Fresh Air Fund’s trips and activities with students nationwide, Wissahickon Valley Watershed’s environmental programs, and the VA’s Sharing Living History. SGES has raised money for several of these organizations as part of our commitment to helping others.

SGES serves as a meeting place for many community groups and as a result the facility usage is high throughout the year. The Ambler Symphony uses our gymnasium for rehearsals and performances. The Girl Scouts of America meet and work on badge-earning activities on a weekly basis in one of our classrooms. The Wissahickon Recreation Association uses our fields and indoor facilities for baseball, basketball, and soccer events. The YMCA utilizes our cafeteria for the after school day care program. Through our partnership with the Wissahickon High School’s Key Club, high school students work with SGES students who are in need of extra academic support. As a result of this partnership, the high school students have the opportunity to perform community service and our students’ test scores and confidence reflects this support. Parents volunteer to assist in our science lab. For example, when second graders completed a hydroponics activity or fourth graders prepared model volcanoes, parents helped to set-up, monitor, and clean up these experiments. Through the Voice of Experience program, we enjoy a partnership with several local retirement facilities. These retired individuals have shared experiences with our students on such diverse topics as World War II, coal mining, sailing, and crafts. As result of this experience, the senior citizens have commented to us that it has renewed their interest in public schools and added meaning to their lives. Members of the SGES family help to form many of these partnerships in order to bring beneficial events and activities to the students. Since the partnerships are so well received, other opportunities have become available to SGES. Based on these successes, our student attendance is high, the suspension rate is low, the H&SA is active, and the school’s partnerships continue to evolve and grow.

A healthy peer climate is promoted through numerous activities in which students interact positively with each other. School-wide activities encourage all children to participate. Many activities at SGES combine elements of collaboration that include both children and adults. Examples of these activities include: field day, plays, spirit days, the Gingerbread Cookie Company (a fifth grade economics project), fifth grade mosaic art plaque, peer tutoring, pen pals, reading buddies, safety patrol, picnics, conflict resolution, and heritage festivals. SGES students participate in the district art show in which each student’s art work is represented. Other activities include a Book Fair, Science and More Night, Family Reading Night, Ice Cream Social, Family Bingo Night, Math Night, Doughnuts with Dad, Munchies with Mom and After School Workshops. All of the participants take pride in our accomplishments and enjoy the activities. Respect is a natural outcome of these interdependent activities.

SGES’s culture is a reflection of our diverse school community. Our diversity is a strength that encourages sensitivity and understanding of individual ideas, while at the same time promoting a sense of unity. To better understand our student population, many staff members have been trained in Respecting Ethnic and Cultural Heritage (REACH). Throughout the school, banners and posters promote our sense of individuality and acceptance, while celebrating the harmony of our school community. Daily use of our pro-social program reinforces positive interactions among all members of our community. As a direct result of focusing on the development of a caring community designed to meet the affective needs of all students, our learning environment is enhanced. Students are able to perform at a higher level, resulting in increased learning. Parents play an active role in our school. Their involvement ranges from sharing of cultural experiences to monthly attendance at Home and School Association (H&SA) meetings where ideas are developed to enhance student learning. In order to involve all parents, when needed, our staff and parent volunteers provide transportation for meetings, conferences, and special student programs. Home visits and meetings at local businesses are also arranged. Going this extra mile helps ensure student success in learning.

Our dedicated staff is committed to meet the varied needs of our students, which are academic, emotional, medical, and financial in nature. Programs are in place at SGES to ensure that the needs of all children who register at the school are met. Any elementary grade student within the Wissahickon School District who requires intensive learning, autistic, or hearing support services is eligible to attend SGES. In the spring, prior to kindergarten registration, an Open House is held to familiarize parents with the academic resources and support services available. All prospective kindergarten students are screened to determine developmental, communication and medical needs.

SGES recognizes the importance of utilizing a wide spectrum of assessment strategies to determine that all students’ needs are being met. On an ongoing basis, student needs continue to be monitored through the use of parent conferences, teacher observations/evaluations, portfolios, curriculum and performance-based assessments, quarterly progress reports, and standardized testing, including the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). Based on the outcome of these assessments, teachers adapt their instructional strategies to meet the individualized needs of the students. Flexible student groupings, team teaching, mainstreaming, inclusion, and technological resources are routinely used. A more challenging curriculum is in place for our enrichment students. If additional support is needed, our Instructional Support Team (IST) implements effective strategies to help the student succeed in our school environment. The IST consists of the parents, classroom teacher, principal, instructional support teacher, guidance counselor, psychologist, reading specialist, speech/language therapist, and special area teachers as needed. If necessary, a Comprehensive Evaluation Report (CER) is completed, based on testing and data, to identify the learning profile of the student. These procedures ensure that we are able to fully meet the needs of all SGES students to prepare them today for a successful future.

