Manatee Elementary

School Information

School Name: Manatee Elementary
School District: Brevard County
School Address: 3452 Viera Blvd., Viera, FL 32940
School Phone: 321.433.0050
School Fax: 321.433.9927
Principal: Carl R. Brown
Principal Email: brown.carl@brevardschools.org
Web Address: http://manatee.sp.brevardschools.org/default.aspx

Demographics

Number of Students: 898
Percent eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 13.5%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 3.56%
Percent of Special Education: 15.7%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White: 73.6%
• Black: 6.57%
• Hispanic: 7.79%
• Asian: 4.67%
• Other: 7.27%

Student Achievement Data

Scale: % at or above proficient on the FCAT for school/district/state

Grade 3	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2011	96/82/76	97/79/72	NA	NA
2010	91/81/76	91/79/72	NA	NA
2009	90/82/78	89/79/71	NA	NA

 

Grade 4	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2011	98/76/74	93/77/71	93/84/81	NA
2010	91/80/74	86/80/72	100/94/94	NA
2009	93/80/75	92/84/74	96/86/84	NA

 

Grade 5	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2011	86/69/63	87/76/69	NA	78/64/51
2010	90/70/63	90/79/69	NA	79/62/49
2009	77/70/62	86/80/71	NA	70/58/46

 

Grade 6	Math	Reading	Writing	Science
2011	97/78/57	95/81/67	NA	NA
2010	87/76/57	83/81/67	NA	NA
2009	94/73/55	92/82/66	NA	NA

Manatee Elementary has earned the governor’s recognition of A School Award for all eight years we have been open.  We consistently score above the state and district averages in all academic areas on standardized testing.  Through the collaboration of our teachers during the Grade Level Team meetings teachers identify areas of weakness and strategize ways to remediate students.

Please present any additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact upon students and/or teachers.

At Manatee Elementary School we have been striving to become more collaborative for 4 years. Teachers meet weekly to collaborate and analyze data to assess student needs. During the 2008-2009 school year we began holding Grade level team meetings school-wide. Teams meet once a month to share strategies and techniques to improve teacher effectiveness. We share student work samples and discuss strategies to improve student engagement and learning. Prior to the 2010-2011 year, a team of administrators and teacher leaders attended a full day workshop “Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life” with Dr. Rick DuFour and Becky DuFour. The teacher leaders then participated in a book study of “Learning by Doing” (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker and Many, 2010). Due to the implementation of a new math curriculum, we utilized the Grade Level Team meetings to analyze the new program, come up with essential learning benchmarks and discuss curriculum pacing. The teams worked to come up with common assessments and testing norms.  Once assessments were given, the results were analyzed and teachers shared strategies to provide intervention for struggling students.

Please elaborate upon strategies you have found to be effective in any of the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Each teacher through the data analysis (A3 system) will analyze the data for their individual class at the beginning of the school year. Within their own classrooms teachers will create a plan for small group, individualized instruction including specific times, curriculum, method of delivery and assessment.

Teachers meet in data team meetings to create intervention plans and problems solve ways to best reach all learners. During these meetings, teachers create curriculum plans to meet the needs of all students in the grade level. Teachers also follow district pacing guides in all subject areas to ensure that all required curriculum will be covered.  In areas of academic focus teams of teachers created skill specific pacing guides to facilitate this process.

Teachers utilize district assessments; FAIR testing, SRI testing, assessments that correlate with the textbook series and teacher team- made assessments throughout the year to monitor student progress. Additional assessment include; running records, PSI, DAR and DRA. Teams reviews all background information and baseline data. Following the collection of this data a target concern is selected and academic or behavioral goals are set. Team members collaborate in the design of an intervention plan and select methods for progress monitoring.

Data sources include:
FCAT              District required assessments
A3                   PASI/PSI
FAIR               Stages of behavior plans

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

There are many systems in place to ensure additional supports are given to students.  Within each classroom teachers deliver instruction a minimum of ninety minutes of reading and 60 minutes of math.  Those blocks of time are set up to include small group instruction. 

An additional 30 minutes daily is scheduled for all students to participate in intervention classes (Walk to Intervention).  Students are grouped within the grade level to attend a class based on need; some students attend intervention while others participate in enrichment.  All students participate in Walk to Intervention during this time.  These groups meet in cycles with the teachers meeting weekly in Data Team meetings to discuss progress.  Within these meetings teams clarify proficiency standards for each assessment.  Students are progress monitored and regrouped based on need.  One classroom in the school is dedicated as the Data Room.  All student names are listed on a board for data tracking.  The boards will allow for tracking students’ progress on specific data points (variety of assessments).

Third grade struggling readers participate in the Voyager program, a daily intensive reading mastery program.  The exceptional education teachers offer support in a push in or pull out model based on student need.  The exceptional education teachers also attend Data Team and Grade Level Team meetings.  The academic support teacher is available four days a week to support teachers.  She works within the classroom in a co-teach model with the teacher or does pull out remediation with students.  Teachers sign up to have this extra teacher support them in their classroom as needed.

3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students.

Teachers at Manatee Elementary have common planning times to meet weekly to discuss student progress and collaborate to share strategies that can be used in the classroom.  Each grade level has a facilitator to disseminate information from the principal throughout the year.  Each grade level also has a Data Team Coordinator to facilitate meetings.  These meeting are designed to foster collaboration among the team in sharing strategies to improve student learning.  Through the sharing of effective ideas and strategies teachers are better equipped to deliver engaging and effective student instruction.

During the preplanning week teachers participate in activities to develop a culture of collaboration.  Administrators and teacher leaders share strategies for highly effective teams.  New teams will be allowed the opportunity to develop their skills of community, collaboration and consensus through a variety of activities.  Teams also review assessment data from previous year to create SMART goals to align with the school improvement plan.

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

• A+ School (Governor’s Award)
• Attain Award (Technology)
• Music Demonstration School Award
• Art Demonstration School Award
• 17 National Board Certified teachers
• Recipient of the Keep Brevard Beautiful Award
• 2 Phil Mickelson Math and Science Certified Teachers
• Golden School Award (Volunteer hours)
• Numerous yearly awards for district competitions include; Math Bowl, Quality Literature, Odyssey of the Mind, Robotics and Art Show.