Windsor Creek Elementary School opened a new third grade class
Dec. 3 for advanced placement students to accommodate the school’s
rapidly increased enrollment.
Superintendent Steve Herrington said the new class that started
Dec. 3 was created to accommodate the state required class size
reduction for kindergarten, first, second and third grades. He said
these grades are required to have no more than 20.44 average
students on a daily basis.
“We have to reduce the class because of the class size
reduction,” he said. “As long as the yearly daily average is 20.44,
you can have your 22 students come mid-year.”
Herrington said the school district’s increasing enrollment has
been pushing the limits of class size reduction.
Principal Maureen Grafeld said Windsor Creek’s enrollment is at
a record of 524 students, including 258 third graders, and still
continues to grow.
Herrington said the schools usually see an increase in
enrollment midway through the year. “We normally see an increase in
enrollment after the winter break. We tend to see the pattern
change in January,” he said.
This year the school year started with high enrollment and
Grafeld said the administration decided to make a new class to
avoid any financial penalties from the state for not meeting the
class size reduction requirement.
There are 20 students in the new class and they were pulled from
the 12 preexisting third grade classes.
“We had to take one, two, or three from each room,” Grafeld
said. “We wanted to make this experience as positive as possible
for students leaving a classroom they may have been in since
Aug.”
To help students transition into the new class, the
administration started the class in the beginning of Dec. rather
than Jan. so students would have more time to spend together before
returning from winter break.
“We wanted the students to be together during the breaks so they
could bond. It is a great time for them to bond and be together,”
she said.
Grafeld said the administration also decided to make it an
advanced placement class to get the students excited about joining
the class. She said students have been excited and parents have
been supportive of the change.
“Parents have been extremely supportive and very excited and
giving their students a strong message that this is a good thing.
That is a key piece for students, they look to their parents to see
if things are a positive thing or negative thing sometimes,” she
said.
Herrington said the new class is designed for students who have
shown signs of accelerated learning. “It is an accelerated class
grouping, we decided we would make it for the students who
demonstrate many of the skills of advanced placement,” he said.
Although these students have given outstanding academic
performances, they have not been tested for the gifted child
program that starts in fourth grade said Grafeld.
She said students in the advanced placement class were chosen
based on their state test scores and classroom academic performance
rather than the Raven Test given to students for the gifted
program.
“This is an accelerated class,” she said. “We decided to build a
class based on their performance and we used the Star scores (state
test scores). We looked at their star test scores and their report
cards and asked for teacher recommendations and looked at student
behavior and student responsibility.”
The class is taught by Alisa Haley, who holds a masters in
Curriculum and Instruction, has twelve years teaching experience
and for the past two years has taken part in a job share with
fellow third grade teacher, Robin Brown.
Grafeld said Haley has been teacher of the year and volunteered
to teach the class when she found out her daughter would be a
student in it.
“We were pleased because the children already knew her, and her
daughter is also in the class. Her daughter was selected first and
when (Haley) realized her daughter was in the class she realized it
was an opportunity for her to take part in helping these students,”
Grafeld said.
Even though the new class is viewed a good thing for students,
Grafeld said that the growth comes with a price. “We had to disband
our science lab. Many of the materials had to go back to classroom
teachers. We don’t have any space for a science lab any more,” she
said. “That is a little bit of sadness that happens when you
grow.”
She said the science lab was a great asset for the students and
the loss of such a tool is a result of the major growth in the
school district’s enrollment.
“This absolutely reinforces the district’s plea to the community
that we have a growth problem. They are asking for funding for a
new school, new site and much needed facilities to almost every
campus,” she said.
Herrington credits the school’s increased enrollment to the
attraction Windsor holds for young families. “We’re continuing to
grow, this is evidence that the district grows progressive
throughout the years as families move into the community,” he said.
“I just think the community itself provides for families, it
ensures a safe school environment, and test scores are strong.”
The school’s bond measure will be on the ballot in Feb.
2008.
