Schools awarded Golden Bells Kimberly Epler, Staff Writer ENCINITAS -Two special programs at local elementary schools have been honored by the California School Boards Association with Golden Bell Awards - Ocean Knoll Elementary School in the Encinitas Union School District and Cardiff Elementary School in the Cardiff School District will be honored Dec. 5 at the 19th annual Golden Bell Award ceremony. The CSBA is a nonprofit organization representing more than 1,000 school districts and county offices of education across the state. To qualify for the Golden Bell Award, the school programs must be in place for at least three years, able to be implemented by other districts and have proven results. Ocean Knoll received the award for the Reading and math Excel Program, which concentrates on at-risk students in kindergarten through the sixth grade. Students performing below grade level receive supplemental attention and work with adults in small groups of three or four children. The program also offers an hour-long session before school where approximately 30 children a day receive help with homework and additional support in math and reading. Last year, 185 children went through the program, said Owen O'Connor, principal of Ocean Knoll. The primary goal of the program - run by teachers Louise Davis, Suzie Sherwin and Rafael Olavide - is to provide a support structure that enables student to achieve grade level standards, he said. "We're really proud of the program and the teachers and parent community are behind it as well" O'Connor said. Cardiff Elementary School is being honored for a literacy program that encompasses every student in grades one through three. Each child receives 30 minutes of intensive reading instruction three days a week. A group of trained classified employees - called hit teams - rotates through the classrooms each week and meets in small groups with children to work on reading skills. The students are divided in- to groups, based on their abilities, to build the confidence of children reading below grade- level and challenge students reading above grade-level, said Cardiff Principal Julie Dunlap, who developed the program four years ago. The hit teams are part of a larger Reading Improvement Program designed to meet the district's goal of having all children reading at or above grade- level by the third grade, she said. In two years, the school raised reading and language arts scores on a state standardized test by 34 percent. The difference is that students receive consistent, guided reading instruction with an adult at their individual grade level, Dunlap said. The district employees who work on hit teams go through an initial training session and meet twice a month with mentor teachers for additional training. "It's really made a difference in the children's confidence and in their achievement scores," Dunlap said. "These hit-team people are incredible. They take their job so seriously. It's really great to see." |
