MOUNTAINSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL UIP 2017-18 District: Fountain 8   |  Org ID: 1000  |   School ID: 6138  |   Framework: Improvement Plan: Meets 95% Participation  Open
My School Data Narrative Action Plans Collaboration
UIP Narrative Brief Description Prior Year Targets Current Performance Trend Analysis Priority Performance Challenges Root Causes

Brief Description

 Not Checked Complete & Ready to submit


Directions: In the text box below, provide a brief description of the school to set the context for readers. Include the general process for developing the UIP and participants involved (e.g., the School Accountability Committee). The description should include student demographics and local context (such as location, performance status, notable recent events or changes), stakeholders involved in writing the UIP, and an overview of the general improvement planning process. View the Quality Criteria for specific expectations in the Brief Description section.

Below this text box, there is an Enrollment and Demographics dashboard you can use to inform your Brief Description. This dashboard will not appear in the public UIP, but you may include screenshots in the text box of information you may want to highlight.

Mountainside Elementary School is a Title I school located on Fort Carson military installation and is a member of the Fountain-Fort Carson School District #8. It has approximately 500 students who attend kindergarten through fifth grade. The student turnover rate from school year to school year is approximately 50%. At this time 55% of our student population qualifies for federal free and/or reduced lunch prices, and nearly 95% of our students are military dependents. Mountainside Elementary School's UIP is developed annually through a collaborative process including Mountainside Elementary School's teaching staff, building administrators, and parents. The School Accreditation and Accountability Committee and other members of the instructional staff are involved in analysis of data in planning for consistent systemic improvement. After conducting a comprehensive needs assessment, the following priority performance challenges, root causes, and subsequent action steps are identified to be addressed for the upcoming school year.
 
Coordination of State, Federal, and Local Resource, School-wide Parent and Staff Involvement:
Stakeholders at Mountainside Elementary School include the accreditation team, staff, students, and parents the school serves. Mountainside stakeholders will work with state and District personnel to ensure federal, state, and local funds are coordinated to benefit our students to the strongest degree possible. We provide parents with the opportunity to know about their child’s academic and social development, how they can support the school, and how they can get involved in school activities through multiple methods (email, phone conversation, parent-teacher conferences, school and classroom newsletters, website, blogs, student planners …). Our parent compact is made available to parents at the first semester parent-teacher conferences. Parents will be provided access to speak directly with school staff about parent involvement in the school. Additionally, our parent compact will be made available to all new families to Mountainside Elementary School. Parents will be surveyed in the second semester of the school year to determine their satisfaction and areas where Mountainside can improve in providing a quality educational environment. The Multi-tiered Systems of Support program is strong at Mountainside for students that are in need of additional academic and behavioral support. MTSS case managers coordinate interventions, collaborate with classroom teachers, and communicate with parents to address specific targeted areas in need of growth, based on individual student data and school-wide data analysis. There are a large number of clubs and activities that are scheduled over the school year to allow students to explore new areas of interest, support areas of need, or pursue areas of strength. Finally, these activities help to build relationships between students, parents, and our school.
 
Preschool Transition for Students to Mountainside Elementary School:
As Mountainside Elementary School works to effectively partner with the early childhood programs that feed into our school the following steps are executed to ensure a quality transition:
  • School staff meet with parents on an annual basis to inform transitioning parents about services provided;
  • Conduct a Kindergarten Round-up process where parents and incoming students are introduced to Mountainside through a presentation by kindergarten teachers highlighting curricular components, communicate behavioral expectations, provide a snapshot of the academic day, and address any questions that may be posed;
  • Transition Meetings are held for students with special needs;
  • Conduct a Title I informational meeting.
 
Highly Qualified Instructional Staff:
Fountain-Fort Carson School District Eight strives to ensure competitive salaries and high quality work environments for all staff. In order to effectively provide a high quality educational program to all students at Mountainside Elementary School, the District’s highly qualified hiring components will be strictly adhered to throughout the school hiring process. Once highly qualified teachers are employed at Mountainside Elementary School they will be supported through:
  • The district mentor program
  • The building mentor coordinator
  • Their grade level team
  • Grade level collaboration meeting time
  • Regularly scheduled staff meetings focusing on professional learning and professional development.
    • Dedicated collaborative time for staff focusing in the areas of Reading, Math, Writing, and Student Behaviors/Building-wide Culture
  • Feedback and coaching from their building administrator(s)
  • Professional development opportunities offered at the building-level and district-level in areas such as:
    • Implementation and training on adopted instructional programming
    • Utilization of instructional resources
    • Pedagogy
    • Data analysis on student performance
    • Behavioral and emotional student support
    • District-designed Teaching & Learning Frameworks
    • Deconstruction of grade level standards, creation of learning targets, alignment of formative and summative assessments