2014-15 a Wonderful Year at Live Oak!

By Tamra Taylor, Superintendent Live Oak Elementary School District

I want to start by thanking all students, parents, and staff for a great year! We are proud to say that this year was full of accomplishments– too many to describe here. But I’d like to specifically acknowledge the hard work our teachers did in implementing the new Common Core-aligned curriculum, and the support our parent community demonstrated for their students’ learning when questions and concerns around the curriculum arose.

For instance, the parent-oriented Math Nights held at each elementary school were well-attended and dynamic and it was heartening to see so many parents take an interest in their student’s academic success. We will be holding more Family Learning Nights in the future based on the positive feedback we received about this event. (Continue reading for other new activities included in our Local Control Accountability Plan based on community input.)

We are so proud that two of our schools were able to earn Chromebook carts stocked with Chromebooks based on their performance in the Khan Academy’s LearnStorm competition. And Shoreline students scored so well, a group was invited to attend the LearnStorm Finals Celebration held at the Google campus in May. Shoreline students also competed in the annual Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition sponsored by MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education). Shoreline’s team created a Remotely Operated Vehicle that navigated different challenges under the water at the Aptos High School pool.

Students met every Monday after school, beginning in September, to learn about underwater research, designing a ROV, electrical work, and wiring. Meanwhile, fifth graders from Live Oak Elementary worked together after school to build an earthquake-safe structure for the TECH challenge, a prestigious engineering and design contest organized and sponsored by The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. We will continue to seek out opportunities for our students to engage in real-world experiences utilizing 21st Century skills as we prepare them for high school and beyond.

Our attention to student demonstration of 21st Century skills reflects one of the District’s four goals (Goal 2), which I refer to regularly in this column. Our four goals: 1. Family Engagement; 2. Culture of Learning; 3. Physical and Psychological Wellness; and 4. Academic Achievement are also reflected in our 2015-16 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), which details all of the actions and services we will provide to students. I want to share with you some of the new services aligned to our four goals that we selected based on community input.

Goal 1: To support the “Family Learning Nights” referred to previously, we will be recruiting parent and teacher liaisons at each school site to plan the content of the nights as well as the supporting materials to be sent home with families to support ongoing learning.

Goal 2: We will expand pilot units in science and engineering which feature project-based learning and student demonstration of 21st century skills.

These units include our Simple Machines LEGO project, hands-on FOSS science, a new marine and coastal education project funded by the Coastal Commission’s Whale Tale fund, and 3D modeling and printing at the middle school.

Goal 3: We will be hiring a recess coach at each school site and providing training in the Playworks curriculum to (in-school and after school) elementary playground staff. We will also be repairing and/or adding water fountains at school sites and making significant repairs to the running track at Del Mar Elementary School.

Goal 4: To specifically support our population of English Learners, we will be providing two Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs) that specialize in English Language Development, as well as an ELD mentor at each school site. Many teacher professional development activities focused on these students’ learning will occur during the course of the year as well. We will provide release time for interested teachers to collaborate on ways to integrate the visual and performing arts into English language arts. Finally, Shoreline Middle School will feature a longer day to ensure all students have access to an elective.

I want to thank the community members and district staff who participated in our action planning meetings during which these activities were discussed. We are very excited for 2015-16, but in the meantime, please enjoy your summer and make sure your child reads (or is read to) every day!