Orleans Wood Elementary School - Ottawa-Carleton District School ...

Parents and CommunityParents play an active role in all aspects of life at Orleans Wood E.S. Parents support an innovative and successful fundraisingcampaign which provides significant dollars to enhance student learning.Our hot lunch program organized through our School Council continues to be very popular with children, parents and staff. Inaddition, we have a milk program where children can receive milk on a daily basis.Our attendance area consists of single family, semi-detached homes and townhouses. In the area there are a variety of maturetrees, beautiful parks, bicycle and walking paths.The Orleans Wood School Advisory Committee is a dedicated and active volunteer group that welcomes the involvement ofparents, staff and community members.Mission StatementWe are committed to living themission of the Ottawa-CarletonDistrict School Board tochallenge all students toachieve personal excellence inlearning and responsiblecitizenship within a safe,equitable, diverse, and caringenvironment.Orleans Wood Elementary School 2

Academic Programs• Regular English program with 40 minutes of Core Frenchdaily.• Early French Immersion program SK – grade 3.• Grade 1 offers 100% Immersion1500 min./week• Grades 2 -3, French instruction1200 min./weekSpecial Education andESL ProgramsOrleans Wood has amultidisciplinary team comprisedof teaching staff, a primarylanguage learning disabilityclass, an educational assistant, alearning support teacher andschool administration. Supportservices are also provided bycentral board staff through apsychologist, social worker, anda speech and languagepathologist. All students who areidentified with needs remain inthe regular classroom wheretheir program may bedifferentiated throughaccommodations and/ormodifications.Safe Schools Initiatives• A school-wide commitment to character development andanti-bullying programs.• Radio-equipped staff on duty in yard.• Students, staff and parents have refined the Code ofBehaviour.• Student Recognition, Character Program and RestorativeJustice Practices.• Programs to encourage tolerance, personal safety andappreciation for all cultures through presentations andassemblies.• Safe Arrival Program and Visitor Sign-In Procedure.• Leadership development opportunities for students.• Partnerships with school nurse Irene Reid and SchoolResource Officer Ben Albert.• Anaphylaxis and Diabetic Protocols.• Fire drills and Lockdown practices.Classroom Organization• Orleans Wood is a JK – 3 dual track community school.• Currently, there are two English classes, five Early FrenchImmersion classes, one Primary Learning Disability class,two English JK classes, one English JK/SK class and twoFrench Immersion SK classes.• Our average class size in the Primary Division (Kindergartento grade 3) is 17.Clubs and ActivitiesFacilities andResources• Our school is surrounded by alarge school yard borderedwith beautiful trees, parkbenches and is adjacent to acity park. Recently, we alsohave added several new playstructures and well as anoutdoor classroom.• Inside, the building is brightand attractive. In addition tothe full-size gymnasium, thereis an exercise room and alarge library containing over12 000 books.• Also, we have a wellequippedLiteracy room forresources, a technology roomwith a Smartboard, and aconference room formeetings. Our conferenceroom contains a variety ofparent resources that can besigned out for reading.• Comprehensive sports programs include development ofvolleyball and basketball skills, Cross-Country and Trackand Field teams.• School Spirit Club, Swim to Survive Program (grade 3) andskating.• Choir, drama, dance, lunch helpers, community serviceactivities.• All students are encouraged to contribute to their communityby supporting causes such as the Terry Fox Walk, theEducation Foundation, the Angel Tree of Giving, the Heartand Stroke foundation and The Food Bank.• Students demonstrate leadership through reading buddies,recycling assistants, activity cart helpers, and studentannouncers.Orleans Wood Elementary School 3

Measures of Student Achievement and Success• Our school follows the guidelines set out in the OCDSBPolicy and Procedures for Student Evaluation, available onthe Board’s web site (www.ocdsb.ca).• Ongoing classroom assessment and evaluation form thebackbone of our student evaluation policy. Our teachers useassessment tools and practices to guide teachinginstruction and improve student learning. Continuousassessment and evaluation tools and practices includesobservation, student self-evaluation, teacher/studentinterviews, peer and group evaluation, written and oraltests, rubrics, checklists, inventories, questionnaires,running records, participation charts, anecdotal records,student logs or journals, and parental input during interviewsessions.• Students are given many opportunities to demonstratelearning through performances, including public speaking,dramatic presentations, etc.• The use of portfolios, collections of student work gatheredover time, is encouraged.• All students in grade 3 take part in the Provincial EQAOtesting.• In grades 1 to 3, teachers administer the PM Benchmark(GB+ in Immersion) reading assessment in order to informinstruction.School Improvement Plans and InitiativesAlong with the analysis of EQAO results, we consider reportcard marks, daily observations of student performance, PMBenchmarks, GB+ data, and a variety of demographic factorswhen formulating School Improvement Plans and Initiatives.The input of staff, parents and students is crucial in thisprocess.During the current school year, our School Improvement Planwill continue focus on the following areas:• Improving the achievement of students in mathematics:instruction is inquiry based, challenging anddevelopmentally appropriate for all students. Students willactively engage in solving problems by expressing ideas,questioning and defending their position to deepenconceptual understanding.• Improving the achievement of students in literacy:instruction will focus on teaching students the strategies andskills that will enable them to extract, apply, analyze andsynthesize, and evaluate information. Learning is deepenedthrough authentic, relevant and meaningful student inquiry.We have structured our plans for improvement around sixcategories:• Shared Leadership and Implementation• Professional Learning Teams• Assessment and Evaluation• Standards and Targets• School and Class Organization• Home/School/Community PartnershipsOther Initiatives:• Regular classroom and school newsletter communication• A wide variety of experiences in the Arts• “One Stop Shopping” – A December Celebration• Summer Celebration• Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast• Family Dances• Parent Information Evenings/Workshops – sponsored bySchool Council• Hot Lunch Program• Active participation in Earthcare initiatives (focused onenvironmental issues)• A week long integrated school wide theme to celebrateeducation during the month of February• Staff participate in professional development through boardworkshops and in-service training sessions• Our school is heavily involved in training new teachersthrough the on-site and Regular Education Programs at theUniversity of Ottawa, Nipissing, and Potsdam University• We are also a “Healthy Active School” and have partneredwith Ottawa Public Health• An Instructional Coach has been assigned to support staff inachieving goals of Balanced Literacy initiatives• A Technology Coach has been assigned to the school fortraining and assistance with electronic learning tools• A Technology Coach has been assigned to the school fortraining and assistance with electronic learning tools• Blues in The Schools and various musical performances• Month-end character assemblies• Scientists in the School• Jump Rope for Heart and Terry Fox Walk• Enhancing positive school climate.Orleans Wood Elementary School 4

