A. Culture and Community Context
From the school website...Lab School for Creative Learning " The Lab School for Creative Learning is an experiential, child centered school for children kindergarten through fifth grade. Here students are challenged to make the connections between the classroom and the outside world. Learning is hands-on, minds-on. The Lab School is a place where kids are encouraged to ask questions, think critically, and develop a love of learning.
"The child's mind is a fire to be ignited, not a pot to be filled." —John Locke
"In Expeditionary Learning School, learning expeditions are the primary way of organizing curriculum. The subject matter of a learning expedition is a compelling topic derived from content standards. Learning expeditions feature linked projects that require students to construct deep understanding and skills and to create products for real audiences. Learning expeditions support critical literacy, promote character development, create a sense of adventure, spark curiosity, and foster an ethic of service. They address central academic standards of content, skills and presentation and include goals related to character and community. They allow for and encourage the authentic integration of disciplines." (http://www.lab-school.org/expeditionary-learning.html)
Located in the beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado, the Lab School for Creative Learning is truly a unique school that is geared towards developing each student who comes to their doors . This school intentionally is built around helping students discover themselves through experience and they take advantage of the close mountains by going on expeditionary learning trips once a quarter. The mission of the lab school is to empower individuals to build knowledge through identity, inquiry and interaction. Some unique qualities of the school include that students stay in a classroom with the same teacher for two years, allowing for a build up of trust with the student and teacher as well as giving them the ability to master skills and teach those skills to the younger group. Students practice many 21st century skills early on, such as collaborative work, technology literacy, critical thinking and reasoning, self direction and invention.
B. Demographics 2011-2012 School Year ENROLLMENT
PK-12: 27,510
ETHIC BREAKDOWN
District Goals Poudre School District has created a variety of goals and objectives to help shepherd the district in ensuring that the mission to Educate Every Child Every Day is being fulfilled.
The Board of Education's District Ends Policy (DE 1.0) outlines the overarching goals for the district. The Superintendent is charged with implementing programs to fulfill these goals and objectives. DE 1.0 outlines PSD's five learning goals which seek to ensure that all students have a well-rounded education that prepares them to succeed in a changing world.
Through the improvement process, PSD also creates a Unified Improvement Plan each year with outlines areas for improvement and strategies and means by which the district is working to increase student achievement.
PSD Profile The Poudre School District is a high performing district in Northern Colorado. The district covers 1,856 square miles including Fort Collins, LaPorte, Timnath, Wellington, Red Feather, Livermore, Stove Prairie and parts of Windsor.
PSD's school choice program allows families to select the school that best meets their child's educational needs. More than 70% of PSD families choose to send their children to their neighborhood school, the school localed in the attendance area in which they live. Space permitting, families may choose to send their child to a neighborhood or choice school located outside of their attendance area.
PSD has 31 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, 7 high schools, 2 charter schools and 1 K-12 online school.
Approximately 11,500 students are safely transported to and from school every day by the 129 PSD school buses. Transportation is offered to and from school for full-day Kindergarten as well as all neighborhood schools. Transportation is not offerred for school choice.
D. Classroom Environment and Community
The Lab School is home to some very creative and unique individuals. Walking into the school that was once Moore Elementary, visitors get to see right away the level of investment the students put in their school. Different projects are displayed on every surface of the walls, proclaiming different classrooms' individuality. While the building is shared with Polaris, the expeditionary high school, one wing of the school holds the entire elementary division. At the very end of the hall sits a unique room filled full of learning. Alicia 4th and 5th grade class, closest to the playground, is an energetic learning environment. Alicia treats each student as an adult responsible for their own learning. When they walk into the room, they immediately go over to their designated coat areas to put away their things. Then they join the rest of the class in an area that consists of three futons situated around a circular desk and a SmartBoard situated on the wall. Alicia makes sure to greet each student and then she begins role. While taking role, Alicia gives the students the ability to share with the class anything exciting or interesting that has happened to them recently. The room is filled full of learning. Books are everywhere, there are 4 computers, and a variety of other resources that enhance student learning. The demographics of the classroom reflects Fort Collins, with mostly white students and an Asian American student. The students feed off of each others energy and they are always willing to help each other out. Bullying is not an issue in Alicia's class. All the students are respectful of themselves, each other and Alicia. Each student provides insightful feedback about how projects are going, what they need to do, and reflecting on what other artists have done.
