• Category 1

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 13
    Student Enrollment: 616
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.5%
    White/Caucasian: 88.8%
    Hispanic: 6.6%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.2%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1.6%
    Other: 0.5%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 38.4%
    % ELL Learners: 0.8%
    Founded: 2005
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Heather Somers
  • CONTACT:
    3000 W Honeysuckle
    Hayden Lake, ID 83835
    208-762-0626
    hsomers@cdaschools.org
Atlas Elementary School
Hayden Lake, ID
A highly qualified, experienced teacher and para-professionals are supported with Title I funds. Additionally, all personnel who work with our most fragile learners must also meet highly qualified status.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
The most successful activity tied to our community is the grant writing by our teachers to The Excel Foundation. Unique to the Coeur d’ Alene School District, Excel is comprised of members of the community who are dedicated to the children of Coeur d’ Alene and Hayden. This foundation has perfected the art of bringing community and businesses together for one common goal: Superior Education. Due to the lack of education funding, the teachers of Atlas have committed to finding alternative routes to obtain the tools necessary for us to do our jobs well. Atlas Elementary has been able to secure and obtain over $40,000 in grants over the past three years from The Excel Foundation. Teachers from Atlas Elementary have drive, focus, and determination. In order for our students to meet and exceed the standards, it is vital that the community rally around our educators and help provide tools that are imperative to do this. The Excel Foundation has provided Chromebooks, iPads, and novels. The infusion of technology has now transformed our classrooms into true 21st century classrooms.
With the capabilities of the Chromebooks and Ipads given to us by Excel, our students have access not only to all the programs available through Google, but now they can explore answers and create products of work instantly. Our teachers have recognized that Chromebooks cost half the amount of a technology now almost non-existent, the desktop computer. The forward thinking of our teachers, has increased our one-to-one device ratio within our building to being some of the best in our district.
The opportunities for our students have been limitless with the ability to gather all work through the cloud. Students access work from home via their Google accounts, which the school district has already provided. Students now read and critique pieces of current culture and produce thoughtful insight within minutes. History has come alive with the ability to watch Discovery Education pieces that will defend their informational research papers. Science has been blown open with the amount of 3-D images of various elements found in nature with the click of a button. Mathematics took an incredible turn when we could now individualize each student’s path through Front Row Math and now the iReady program. We can remediate and assign specific tasks depending on the concept that is tangled.
Technical skills such as keyboarding are essential to the College and Career Readiness focus of the Idaho Core. Students have access to their individually designed path for keyboarding skills, thus resulting in increased confidence when tackling an open response question on the ISAT 2.0. In fact, Atlas fifth graders were the highest in Language Arts and Mathematics in the Coeur d’Alene school district. We can ask students to individually take accountability for where they are, by utilizing the technology around them.
We live in a world where if we don’t know the answer, we know where to go to find it. Thanks to the Excel Foundation, we can now provide the environment and access for our students to enter this incredible world of knowledge armed with the skills and ability to navigate this vast arena.


What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Our goals for next year are to maintain our high academic performance, while continuing to integrate the Idaho Common Core Standards and new testing format of the ISAT 2.0. We will continue our strong focus on improving teaching and learning with intentional professional development, teacher collaboration, and peer observation.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The single most important factor in the success of our school is a staff of dedicated and knowledgeable administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff. We set goals and have high expectations for each student.We strive to give all students what they need to achieve their full potential. Primary teachers use assessment tools and identify at-risk students and then provide early intervention strategies including small group instruction and one on one tutoring. Students are progress monitored weekly and interventions are added or changed if needed. Weekly job embedded collaboration has helped us become a strong team. We are able to meet as a staff or in grade level teams to share and analyze data, reassess interventions, plan lessons, and communicate successful strategies. Collaboration and communication are the key components of our success. Atlas students are not yours or mine, but ours.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
A highly qualified, experienced teacher and para-professionals are supported with Title I funds. Additionally, all personnel who work with our most fragile learners must also meet highly qualified status. All staff, including para-professionals have received Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling; Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing; and Visualizing/Verbalizing professional development. Title funds are also spent to host several parent nights. For these events, teachers open their classrooms to parents, students and siblings in an effort to educate parents about grade level standards and provide parents with ideas for at-home support for their elementary students. Typically food is served, and all children leave with a new, free book. Furthermore, we use Title funds to provide Extended Reading Interventions either during the school day or before school. At-risk students are identified and additional reading remediation / practice time is added to their day. Finally, we use Title I funds to replenish our take-home book supply. By providing a variety of at home literacy materials for our students, those who are at-risk for reading failure are given the same opportunities as their peers. Students who participate in this school-home literacy partnership demonstrate improved reading skills.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Most recently, the Coeur d’Alene School District has used professional development funds to provide most elementary teaching staff with Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing (LiPS), Visualizing/Verbalizing, Seeing Stars, Common Core Writing, and Mathematical Thinking for Instruction to improve students’ learning. Support staff, too, attended many of these sessions. As more technology tools become available to our teachers, we seek training on how to effectively use them to engage students in meaningful learning. As educators in the Coeur d’Alene School District we are evaluated regularly by our administrators on our teaching practices using the Charlotte Danielson Model. We are evaluated in the areas of planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities. Finally, our school enjoys access to district reading and math coaches. These coaches work with administrators to plan professional development sessions for teachers and are available for individual follow-up through further planning or observation, lesson modeling for individuals, or grade level teams, and/or finding additional materials and resources.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
The primary focus of the entire staff at Atlas centers on continued academic growth for every child at our school. Whether a student requires challenge or remediation, we use data to help us determine the needs and interventions necessary for student growth. We track all students’ growth by using progress monitoring and interim assessments throughout the year to guide individualized instruction. Reading groups (for all grade levels) and math switch groups (for 3rd-5th) are determined by regular review of Aimsweb research-based assessments. These groups are fluid; which means they are continually changing based on the instructional needs of every individual student. Every three weeks, grade level teams cycle through Response to Intervention (comprised of administrators; counselor; special education teacher, Title One teacher, speech/language, grade level teachers and parents). Each month our at-risk student’s math and reading data and social, emotional or behavioral needs are reviewed and discussed. Based on student’s performance, we brainstorm possible interventions for each child and determine appropriate intervention plans with future checkpoints to ensure that no one falls through the cracks. Regular communication with parents about their child’s growth is also a vital part of improving student data.

