Our Mission
To empower every person to become a self-directed, lifelong learner through a positive partnership of family, school and community. Everyone Connected, Everyone Challenged, Everyone Successful!
Our Learning Programs - "At Standard and Beyond"
We continue to aggressively shape programs and practices which engage students while meeting federal and state "No Child Left Behind" expectations. Our school improvement plan and "Redesign" Program focus on providing programs that best help students meet and exceed these learning expectations.
We have studied how we use time, staffing, curriculum materials, and technology as we streamline to provide the most powerful learning experiences possible. We are using student achievement data to adjust more quickly to individual student learning needs more consistently.
In our quest to teach the "whole child," our staff also lends attention to various programs that help develop student capabilities. We attempt to challenge qualified students through our Highly Capable Program, and welcome English Language Learners (ELL) by providing learning support for those whose home language is other than English. Finally, we place an emphasis on "intervening" at the earliest possible time. The future is so much more linked to success for all due to these types of efforts by students and school!
Our staff utilizes the renowned Full Option Science Systems (FOSS) science kits as part of their elementary curriculum. The school is one of eight Southwest Washington districts that received a $1.2 million National Science Foundation Grant to expand science curriculum and strengthen elementary teachers' understanding of science principles and processes. Beginning its 9th full year, our school continues to train teachers who in turn provide quality science learning experiences for students.
Our Students
Our students represent a growing diversity of backgrounds. As our community and school programs continue to expand, our school remains grounded in the small town values that keep our community strong. We want Columbia Elementary to be a place of "Connection, Challenge, and Success" for all children!
Our Staff
Students and the community benefit from an array of talents our staff team possesses. The average teacher in our building has been teaching for over 14 years and is actively committed to our students. All staff is here for kids and care about the best interests of every student. Even as our staff develops new instructional practices, a constant focus is on engaging, encouraging and modeling positive behavior among students.
Our Facility
Our school was modernized in 1993 and became the primary school for grades K-3 when North Fork Elementary School (then configured as Woodland Intermediate School) opened in 1998. Steady growth within the Woodland community necessitated the construction of a new Woodland High School which opened Fall 2015. In 2019, our schools underwent a reconfiguration resulting in Columbia Elementary now housing Kindergarten through fourth grade.
Our Goals - "At Standard and Beyond"
Our school continues with a Redesign process that calls for us to constantly learn about, train in and coach teaching practices that are more responsive to individual student needs. Woodland Public Schools' practices are focused and feature continual adjustments being made based on student progress data. Currently, our staff is engaged in dialogue surrounding the "Nine Characteristics of High Performing Schools".
Columbia Elementary utilizes "Read Well" as the initial curriculum used to introduce students to basic reading foundations. This is based on current research on effective reading instruction. Work also continues on the "Walk to Read" concept, which calls for students being placed at their appropriate instructional level during 90 minute reading blocks. Students needing more intensive assistance in reading instruction receive at least an additional 30 minutes of reading instruction daily. "Time" is a variable we give much focus to as we plan for student interventions. An example, is our "KG Boost" program which allows KG students in need of more learning time the opportunity to attend learning sessions on their off day from Kindergarten.
Other school improvement planning activities give concentration to staff collaboration across grade levels and buildings, further development of our writing instruction and some focus on how we utilize our math curriculum for student success.
Contact Us
We encourage all families and community to find a positive way to connect and partner with the school effort. If you are not sure how you might be able to contribute, call us and we will brainstorm on ways for you to participate!
Our kids deserve nothing less!
Principal David Starkey
starkeyd@woodlandschools.org
Columbia Elementary School
600 Bozarth Street
Woodland, WA 98674
(360) 841-2900