Get an Idea of Each Student...
1. This female student is very creative and confident in her art making abilities.
2. This male student is very vocal and likes to express his opinions and beliefs. He wants things to look real and has difficulties "letting go" of his preordained ideas.
3. She is a student that is very personal and likes to talk about her life as they relate to her artwork.
4. This male student has a lot of great ideas it is just a matter of getting him to express them in his art.
5. He is a student that is incredibly creative and is a great problem solver. He is very advanced as it comes to his art making and needs to be challenged.
6. This male student is very vocal and like to express himself through his use of words and his artwork.
7. She is a quiet student who is a hard worker and does not need much help when formulating ideas or creating.
8. This female student is very intelligent and likes to express herself vocally.
9. This student is very creative and enjoys creating artwork as it relates to books she likes.
10. This student is very creative and uses her imagination to come up with interesting ideas and pieces of artwork.
11. This student works well with others and she likes to be around people.
12. He is a student that is a very creative individual and is a phenomenal dresser (always wearing the coolest clothes).
13. She sets high expectations for herself and can get stuck on a problem easily.
14. This student is very humorous and he likes to make people laugh.
15. This student likes to be outdoors and go on adventures.
16. Not sufficient info to determine characteristics/personality.
17. She is a student that has a superb vocabulary and likes to be by herself.
18. Not sufficient info to determine characteristics/personality.
E. School-wide Policy for Management, Safe Schools, Conflict Resolution, and Students with Special needs
The Security Department promotes an inclusive and safe climate through proactive and innovative services, relationships, and communication.
Safety Officers in PSD (http://www.psdschools.org/department/school-safety-security)
Campus Security Officers (CSO’s) and School Resource Officers (SRO’s) help keep students safe in Poudre School District.
As part of the district’s Security Department staff, Campus Security Officers work at all school sites as the Eyes and Ears of the district. Duties include site security; vehicle, bike, and foot patrol; special event coverage; and crisis response and assistance. To learn more and to see a listing of all CSO's, refer to the Campus Security Officers page.
School Resource Officers are certified police officers based at all district middle and senior high schools. SROs help maintain the school’s safe learning environment, improve school/law enforcement collaboration, and promote positive relations between students, staff and law enforcement officials. To learn more and to see a listing of SRO's, refer to the School Resource Officers page.
Security Systems The Security Department installs, repairs and supports all burglar alarms, access control, and digital video systems. If you have questions regarding security systems, please contact Norm Bastian ([email protected]) at 970-490-3523.
Safe Environment Assessments The Security Department conducts Safe Environment Assessments on all schools annually. An integrated assessment team, comprised of district personnel and local law enforcement officers, visits school sites to work with site administrators to identify and find solutions for any school safety concerns. For more information about safe environment assessments, please contact Shawn Streeter ([email protected]) at 970-490-3279.
Community/Parent Resources for dealing with Crises
Training The Security Department is available to assist sites by providing training opportunities in a variety of areas, including:
Response to Intervention (RtI) Response to Intervention is a framework that promotes a well-integrated system connecting general, compensatory, gifted, and special education in providing high quality, standards-based instruction and intervention that is matched to students' academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs.
The Colorado RtI Framework has evolved as we learn from implementation. There are no lines separating the tiers because we know that movement between tiers should be fluid; there are no "hoops" for children to jump through in order to receive more or less intensive interventions. The "flywheel" of the multi-tiered model is the Problem-Solving process. This process is how decisions are made regarding intensity and type of intervention students need.
