Galt elementary district alters school lineup

Emily Peckham is the principal of Vernor E. Greer Elementary in Galt. Greer is one of the schools that is changing because of the reconfiguration in Galt Joint Union Elementary School District. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Galt elementary district alters school lineup

City gears up for districtwide change

By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Thursday, July 24, 2008 6:28 AM PDT

Comments (4 comment(s))

A little more than a month from now, many Galt Elementary parents will be taking their children to different schools.

Instead of continuing at Fairsite Elementary, many students will be dropped off at Greer Elementary School, formerly Greer Middle School.

And instead of going to Greer Middle School, all junior highers will meet at McCaffrey Middle on their first day of school.

The change is part of Galt Joint Union Elementary School District's decision to restructure schools in response to declining enrollment, a revenue decrease and a mass exodus of students from under-performing schools.

However, Superintendent Karen Schauer said, the changes go far beyond dropping students off at another location. Schauer said the district is working to make students' time in the classroom relevant to their lives.

District officials are banking on the idea that by integrating state-determined standards into projects that are relevant to students' lives, not only will student achievement go up, but schools will produce more well-rounded, engaged students.

"We think youth development is central to student learning," Schauer said.

Reconfiguration changes for the 2008-09 school year

Valley Oaks Elementary and Greer Middle School become second-through-sixth-grade schools.

River Oaks, Marengo Ranch and Lake Canyon elementary schools become kindergarten-through-sixth-grade schools.

Fairsite Elementary School becomes a preschool-through-first-grade school.

All seventh and eighth-grade students go to McCaffrey Middle School.

Reconfiguration considerations for the 2009-10 school year

Redefine boundaries to balance school demographics, size and special needs students.

Decide whether Greer Elementary will be a kindergarten-through-sixth-grade, a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade or a preschool-through-eighth-grade school.

Close Fairsite Elementary School and decided how to use the property.

Source: Galt Joint Union Elementary School District

To do that, the district plans to continue its work with service learning. Service learning involves students taking up a cause of their own choosing either at their school or in their community. Teachers take the student-picked task and incorporate lessons that cover state standards. In the process, students learn more about both service and traditional school subjects by taking ownership of the project.

For instance, students can learn the basics of plant science through planting a new flower bed at their school.

When students are invested in the project and have something outside the classroom to relate their lessons to, they're more likely to retain them, said the superintendent.

Schauer said she's seen classrooms where this strategy has worked.

"The recess bell has rung, and the children and the teacher don't hear it," she said.

The district will also further its character education program, where teachers work teaching good character traits into their everyday lessons.

Fairsite School staff, which will serve pre-school-through-first-grade students, will focus on early education to get students up to speed quickly so they start second grade with the knowledge they need.

"It's much easier to close the achievement gap and get them at grade-level early on," Schauer said.

Emily Peckham, new principal at Greer Elementary, said she just can't wait to see the students' smiling faces at the end of August.

"(We're) providing students with some really exciting learning opportunities," Peckham said in her new office on Wednesday afternoon.

Two resources that Peckham is most excited about are the piano instruction room and the art room, left over from Greer's middle school days.

She's also looking forward to the specialized staff who will have offices at her school, including a data analyst and a Gifted and Talented Education specialist.

"We're providing students with some really exciting learning opportunities," Peckham said.

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

PAL wrote on Jul 24, 2008 12:16 PM:

" I am all for kids learning another language, be it english or spanish, tagalog, french, etc. My opposition is there are specific times for those lessons. America's official language is english. Butchered english but still english. All classes should be taught in english.
Now I am going to get respondes of english will not be the official language for long, there are more spanish speakers. Well, until its changed then speak and teach in english. When it is changed speak and teach in spanish. "

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marzo2008 wrote on Jul 24, 2008 7:53 AM:

" maybe it's time for you to learn spanish "galt citizen". people in other countries know and speak more than one langage. But here in the good old USA most "only" speak English. It's time for everyone to see that our future will be in many langages. All the students should be Honor students,but that depends on "how they are being taught". If you think that your kid is falling behind in school you need to help them out. The school is not going to help if they can't keep up. Go to the library and look over their homework. "

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galt citizen wrote on Jul 24, 2008 7:34 AM:

" Despite hundreds of parents and faculty letting the school board and superintendent know they are fully against this restructure, the school board voted for this. It was a rushed decision, and clearly not thought out. The schools need to stop coddling the english learners and focus on getting them to speak, read and write english. All of the schools literature is in english and spanish. This will never get the kids to learn english and its not cost effective to the school district. The schools need to change their focus and cater more towards the honor students who will bring up the test scores for the state. "

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galt citizen wrote on Jul 24, 2008 7:30 AM:

" The only reason this restructuring was done was because Greer and Fairsite were on their 5th year of performing under state standards and was about to be taken over by the govt. The only thing that could save them was to restructure the entire school district so they could start off at year 1 again. They have had to buy 3 new buses to get the middle school students to the east side of town. "

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