The purpose of our assessments is to determine each student’s progress on an on-going basis, as well as longitudinally, based on expected individual growth and in comparison to grade level performance in the school, district, state, and nation. Assessment results are used to guide the curriculum and instruction at SGES and as a form of communication to the parents and school community. The Wissahickon School District assessment guidelines includes: teacher-made tests, portfolio assessment, quarterly report cards, rubrics, writing samples, reading theme tests, observational information, performance tasks, student self-assessment, and standardized tests. The Otis Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT), given to students in first and fourth grades, is designed to measure abstract thinking, reasoning ability, and provides information on the individual growth and school ability. It is also used as a tool in screening students for our enrichment program. In conjunction with our Read to Succeed grant, students in grades kindergarten, first, and second will be screened, using the Gates-MacGinitie, to determine reading needs. Formative assessment of students who require reading support, include:

As part of our mission in addressing the unique needs and potential of each student, all students are assessed, with adaptations made to meet individual needs.

Assessment results at SGES are used as indicators of students’ needs as we plan instruction and class placement. The principal and teachers carefully analyze these results. Strategies and programs are implemented based on targeted areas of need. For example, the Science Lab was established as an outcome of the need for more hands-on science learning. Lindamood-Bell was implemented as our commitment to improve early intervention reading achievement. As part of the IST data collection, further information, obtained through curriculum based assessment and other pertinent data (i.e., attendance, medical records, standardized tests, cumulative records) is used to determine the instructional level and set goals to enhance student potential. The OLSAT is administered to establish if there is a match between measured ability and classroom performance. If a discrepancy exists between ability and achievement, additional support strategies are implemented to ensure that the student is successful in an appropriately challenging curriculum. As we go through the curriculum review process, assessment results are used in the decision-making process as to which programs and resources would be beneficial to increase student achievement.

Formal communication is accomplished through quarterly progress reports as well as individually scheduled parent conferences. The results of the Metropolitan Achievement Test, 7^th Edition (MAT-7), OLSAT, and PSSAs are mailed home. School assessment results are made available to the community through: H&SA meetings, listings in the local newspapers, and the Internet. The results are explained in greater detail at public School Board meetings, which are aired on our community cable network. The principal and other appropriate staff members also address further questions about testing.

In second and third grades, the short form of the MAT-7, published in 1993, is administered, which measures reading comprehension, math concepts/problem solving, and language. The long form of the MAT-7, which is given to our fourth grade students, additionally includes science, social studies, research skills, and thinking skills. Our fifth grade students take the PSSA, which specifically targets the areas of reading and math. As of the 1999-2000 school year, students in grades first through fifth, including those in special education, participate in the standardized testing program. Accommodations are made when indicated. This had an impact on our MAT-7 results. We will continue to address ways to improve standardized scores of all students through specially designed programs and test taking techniques. Only students in the ESL program, with high language needs as determined by our ESL teacher, are excused from standardized testing. The Numerical Data, Achievement, and Trend Section summarizes student progress in reading and mathematics scores in terms of NCE percentiles.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement in learning and to better assess the needs of our diverse student population, a variety of alternative assessments are utilized routinely. Rubrics are used across the curriculum to provide benchmarks for students and measure growth towards the state standards. Portfolios and journals are maintained in language arts and content areas to show student growth over time. Teachers collect anecdotal information as part of their daily record keeping. Other examples of alternative assessments that we use are: computer software programs, oral book reports and characterizations, creative writing samples, teacher-made tests, quarterly report cards, student generated plays and puppet shows that reflect information from the content areas, hands-on projects, and multimedia student presentations such as Social Studies and Science Fairs. We analyze what we learn from these assessments to help focus attention on the factors that have proven to make a difference in improving SGES’s student learning.