The RtI framework is surrounded by "Family and Community" to illustrate the understanding that the education of the child goes beyond the walls of our schools into the homes and communities of our students and to emphasize the importance of partnerships with family and community to support student success.
English Language Learners (ELA)
English Language Acquisition (ELA) services help English Language Learners (ELLs) become proficient in everyday English, as well as classroom English, and to learn the necessary content to be successful in school and after graduation. All services include English language development and use of the Colorado English Language Proficiency Standards to differentiate for each student’s level of English language development. The strategies help each student reach English proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Gifted and Talented
All gifted Poudre School District youth are identified by their strength areas and needs. PSD educational programming is designed and implemented to match their identified needs. Student progress and achievement is monitored through on-going dynamic assessment. Teachers of gifted students participate in professional development to increase knowledge, skills and understanding of gifted students and required instruction.
Gifted children means those persons between the ages of five and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so outstanding that they require special provisions to meet their educational needs. Gifted students include gifted students with disabilities (i.e. twice exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations.
Special Needs
Under Section 504, any student with disabilities " is guaranteed a Free Appropriate Public Education (which is no different from special education and regular education students). “An appropriate education under section 504 means providing regular or special education and related aids and services (including assistive technology as necessary) to meet the individual educational needs of children with disabilities as adequately as children without disabilities are met.” We recommend that acase manager from general education be assigned to every 504 student to ensure the504 plan is being implemented" http://www.psdschools.org/sites/default/files/Section_504_Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf
From the school website...Lab School for Creative Learning " The Lab School for Creative Learning is an experiential, child centered school for children kindergarten through fifth grade. Here students are challenged to make the connections between the classroom and the outside world. Learning is hands-on, minds-on. The Lab School is a place where kids are encouraged to ask questions, think critically, and develop a love of learning.
"The child's mind is a fire to be ignited, not a pot to be filled." —John Locke
"In Expeditionary Learning School, learning expeditions are the primary way of organizing curriculum. The subject matter of a learning expedition is a compelling topic derived from content standards. Learning expeditions feature linked projects that require students to construct deep understanding and skills and to create products for real audiences. Learning expeditions support critical literacy, promote character development, create a sense of adventure, spark curiosity, and foster an ethic of service. They address central academic standards of content, skills and presentation and include goals related to character and community. They allow for and encourage the authentic integration of disciplines." (http://www.lab-school.org/expeditionary-learning.html)
Located in the beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado, the Lab School for Creative Learning is truly a unique school that is geared towards developing each student who comes to their doors . This school intentionally is built around helping students discover themselves through experience and they take advantage of the close mountains by going on expeditionary learning trips once a quarter. The mission of the lab school is to empower individuals to build knowledge through identity, inquiry and interaction. Some unique qualities of the school include that students stay in a classroom with the same teacher for two years, allowing for a build up of trust with the student and teacher as well as giving them the ability to master skills and teach those skills to the younger group. Students practice many 21st century skills early on, such as collaborative work, technology literacy, critical thinking and reasoning, self direction and invention.
B. Demographics 2011-2012 School Year ENROLLMENT
PK-12: 27,510
ETHIC BREAKDOWN
- Asian: 3.04%
- Black/African American: 1.36%
- Hispanic/Latino: 17.29%
- Native American: 0.54%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: .12%
- White: 74.47%
- Two or More: 2.62%
- STUDENT PROFILE
- Participating in Free/Reduced Lunch: 31.46%
- Special Education Programs: 8.17%
- Gifted and Talented Programs: 10.08%
- English Language Learner Programs: 8.84%
District Goals Poudre School District has created a variety of goals and objectives to help shepherd the district in ensuring that the mission to Educate Every Child Every Day is being fulfilled.
The Board of Education's District Ends Policy (DE 1.0) outlines the overarching goals for the district. The Superintendent is charged with implementing programs to fulfill these goals and objectives. DE 1.0 outlines PSD's five learning goals which seek to ensure that all students have a well-rounded education that prepares them to succeed in a changing world.
