School Learning Plan

Terra Linda Elementary School

Our Story:

Our Story:

Terra Linda is a community of educators, students, and families who demonstrate care for each and every student every day. This year, we have 284 K-5 students. According to our  2021-2022 School Profile, 16% of our students qualify for ELL services, 32% qualified for Meal Benefits in 2019-2020, and 14 different languages are spoken by our families. 
 

Our demographics are changing. In 2020-2021, we had 310 K-5 students with 32% qualifying for Meal Benefits. The year prior, we had 371 students with 38% qualifying for Meal Benefits. In three years, our student population has decreased by 87. Though we are small, there are some huge benefits. At our school, our students and families are known. Staff who interact with our whole school know every student’s name, and our office staff know every family. As a result, we have a very strong community where all are known and valued.
 

We also have two Structured Routines Center classrooms serving 20 students. Our students in the SRC each have a general ed classroom in which they participate for at least some of their events throughout the school year as well. Our students in our SRC are an important part of the Terra Linda community. 
 

Now that pandemic restrictions have been lifted, we will return to hosting several community events sponsored by our PTC. All events have free admission for students and families, and most have at least one item that is free for everyone with additional items available for purchase. Our goal is to make community events inclusive and accessible for all. 
 

Equity continues to be a primary focus for our staff. We continue to grow our understanding of our roles and responsibilities as anti-racist educators. Three years ago, our staff read Zaretta Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain, engaged in reflections about race and privilege, and learned about the difference between intent and impact as it applies to students and families of color. Two years ago, teachers focused on taking anti-bias/anti-racist actions in their classrooms and explored ways we can be equitable educators. Last year, we focused on knowing our students well, especially their interests and assets that they brought into our classrooms. We continue to challenge each other to talk about students using a growth mindset and to build on their strengths and genius. We continue to add books to our school and classroom libraries that provide both windows and mirrors for all of our students. There is optimism on our staff for the potential of each of our students! This year, we are also using a new Social Studies curriculum that highlights the important skills students need to contribute and thrive in a diverse democracy. We will also be incorporating weekly school-wide conversations during Morning Meetings focused on growing our culture of belonging for all students, staff, and families. Each week, we will share the videos and questions with families so similar conversations can happen at home. 
 

Our staff is also committed to the social and emotional growth of our students. Staff use a range of strategies to support Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Our Behavior Health and Wellness Team meets weekly to determine the best ways to support individual students with more challenging needs. This year we are including our Resource Teacher and our School Psychologist in most of these meetings so that we can more closely collaborate on supports for all students. Because our school is so small, all Certified Staff are members of the SEL Committee, allowing all staff to have monthly opportunities to communicate what is working and learn additional strategies together.
 

We are committed to academic growth as well as social-emotional growth. We have been working to improve our skills as teachers of reading, writing, and math. We have partnered with ELA and Math TOSAs for Professional Development as a full staff and in grade level teams. Teachers in each of our K-5 classrooms use the workshop model for instruction in reading, writing, and math and teach the required units using district-adopted curriculum. Through our use of whole group instruction, individual conferences and small groups in each content area, we are able to know our students well as readers, writers, and mathematicians and to differentiate our instruction based on their individual needs. We have partnered with staff developers at Teachers College who provided Professional Development (PD) to our teachers on Reading and Writing instruction. The impacts of the pandemic on our students’ academic levels is real. We are continuing to identify areas of need and doing our best to address the academic needs that are much more diverse than ever before. By building on students’ strengths, we are able to help them continue to grow.
 

We are supporting our English Language learners by keeping them in their assigned classrooms where they have full access to grade level instruction. Our full-time ELD teacher provides additional support by co-teaching during core academic time. She also meets with each team every other week to discuss strategies and structures that can support our language learners as well as all students who are still learning academic language. 
 

Terra Linda students have been participating in Camp Achieve for the past 8 summers. The goal last summer was for students to engage in academic and enrichment activities over four weeks. Our data continues to show that most participating students are able to maintain their skills over the summer as a result of participation in Camp Achieve. Last summer, we also offered a summer reading and math program called Summer Boost to 100 Terra Linda students. Funding was provided by a BEF grant. Each student selected 5-10 books at their reading level that were of high interest to them. Prior to summer break, students received a bag containing these brand new books, materials for math games, and online instructions for how to play the games. Students were encouraged to read their books and play math games throughout the summer and to send in pre-stamped letters to receive a gift certificate to local businesses. Our goal was to encourage reading and math activities all summer. For those who engaged in this opportunity, feedback was very positive. We hope to continue offering both summer programs as funding allows.

Date of Last Revision: November 15, 2022.

District Goal: WE empower all students to achieve post-high school success.