To: Woodland Public Schools Board of Directors
From: Michael Green, Acting Principal of Yale School
RE: Yale Elementary Report
Date: May 2024
Because of the small size of Yale School, we have a great deal of flexibility in how we deliver instruction. This year we structured the day so that children’s learning is shared between the staff. Ms. Cortez is largely responsible for kindergarten learners, but also spends part of her day supporting second grade in ELA Skills. Ms. Westervelt is focused on ELA, teaching all students other than kindergarten, and Ms. Thomas is teaching Math to grades 1-4. Because of the focused subject area expertise, we believe we will have a positive impact on student achievement.
The Yale School Improvement goals are focused on the basics. The assessments that we are using are the DIBELS (Reading) and Acadience (Math). We are in the middle of the year end benchmark testing and do not yet have results. The midyear improvements did show growth in most grade levels. We are unsure if we will hit the aggressive growth targets that we established but anticipate we will see measurable improvement across the board.
Yale School, in many ways, feels separate from the rest of Woodland Public Schools— somewhat of an island. Yet, they depend on partnership and support from the downriver folk who make Yale a regular part of their work for kids. Each week, Mr. Sanders, SLP, serves students on site. Each week, Mr. Kulu, elementary school counselor, serves students on-site. Three days a week, Ms. Lindsay teaches PE and provides support for our students. Maintenance is there to support the facilities, and the secretarial team at North Fork provides all of the secretarial support. It is so amazing to have all of the downriver support that keeps Yale humming.
As the school year winds down, there are many culminating events that provide kids new opportunities and celebrations of the school year.
June 4th— Whole school field trip to the Portland Zoo
June 7th — Yale Fun Run
June 14th — Yale Field Day
June 18th — Kindergarten Graduation and End of Year Slideshow