“Leadership in the OCDSB is the demonstration ofpersonal initiative to achieve a positive outcome.”Students:Our students are leaders in the area of global citizenship. We are proud of the many ways in which they demonstrate socialconscience and responsibility. Over the past years, our students have raised money to help build a school in Kenya,participated in the Tsunami Relief Project, the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the CanadianCancer Society. In addition to informal recognition on a regular basis, we acknowledge student contributions in our classrooms,school announcements, recognition program, newsletters, monthly assemblies, and through our principal’s report to schoolcouncil. As well, we recognize student leadership by incorporating their suggestions into our planning.Staff:Our staff members have a wealth of professional qualifications including Bachelors and Masters degrees in Arts, Counselling,Administration, Physical Education and Sciences, as well as additional qualifications in Special Education, English as a SecondLanguage, French as a Second Language, Guidance, Reading, and Computers in Education. They have actively participated innumerous Board-wide and school-centered professional development activities in technology, literacy, numeracy, the arts, socialstudies, science and physical education. We recognize their initiatives by providing and supporting opportunities for on-goingprofessional growth. We also recognize staff leadership via personal interactions with one another, letters of thanks, schoolannouncements, school newsletters, assemblies, performance appraisals, and our principal’s report to school council.Parents/Guardians/Volunteers:Each year, our volunteers contribute numerous hours of support for the benefit of students in our school. Our dedicated schoolcouncil meets monthly and has contributed approximately $20,000 to sponsor performances, purchase learning supportmaterials and sponsor Parent Information Evenings. This past year, council has supported the school by donating funds towardyard improvement. When playing outdoors, students have access to an activity cart containing balls, skipping ropes, chalk, andhoops. In addition, several new play structures were recently installed. Each year, our staff is touched by the efforts that parentsput into organizing an incredible staff appreciation event sponsored by our School Council. Our staff feels richly supported byour parents and School Council. Our staff is proud that our parents nominated Orleans Wood E.S. for a “Best School inCanada” award through a national parenting magazine. As invaluable partners, we thank our parents, guardians and volunteerson an on-going basis, and look for opportunities to acknowledge them through school announcements, our principal’s report toschool council, school newsletters, and our annual volunteer appreciation breakfast.Community:We truly see ourselves as a Community School and we are grateful for the wonderful support that we receive from ourneighbours. Local businesses donate food and prizes to our annual Summer Celebration. We recognize our communitypartners through our monthly assemblies, school announcements, school newsletters, principal’s report to school council, andthank you cards. We are also grateful for the services provided to us by Ottawa Public Health and the Ottawa PoliceDepartment.Orleans Wood Elementary School 5

Each year, students participate in the province-wide assessment of reading, writing, and mathematics. This assessment by theEducation Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) is based on the Ontario Curriculum and is one way in which student achievementis measured. Results from these assessments should be viewed with caution since the achievement of a few students, particularly insmall schools, can have a large impact on overall results. Further, it is important to view student achievement in the context of otheravailable information, some of which is contained in this profile.The following table describes grade 3 students in this school for the 2010-2011 assessment:Number ofStudentsELLFullyExemptReceiving SpecialEducation support(excluding gifted)First languagelearned at homeother than EnglishGrade 3 56 7% 0% 25% 14%Results for all grade 3 students in this school, compared to those for the district and province, are presented below. More detailedinformation about student performance on these assessments can be found at www.eqao.com.Grade 3 Reading:Percentage of Students at Levels 3 and 4 (Method 1)Levels 3 and 4 (%)100%50%0%2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011Orleans Wood 62% 66% 71% 62% 70%OCDSB 63% 63% 63% 65% 67%Province 62% 61% 61% 62% 65%0% of the students were exempt, 0% had no data.Grade 3 Writing:Percentage of Students at Levels 3 and 4 (Method 1)Levels 3 and 4 (%)100%50%0%2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011Orleans Wood 60% 71% 84% 76% 84%OCDSB 61% 64% 69% 71% 73%Province 64% 66% 68% 70% 73%0% of the students were exempt, 0% had no data.Grade 3 Mathematics:Percentage of Students at Levels 3 and 4 (Method 1)Levels 3 and 4 (%)100%50%0%2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011Orleans Wood 62% 80% 89% 72% 80%OCDSB 65% 67% 69% 70% 68%Province 69% 68% 70% 71% 69%0% of the students were exempt, 0% had no data.Orleans Wood E S