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Good News From Bass Lake School District

OAKHURST — Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School District recently made a report available for community review, celebrating key accomplishments within the district in the 2016-17 school year, and sharing information about the future.

The Board of Trustees of the District include President Curt Pollock, Vice President Dalene Stephens, Clerk Stella Pizello, with Board Members Ronda Clarke and Julie Greenwood. In March, long-time District Superintendent Glenn Reid announced his retirement effective this year. On May 4, the Board announced that his replacement is expected to be Randy Seals, who is currently the Principal at Yosemite High School in the Yosemite Unified School District.

District Mission Statement: Every Child . . . A Promise

“We will provide an education that emphasizes reading, mathematics, science, technology, communication skills and a broad based exposure to cultural, fine arts and other academic disciplines.

“This education will be achieved in an environment which enhances integrity, respect, responsibility, and compassion for others. We recognize that these values are best learned when modeled by all adults and children.”

Student Accomplishments

  • Oakhurst Elementary School (OES): 4th/5th grade students volunteer to help with Kindergarten recess in the morning and at lunch, helping to monitor students in the multi-purpose room before school, and serving as line leaders to help get younger students to class. A total of 120 students in grades 1-5 earned an Academic Achievement Award for the First Quarter and were treated to a movie extravaganza at the Yosemite High School Theater. 132 students earned this honor for the Second Quarter. As of this printing, OES students have read 14,198 books with a total of 58,123,200 words. For the 4th Quarter, a total of 173 OES students in Grades 1-5 earned a Citizenship Award and earned a PE Extravaganza reward. 81 OES students participated in the annual Peach Blossom Festival at Fresno State. All earned superior ratings.
  • Oak Creek Intermediate (OCI): the Girls’ and Boys’ Basketball Teams took first place in the Mountain Area Tournament, for the girls it was the fifth consecutive year. OCI was the recipient of a Chukchansi Community Grant, purchasing round outdoor tables for students, a high-jump pit, library books, new trees and a recreation area. 80 percent of OCI students participated in at least one Red Ribbon Week activity. Community Service activities supported by OCI include a partnership with the Community Wellness Center, raising money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, participation in the annual Town Christmas Tree Lighting and the holding of a Book Drive to benefit Madera Children’s Services. They collected over 400 books.
  • Wasuma Elementary School: 40 students were recognized for being “Outstanding Wildcats” and their pictures put up on the Wall of Fame in the cafeteria. Four middle school students were recognized for community service through the Make A Difference campaign. The Student body raised money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Three middle school students from Wasuma wrote a grant to obtain funds for medicine balls to be used in PE.
  • Eastern Madera County Spelling Bee: a 3rd and a 6th grade student from Wasuma School won for their age brackets and a student at Oak Creek Intermediate took third place in the 8th grade competition. A total of 51 students from Oakhurst Elementary School competed in this contest.
  • Madera County Academic Pentathlon: a 7th grade student from Wasuma won two silver medals and one bronze Medal. An OCI 7th grader won a gold medal in math.
  • Madera County Middle School Math Competition: OCI 7th graders took second place in the Circuit Training competition and first place in the Mad Hatter. The 8th graders from OCI took home first place in the Circuit Training relay and second place in Leap Frog. Wasuma 7th graders earned a third place in the Super Quiz and a first place in the Math Relay. The 8th graders took second place in the individual test and third places in the Super Quiz and Math Relay.

Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School District
Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School District’s Local Control Achievement Plan (LCAP Goals adopted June) goals are:

High Quality Instruction: All students will be provided high quality instruction and learning opportunities that will prepare them for success in college and the workplace.

Clean, caring and Secure Environment: All students will be taught by highly qualified professionals in a clean, caring and secure environment.

Individualizing Academic Challenges for All: All students will have access to quality intervention programs and enrichment activities with an emphasis on individualizing academic challenges for all.

Engaged Stakeholders: All stakeholders will be engaged in the learning process by promoting opportunities that strengthen the skills, competencies and abilities of students, parents, staff and community.

