All LGUSD students-- 2,578 students

Projected shortfall for the 2004-5 school year budget from state funding is $625,000. This translates to salary for 8.5 certified teaching staff. This grant will allow the district to:

• Maintain low student-teacher ratio
• Maintain existing electives at the middle school
• Retain Literacy Specialists, and
• Retain the Math and Science Specialist.

Without this grant, teaching staff would be terminated and class sizes would increase, the variety of middle school electives would decrease and we could lose our specialists in literacy and math & science that district staff depends upon. Teachers are ranked by order of seniority, specialization and qualifications. Teachers most vulnerable to layoff are the recently hired teachers at Fisher.

Class Size Statistics:
District maintained significantly lower class sizes:
K-3: 20/1
4-8: 25.5

What would class sizes have been without the 8.5 classroom teachers? (Assuming equal distribution among grade spans)
K-3: 21/1
4-5: 30/1
6-8: 28.8/1

Benefits of Grant:
This grant has allowed the district to:

• maintain lower class sizes
• maintain existing electives at Fisher
• retain Literacy Specialists
• retain the Math and Science Specialist
• support differentiating of instruction

Areas for Improvement:

• Class sizes in 4 primary classrooms were 21:1 for short periods of the year. Only one classroom maintained 21:1 through end of P-2 reporting period
• Multi-grade classroom was added after school year began to accommodate new enrollees. Two credentialed teachers were assigned to that room.

This grant has two parts:

Part I: Strengthen classroom science program; develop assessments to measure
student learning K-5 - $40,000
Part II: Outfit new Fisher science labs and provide common training for grade level
teachers to improve quality of Fisher science program - $51,000

Part I: K-5 - $40,000
a. The district will develop student assessments that teachers can use to determine which concepts students master and which concepts need more attention. Teachers will use the results of the student assessments to guide their instruction.
b. The district has 60 kits, some of which need to be replaced and materials updated. Funding will also support content-based, grade level appropriate books for each kit that would help students deepen their understanding.

Part II: 6-8 - $51,000
a. Purchase and training in some hands on kits for middle school
b. Purchase of science equipment to outfit the new science lab.
c. The grant money for middle school science will pay for training and planning time in order to provide a common program for each grade level, and for the purchase, training and use of new kits designed for middle school science.
d. Purchase science materials such as a Workshop Stand for each classroom, drying racks for each classroom, an Air-Powered Projectile, Newtonian Demonstrator, and a number of other kits or materials.

Part I.
In process: upgrading kits, purchasing/ developing engaging materials such as a “walk through heart”, upgrading science kits, purchasing additional science kits so that grade level teams can teach at the same time, replacing outdated kits, purchasing leveled reading books tied to the science standards.
Deepened content knowledge of 4th and 5th grade teachers through training on the science standards and use of the newly developed assessments. Assessments for two 4th and two 5th grade units/kits have been developed and piloted. Additional assessments will be completed next year and we will have assessment results to share.
Benefits of Grant:
Extremely positive response from 4th and 5th grade trainings
Impact of the new materials and expanded kits will be seen next year
Areas for Improvement:
Development of assessments was more challenging than expected and took longer than planned.

Part II.
Materials were purchased that would support hands on science (e.g. classroom set of microscopes, equipment to measure speed of falling objects, new projectors for instruction, models of eye, fault, skeleton, health modules and many smaller, non-consumable items). Also included about $4,000 for subs, teacher training and attendance at the NSTA conference.
Benefits of Grant:
Teachers are excited with purchases
Many of materials already incorporated
All teachers had input in selection of materials
Materials purchased are non-consumable and will last

This grant has two parts:
Part I - Music Teacher and Collaboration Time for K-5 Staff - $71,500
Part II Additional Support for Music and Movement - $50,000

Part I: Music Teacher and Collaboration Time for K-5 Staff
a. Cost of hiring additional Music teacher.

Part II: Additional Support for Music and Movement
a. At elementary schools, funds would support the purchase of Orf instruments, Share the Music vocal books for children, repair of instruments and additional music stands.

Additional Music Teacher and Program Improvements:

• Offered additional choir class at Fisher
• Offered after school chorus at elementary schools
• Provided 5th grade instrumental with no pullouts
• Offered 5th grade choice: instrumental/vocal
• 6th grade strings meet daily
• Distributed monthly newsletters
• Developed common curriculum for each grade
• Each school site had “Music Open House” performances for every grade at every K-5 school

Materials and Training

• Textbooks
• Music stands
• Orff instruments and carts to move instruments and materials from class to class
• Koday and Orff methodology—teacher training
• Sheet Music for Fisher classes
• Carts so teachers can move and manage the orff instruments & other materials

Collaboration Time: Results of Teacher Survey

How do teachers use collaboration time?

% of teacher who “regularly” and/or “often” use collaboration time:
1) Sharing experiences about new practices 75%
2) Sharing successes 71%
3) Curriculum mapping 68%
4) Setting grade level goals 68%
5) Discussion means of differentiating 68%
6) Planning grade level units of instruction 59%

This grant has three parts:
I. Artist in the Classroom - $40,000
II. Art Materials for Follow-up Lessons - $10,000
III. Art Docents of Los Gatos - $10,000

Part I: Artist in the Classroom, K-5 (1546 Students)
This year (2003-4) the Artist in the Classroom program (budget $20,000) pays a professional artist for two days per week to work with teachers and students in the classroom. This program has a dual purpose: provide art instruction to children
while also training teachers to develop follow-up lessons for the Art Docents (Part III) and Artist in the Classroom.

Part II: Art Materials for Follow-up Lessons, K-5 (1546 Students)
These dollars would be divided among all five schools, on a per diem basis. Art materials are expensive and consumable. State budgets for art materials have been cut during the past few years.

Part III: Art Docents of Los Gatos, K-6 (1893 Students)
Art Docents provide district wide Art Appreciation lessons, K-6, to all students in the district. This grant would be passed through and directly awarded ($10,000) to the Art Docents of Los Gatos, a non-profit organization that has been providing art instruction to LGUSD students for over 30 years.

Jack Toolin, as per goal, provided 4-1 hour visual arts lessons to every K-5 classroom (78, including SDC classes) and made himself available to teachers after school and during lunch to consult and coach.

Teacher Survey Comments:
“Jack has modeled (for me and the students) how to really look at something and plan your representation. Front loading and pre thinking”

“ Visual arts have become more in depth and meaningful. Color schemes, shading techniques, etc. are terms students use now as a result of Jack’s work with us.”

“ Watching Jack work with students has made me more aware of the process of drawing, painting, sculpting. He breaks it down into manageable lessons.”

$10,000 was allocated to each site on a per/student basis. Teachers were able to purchase quality materials to support the arts program that they usually can’t afford, such as water color paper, quality brushes, pastels, drying racks, brayers and paints. Allocations to each site were:
Fisher: $3,047
Blossom: $2,469
Van Meter: $1,690
Daves: $2,211
Lexington: $ 582

Monthly instruction for all K-6 classes Art History/Appreciation and some hands-on workshops.

Areas for Improvement:

Better communication to parents, like monthly newsletters about curriculum and hands on instructions the students are receiving.