Number of students enrolled in the district:      4,454

District per pupil Expenditure:      $11,874.74

State Per Pupil Expenditure:        $7,846

Total Number of classrooms in SGES:      36

What differentiates SGES from many educational communities is that in addition to accessing external resources, we have in-house resources provided by Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, including: interpreters, hearing support teachers, educational audiologist, behavioral specialists, occupational/physical therapists, and an autistic support staff. Every SGES community member benefits from the rich diversity of our school population. As most students with IEPs at SGES are included for much of the school day, the resources available are accessible to the general population. Parents receive direct support from SGES faculty as well as from the services to which they are linked. These services include Montgomery County Association For Retarded Citizens, Children with Attention Deficit Disorder, and wrap-around assistance. There are support groups including SEPAC, as well as local behavioral and medical centers, such as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, providing state-of-the-art evaluations and behavioral and medical interventions. As we commit ourselves to creating an optimal learning environment, we build the bridge for the successful future of our students.

A major change to the SGES community is the increasing student population of our schools. A district committee is addressing this issue. This growth is due to the residential development that is taking place around our school and within the district. Current discussions involve possible redistricting of students. As new development occurs, we see greater economic discrepancy among community families, which has a particular impact on SGES. Through team-building activities, sensitivity programs, special assemblies and training we will continue to address related issues that arise as a result of this discrepancy.

We continue to observe changes in the family structure. More of the SGES children are being raised by single parent families, extended families, or are in foster care. Support groups will become increasingly important at our school to help these students. Instruction will be adapted for the increased number of children with academic, emotional, and medical needs as a result of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, ADHD, and other disabilities that affect learning.

With the rapid changes anticipated in technology over the next five years, and the movement towards wireless technology, our district technology committee has initiated plans, in consideration of budget and staff, to meet these changing needs. SGES is committed to preparing each student for a successful future in the 21^st century.

With the state and federal funding decreasing, the local school budget will be strained, yet accountability has increased in public education. As students with more intensive special needs are included into regular education classrooms, there is also a commitment to ensure that all students meet high standards. We are committed to the successful education of all our students. We will provide increased training through our building staff development program, at in-service meetings, faculty meetings, and district staff development workshops.

Another challenge that we now see is both change in the work force and the family structure. As more parents (double income and single parent) are employed, there is often less time to assist their students with homework and school projects. Often there is less involvement in school activities.

N/A = Short Form administered and total reading or mathematics scores not available.

The fifth grade students at Shady Grove take the PSSA test each year. The results of the PSSAs for the past five years indicate that SGES students consistently perform above the state average. The results are as follows:

Shady Grove Elementary School

N/A = Results not available at time of application.

The preparation of the AFG application, which began in fall 2000, has been a collaborative effort among the SGES community. The principal shared information about the application process in staff and parent newsletters and at faculty meetings. It was presented as an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of SGES for the purposes of school improvement and renewal, as well as an avenue of staff development. This application process has been viewed as a valuable school initiative. A representative from each grade level and special area, as well as two parent volunteers comprise the core AFG team. Each section of the AFG application was reviewed and corresponding sub-committees were formed, which were facilitated by the core committee members. Formal meetings were regularly scheduled throughout the school year. Informal meetings by subcommittee were also held and several assessment forms were developed to gather further information. Staff, parents, and community members had the opportunity to review all aspects of the application and provide further input. The AFG process has also given SGES the opportunity to reflect upon our accomplishments, as well as where we envision ourselves in the next five years. We view this process as one of change, school improvement and growth in our students’ performances.

In line with our district’s strategic plan, we will be investigating two objectives: communication and technology. We plan to assess and reassess our students during a period of five years during which time we will be able to measure our students and their progress and thus provide ourselves with greater accountability.

Our community, parents, staff and students will all be stake holders in this mission. As we further develop our two objectives we will narrow our focus in order to be able to meet the needs of our particular student body. For example, in measuring our communications objectives we will measure reading, oral and written communication by using three rubrics: state, district and one designed by the faculty at our school. In communication we will seek an improvement of the mean of the MAT reading comprehension sub test for grades 2, 3 and 4 by 15 percentile points. We will also seek that students in grades 1, 2 and 5 will achieve grade level or above writing expectations based on the WSD writing portfolio and that students in grades K, 2 and 4 will achieve grade level or above success on oral communication expectations based on the SGEs Oral Communication Rubric. In measuring our technology objectives, using Shady Grove designed rubrics, teachers and students will be able to assess growth and improvement in multi-media research, exposure to technology as well as projects that are both teacher and student directed. Indeed, we will be involved in a continual review process whereby we move from our initial base line data to our higher expectations for each student.

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