Goal 1
High Quality Instruction

      • The district’s staff continues to work diligently to incorporate new teaching standards and instructional techniques in every classroom.
      • Technology has been made readily available to all students in the district. Each student in grades two through eight has access to a Chromebook in their classroom.  Classrooms in Kindergarten and First grade will enjoy a 2 students to 1 Chromebook ratio in fall of 2017.
      • Received and analyzed the results of the Smarter Balanced computer based assessments. The Bass Lake District scored in the top 10% in Math and in the top 25% in Reading/Language Arts when compared to 122 school districts in Central California and across 6 counties.
      • All teachers have received continued focused training in utilizing the Step Up to Writing process to support instruction in the critical skill of writing.
      • The District’s Technology Coach works with teachers and supports them in incorporating technology into their daily lessons. He also works with students on computer science and coding.  All 4th through 8th grade students have the opportunity to participate in this instruction.
      • The District’s Technology Coach also works with small groups of teachers who are allowed release time during the school day to select from a variety of “elective” classes to further develop their skills. This year the classes were actually taught by teachers to their fellow teachers.
      • Teacher collaboration time has been provided to all teachers due to early release schedules on Monday afternoons throughout the year and in monthly grade-level planning opportunities during the school day for regular Kindergarten through 5th
      • With a great deal of effort by teachers, students and parents, the highly regarded Eureka Math program was successfully implemented across the District. This implementation will continue in the coming years – creating mathematical thinkers out of our students.
      • Worked with a group of teacher leaders on Reading/Language Arts instruction leading to the adoption of materials that are clearly aligned to new Reading/Language Arts standards. The new adoptions will be in place for the 17-18 school year.

Goal 2
Clean, Caring and Secure Environments

        • Updated our School Safety Plan and regularly conduct emergency drills with the cooperation of Madera County emergency response teams.
        • Our on-line maintenance program allows any staff member to request that a classroom or playground safety or maintenance issue be addressed.
        • Parent Surveys indicated a strong feeling that the district’s facilities are well-maintained and are clean and attractive. Facilities Inspection Tool results are in the good to excellent range for all sites.  Regular safety inspections take place at each campus.
        • A full-time Counselor/Psychologist provides needed emotional support for students.
        • School suspensions are down districtwide, as are Truancies and Chronic Absenteeism (missing more than 10% of the school year).
        • A summer maintenance crew worked on grounds and other campus beautification projects at each site. They will be back at work this summer with a whole new list of projects.
        • Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports strategies leading to the creating of positive and supportive school environments have been implemented at all campuses. Ask your students what PRIDE (OES), PAWS (Wasuma) and PACK (OCI) stand for. They can tell you!

Goal 3
Individualizing Instruction for All

        • Strong and effective academic intervention programs that address the needs of students not meeting standards are in place at all school sites.
        • After-School Homework Clubs at each site are staffed by credentialed teachers. Student attendance at these sessions continues to grow.
        • Individualizing instruction has been facilitated by software applications that allow students to be challenged at an academic level that is appropriate to them.

Goal 4
Engaged Stakeholders

        • Communication with the school is encouraged, and opportunities to do so are varied and plentiful. The Parent Portal allows parents of 4th through 8th grade students to check on student grades and progress 24/7.  Newsletters and calendars keep parents informed about school activities, as does Blackboard Connect – an automated calling system.  The district and school sites all have informative websites to aid in communication, and many of the teachers have created excellent websites for their classrooms.
        • The Transportation Department established a Facebook page to communicate with parents about road conditions and potential bus delays.
        • Parents are surveyed annually, affording them an opportunity to evaluate the district’s efforts to provide a powerful educational experience for its students. Information from this survey is used to develop goals and activities to better meet the needs of our students.
        • A translator continues to work with non-English speaking parents to help them work cooperatively with the schools in support of their students.

Board Leadership

        • Maintained a commitment to effective governance by the School Board team through the utilization of a board member developed Board Member Handbook.
        • The entire Board attended training on Board Leadership in January sponsored by the California School Boards Association.
        • Continued the implementation of LCAP and Strategic Plan goals that describe the District’s efforts to improve student achievement by addressing curriculum, professional development, instruction, assessment and student and parent engagement.
        • Exercised fiscal responsibility by aligning financial resources with district plans and goals. The district reported positive certifications at the first and second interim reporting periods.
        • Took action to save District taxpayers $620,000 over the life of the Measure R Bond payments by refinancing current bond debt to a lower interest rate.
        • Successfully completed the sale of surplus properties: the Bass Lake School and the Mountain Home School properties.
        • Approved a grant funded construction project at OCI to connect the school’s drinking water supply to Hillview Water Company. This project has been in the works for 6 years.

For more information contact the Bass Lake School District.

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