- Third grade reading proficiency
- Annual Academic Growth
- Post-Secondary Readiness
- Successful Transition
- Integration of Health and Wellness
Through the improvement process, PSD also creates a Unified Improvement Plan each year with outlines areas for improvement and strategies and means by which the district is working to increase student achievement.
PSD Profile The Poudre School District is a high performing district in Northern Colorado. The district covers 1,856 square miles including Fort Collins, LaPorte, Timnath, Wellington, Red Feather, Livermore, Stove Prairie and parts of Windsor.
PSD's school choice program allows families to select the school that best meets their child's educational needs. More than 70% of PSD families choose to send their children to their neighborhood school, the school localed in the attendance area in which they live. Space permitting, families may choose to send their child to a neighborhood or choice school located outside of their attendance area.
PSD has 31 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, 7 high schools, 2 charter schools and 1 K-12 online school.
Approximately 11,500 students are safely transported to and from school every day by the 129 PSD school buses. Transportation is offered to and from school for full-day Kindergarten as well as all neighborhood schools. Transportation is not offerred for school choice.
D. Classroom Environment and Community
The Lab School is home to some very creative and unique individuals. Walking into the school that was once Moore Elementary, visitors get to see right away the level of investment the students put in their school. Different projects are displayed on every surface of the walls, proclaiming different classrooms' individuality. While the building is shared with Polaris, the expeditionary high school, one wing of the school holds the entire elementary division. At the very end of the hall sits a unique room filled full of learning. Alicia 4th and 5th grade class, closest to the playground, is an energetic learning environment. Alicia treats each student as an adult responsible for their own learning. When they walk into the room, they immediately go over to their designated coat areas to put away their things. Then they join the rest of the class in an area that consists of three futons situated around a circular desk and a SmartBoard situated on the wall. Alicia makes sure to greet each student and then she begins role. While taking role, Alicia gives the students the ability to share with the class anything exciting or interesting that has happened to them recently. The room is filled full of learning. Books are everywhere, there are 4 computers, and a variety of other resources that enhance student learning. The demographics of the classroom reflects Fort Collins, with mostly white students and an Asian American student. The students feed off of each others energy and they are always willing to help each other out. Bullying is not an issue in Alicia's class. All the students are respectful of themselves, each other and Alicia. Each student provides insightful feedback about how projects are going, what they need to do, and reflecting on what other artists have done.
Get an Idea of Each Student...
1. This female student is very creative and confident in her art making abilities.
2. This male student is very vocal and likes to express his opinions and beliefs. He wants things to look real and has difficulties "letting go" of his preordained ideas.
3. She is a student that is very personal and likes to talk about her life as they relate to her artwork.
4. This male student has a lot of great ideas it is just a matter of getting him to express them in his art.
5. He is a student that is incredibly creative and is a great problem solver. He is very advanced as it comes to his art making and needs to be challenged.
6. This male student is very vocal and like to express himself through his use of words and his artwork.
7. She is a quiet student who is a hard worker and does not need much help when formulating ideas or creating.
8. This female student is very intelligent and likes to express herself vocally.
9. This student is very creative and enjoys creating artwork as it relates to books she likes.
10. This student is very creative and uses her imagination to come up with interesting ideas and pieces of artwork.
11. This student works well with others and she likes to be around people.
12. He is a student that is a very creative individual and is a phenomenal dresser (always wearing the coolest clothes).
13. She sets high expectations for herself and can get stuck on a problem easily.
14. This student is very humorous and he likes to make people laugh.
15. This student likes to be outdoors and go on adventures.
16. Not sufficient info to determine characteristics/personality.
17. She is a student that has a superb vocabulary and likes to be by herself.
18. Not sufficient info to determine characteristics/personality.
E. School-wide Policy for Management, Safe Schools, Conflict Resolution, and Students with Special needs
The Security Department promotes an inclusive and safe climate through proactive and innovative services, relationships, and communication.