As important as remediating those students who are struggling, is the need to challenge those students who are excelling, for we want all students to be actively engaged in learning. We offer an Advanced Learning Program in reading and math for those students in grades 3-5 who qualify. Our school also provides a reading “switch” class for students in grades K-2 to provide targeted instruction to our youngest students. After each round of benchmarks, administrators meet with grade-level teams to review students’ performance and growth data, and by the end of the conference, a plan is determined for tailoring instruction to meet the needs of all students.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
All students at Atlas Elementary fully understand their role in being a positive contributing member to the Atlas community. Their role in the community includes being responsible for their actions, respectful of people and property, and being safe. High expectations are held for student behavior, and students are held accountable to follow these school community rules.

All staff members have Three Bee Cards to give to students when they are caught being responsible, respectful, and safe. Students who generally make good choices every day earn Three Bee Cards.Students write their names on their cards and turn them in at the office. Cards are placed into a bowl, and winners are picked on Fridays. Student winners in grades 1-5 have lunch with the counselor and principal. A “Second Chance” drawing is also held for kindergarten and first grade students as well. In addition, some teachers have Three Bee Stores, for which students may save and spend their Three Bee Cards. Not only does this reinforce expectations, but it also builds a cohesive community. Students genuinely cheer and are excited for one another to win the weekly drawings.

Each classroom teacher picks two students from their class to be Student of the Month. The student receives a certificate signed by the teacher and the principal, as well as a small reward. In addition, these students are recognized in our monthly newsletter. In addition, the staff writes a small positive note to two kids each month. The expectation is that all students in the school receive at least one postcard a year.

Atlas Elementary has a strong Leadership Team that meets twice per month to give input to the administration and help make decisions for our school. Each grade level and specialist group is represented. This group helps plan collaboration, professional development, and is involved in every aspect of school functions. We believe in shared, transparent leadership.

Teachers have a Sunshine Committee that promotes a caring and fun school environment. Each week, during a staff meeting, one teacher publicly awards an “apple” to another staff member for good deeds. The committee plans staff activities in and out of school to promote collegiality. They also send well wishes to staff who have a loss in their family or an extended illness. We are a family of educators, learners, and support staff who truly care for one another, making all kids feel safe at Atlas.

Over the past few years, Atlas has implemented some new programs to enhance the school’s culture. Students benefitted from the leadership of male parent volunteers structuring activities during lunch recess through the Watch Dogs program. Student leaders helped create weekly video announcements to keep the school informed of its community news and events. Other student leaders have school jobs, such as assisting with recycling and bringing equipment off of the playground each day. Grade levels decided to meet and plan vertically in order to better align curriculum and instruction for students. Weekly newsletters are sent home to parents by most classroom teachers, and newsletters are also sent from art, P.E., music and library teachers to keep parents informed of upcoming events and instruction. Atlas has also incorporated Second Step Lessons, which are supported by the school counselor twice each month. The school aspired to organize school-wide monthly “explorations”, during which all classrooms got to experience a guest speaker, hands-on activities, and inquiry-based instruction on a common theme or topic.

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not mention the support of the PTA at Atlas Elementary. Our PTA officers and volunteers conduct several fundraisers annually that allow them to provide both financial support and community-building opportunities. The team has helped the school with our goal of obtaining more technological devices, offers classroom grants, hosts Popcorn Friday weekly, holds an annual winter carnival, collaborates with the school to provide meals for Back to School Night, and much more! The community and culture of Atlas would truly not be the same without our powerful PTA members!
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 13
    Student Enrollment: 616
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.5%
    White/Caucasian: 88.8%
    Hispanic: 6.6%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.2%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1.6%
    Other: 0.5%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 38.4%
    % ELL Learners: 0.8%
    Founded: 2005
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Heather Somers
  • CONTACT:
    3000 W Honeysuckle
    Hayden Lake, ID 83835
    208-762-0626
    hsomers@cdaschools.org