Safety Officers in PSD (http://www.psdschools.org/department/school-safety-security)
Campus Security Officers (CSO’s) and School Resource Officers (SRO’s) help keep students safe in Poudre School District.
As part of the district’s Security Department staff, Campus Security Officers work at all school sites as the Eyes and Ears of the district. Duties include site security; vehicle, bike, and foot patrol; special event coverage; and crisis response and assistance. To learn more and to see a listing of all CSO's, refer to the Campus Security Officers page.
School Resource Officers are certified police officers based at all district middle and senior high schools. SROs help maintain the school’s safe learning environment, improve school/law enforcement collaboration, and promote positive relations between students, staff and law enforcement officials. To learn more and to see a listing of SRO's, refer to the School Resource Officers page.
Security Systems The Security Department installs, repairs and supports all burglar alarms, access control, and digital video systems. If you have questions regarding security systems, please contact Norm Bastian ([email protected]) at 970-490-3523.
Safe Environment Assessments The Security Department conducts Safe Environment Assessments on all schools annually. An integrated assessment team, comprised of district personnel and local law enforcement officers, visits school sites to work with site administrators to identify and find solutions for any school safety concerns. For more information about safe environment assessments, please contact Shawn Streeter ([email protected]) at 970-490-3279.
Community/Parent Resources for dealing with Crises
- Talking to Children About the Shooting
- Talking to Children About Violence: Information for Parents and Educators
- School Shootings: Helping Teens Cope, a Guide for Parents
- The Colorado Safety Resource Center
- Parent Resource
- Touchstone Health Partners
Training The Security Department is available to assist sites by providing training opportunities in a variety of areas, including:
- Crisis planning and response
- Crisis team development
- Table top exercises
- Crisis drills
- De-escalation tactics
- Security system operation
Response to Intervention (RtI) Response to Intervention is a framework that promotes a well-integrated system connecting general, compensatory, gifted, and special education in providing high quality, standards-based instruction and intervention that is matched to students' academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs.
The Colorado RtI Framework has evolved as we learn from implementation. There are no lines separating the tiers because we know that movement between tiers should be fluid; there are no "hoops" for children to jump through in order to receive more or less intensive interventions. The "flywheel" of the multi-tiered model is the Problem-Solving process. This process is how decisions are made regarding intensity and type of intervention students need.
The RtI framework is surrounded by "Family and Community" to illustrate the understanding that the education of the child goes beyond the walls of our schools into the homes and communities of our students and to emphasize the importance of partnerships with family and community to support student success.
English Language Learners (ELA)
English Language Acquisition (ELA) services help English Language Learners (ELLs) become proficient in everyday English, as well as classroom English, and to learn the necessary content to be successful in school and after graduation. All services include English language development and use of the Colorado English Language Proficiency Standards to differentiate for each student’s level of English language development. The strategies help each student reach English proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Gifted and Talented
All gifted Poudre School District youth are identified by their strength areas and needs. PSD educational programming is designed and implemented to match their identified needs. Student progress and achievement is monitored through on-going dynamic assessment. Teachers of gifted students participate in professional development to increase knowledge, skills and understanding of gifted students and required instruction.
Gifted children means those persons between the ages of five and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so outstanding that they require special provisions to meet their educational needs. Gifted students include gifted students with disabilities (i.e. twice exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations.
Special Needs
Under Section 504, any student with disabilities " is guaranteed a Free Appropriate Public Education (which is no different from special education and regular education students). “An appropriate education under section 504 means providing regular or special education and related aids and services (including assistive technology as necessary) to meet the individual educational needs of children with disabilities as adequately as children without disabilities are met.” We recommend that acase manager from general education be assigned to every 504 student to ensure the504 plan is being implemented" http://www.psdschools.org/sites/default/files/Section_504_Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf