hale kula elementary joint venture education forum norbert commendation award application 2011-2012

7/31/2019 Hale Kula Elementary Joint Venture Education Forum Norbert Commendation Award Application 2011-2012

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Hale Kula Elementary School

Joint Venture EducationForum

Norbert Commendation

Award Application2011-2012


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JVEF Norbert Commendation Awardfor School Support to Military-Connected Students

Purpose: To recognize exceptional Hawaii Public Schools for theirquality assistance and support of military students. This awardrepresents a stamp of excellence for schools that are military-friendly.

Award criteria:

o The school provides transition services which assist military-connected and other transitioning students and families toexperience a smooth transition into the new school.

MEASURE: The school reports the transition servicesprovided by the school.

o The schools website has up-to-date information about theschool and its programs.

MEASURE: The school website information is up to datewithin the current school year and special events, marketing,and other ongoing updates are current within the week

o The school is an active participant of the JVEF and itsinitiatives.MEASURE: The school has reported their participation andinitiatives with JVEF in school documents and/or website.

o The schools military parents are actively engaged in parent


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organizations or participate as volunteers and in parentactivities

MEASURE: Review the PCNC report and parent participation

in the SCC

o The school makes reasonable accommodations for highlymobile students in curricular requirements (i.e. HawaiiHistory Course waiver), enrollment in special programs (i.e.gifted and talented) courses, (Advancement Placement,band, foreign language, etc.) athletics, and other providesopportunities often closed to mobile students.

MEASURE: Review registration procedures with the registrarto ensure accommodations for highly mobile students aremade

o The school has a record of developing and maintaining asafe environment for all students.

MEASURE: Review the schools Trend Report

Introduction

Hale Kula Elementary School is located on the Schofield BarracksArmy Installation. With the construction of new housing unitsfrom 1955 to 1962 to accommodate returning soldiers of the 25th

Infantry Division and their families, there was need for anelementary school, and Hale Kula was built in 1959. School year2008-2009 marked Hale Kulas 50th birthday celebration!

Hale Kula is one of ten schools (seven elementary, two middle


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schools, and one high school) in the Leilehua Complex andservices students from special education pre-school to the fifthgrade. 99% of our students are military dependents, makingtransition and deployment issues unique challenges which theschool must address.

The military community is a key supporter of the school through apartnership with the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion25th Infantry Division as well as Joint Ventures Education Forumand Tripler Army Medical Centers School-Based Behavioral Healthproject. The military has provided support in the past and

present through resources such as volunteer manpower forschool projects or activities, funding for textbooks andtechnology, our Peace Pole and our Transition Center, andmedical evaluations and consultations for students who areexperiencing academic, social, or emotional difficulties in school.

Our families come from many different states and countries.Being stationed in Hawaii is an opportunity for our students andtheir families to experience our diverse cultures and to learn ourunique history. Living in Hawaii also has its challenges such asbeing away from the support of extended family, having to makenew friends, and unfamiliarity with our local culture. As a Tribesschool, we believe that our school and our classrooms areinclusive communities of learning, and we embrace all of ourstudents and their families. We encourage them to share theirmany, varied experiences, to make suggestions for schoolimprovement, and to become an integral part of our Hale Kula`ohana(family). We hope that this sense of `ohanawill sustainour students during challenges such as transitions anddeployments of their family members.


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Military Support at Hale Kula

Parking was a concern at Hale Kula. As the number of studentsincreased, the number of cars dropping students off and pickingthem up became a problem because there was a lack of parkingin our school lot. We were also concerned about the number ofcars parked in No Parking areas along the streets. The militarysupported the school by paving an empty lot across the streetand putting in parking spaces. This helped to alleviate some of

the concerns from parents and staff. Additionally, the militaryprovides two crossing guards to support the school during thetimes of heaviest traffic in the morning and after school.


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Support from the military is very evident at Hale Kula ElementarySchool. Schoolwide activities or events require additionalvolunteers, and the HHBN 25th ID as well as the US ArmyGarrison provide needed support. Examples include Book Fair


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Family Nights, Bishop Museum Science Exploration, Water PlayDay, and our Leilehua Complex Cross Country Meet.


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Through the support of Island Palms, US Army Garrison, local

businesses, and school staff, Hale Kula is the beneficiary of a newSYNERGY Outdoor classroom with a rainwater harvesting systemwhich teaches sustainability. Hale Kula hosted visitors to a tourof the outdoor garden as part of the US Army Garrisons EarthDay activities in April. Fifth graders also hosted a vermiculturebooth at the Schofield Earth Day Festival. The partnership


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between the military community and our school is essential to thesuccess of the kinds of activities and learning opportunities wecan provide for our students and families.

Transition Services for Students and Families

Hale Kula Elementary is the transition school for all new familiesassigned to Schofield Barracks which means that there is a highrate of transiency. About a third of the students are transient,meaning that they enroll after the school year has already startedor they leave before the school year ends. Part of this trend canbe attributed to the two-to-three-year rotation cycle of military

personnel. Another reason is that the Schofield Inn is locatedwithin our geographical boundaries. This is the temporaryhousing facility for families when they arrive in the islands, priorto receiving permanent housing. Many of our new students willbe with us for only a short time while they wait for housing tobecome available. This makes our student turn-over rateexceptionally high. When families obtain permanent housing,they transfer from Hale Kula to their home school.

With support from the Joint Ventures Education Forum (JVEF),Hale Kula has an active Transition Center to address the needs ofnew students and families. Hale Kulas Transition Center wasfounded in 2005 to help incoming military families transitionsmoothly and successfully. Our mission at the Transition Center isto be the information resource during this important time. Our

Transition Coordinator offers daily tours and orientation sessionsfor new students and families, which include an overview ofschool policies and procedures, introduction to our PassportProgram, a viewing of our Life at Hale Kula DVD, and a tour ofour campus. Students and parents have the opportunity to askquestions about the school and to meet key staff members. The


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Transition Coordinator is a military-impacted family member whois able to relate to the concerns of parents. She is able toreassure parents that our school is a safe place and that studentswill be able to successfully transition to their new learningenvironment.

On a students first day at our school, a Greeter will welcome thechild with a flower lei and escort the family to the childs newclassroom. The lei indicates to everyone that this is a childs firstday at our school. The Transition Coordinator checks in with newstudents at 2, 4, and 6 weeks to make sure they are having a

successful transition into Hale Kula. Parents have told us thattransition services were important to their child. It can bedifficult for some students to make friends in the middle of theschool year, and having an encouraging adult to provideencouragement left a positive first impression about our school.

When students leave Hale Kula, greeters give them a goodbyelei handmade out of chenille stems. Each goodbye lei has a bluecard attached with a message of aloha signed by our principal,Mrs. Iwase. We welcome parents and students to keep in touchand to let us know how they are doing at their new school. Abinder in the Transition Center includes a few letters from parentswhich share how well their children are doing at their new school.

Hale Kula Elementary School understands the importance of

providing transition services to our students and their families.We believe that this has been one of our most successfulprograms in helping our families to feel welcome and included aspart of our Hale Kula `ohana.


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Transition Services

The Hale Kula Parent Teacher Organization purchased a new signfor our school.

Aloha!

A former Hale Kula parent painted a colorful floral sign to indicatewhere our main office is. Hale Kula is working with the

Department of Defense and the State of Hawaii to address


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facilities issues. Plans include a new classroom building as well asa new administration building, library/tech center and a student

center.


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The Transition Center is an integral component of our schoolcommunity. They share a classroom with the Parent CommunityNetworking Center, the Primary School Adjustment Project, and

the Parent Teacher Organization.


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New families receive a Parent-Student Handbook with schoolinformation, policies and guidelines, a folder with school andcommunity resources, and a Passport to acquaint them withschool personnel, buildings, and other pertinent information.

School Website

Hale Kula Elementary schools website, www.halekula.k12.hi.us isan indicator that technology has become a critical component ofeveryday life. This is primarily due to the steady increase inInternet connectivity of the many stakeholders in our educationalcommunity. In 2011, we updated our website with the new

Learning Community Management System (LCMS) from Edline inorder to integrate a consistent and familiar websitecommunication platform for our learning communities, whichinclude Wheeler Middle and Leilehua High School.

Our school website serves as an information system for sitevisitors and acts as an intermediary between the numerous

stakeholders in the educational process. Our goals are: 1)introducing educational stakeholders to our school, 2) providingopportunities for local and global publication of student work, 3)acting as an intermediary to educational resources andcommunity information, and 4) providing a rich source of locallyrelevant data.

Providing an effective and thorough introduction to Hale Kula

Elementary is one primary purpose of our schools website. Weconvey a variety of information about our school, such as ourvision, mission, beliefs, as well as other school offerings.

Additional information found on our site is extensive and includespictures of our school, events calendar, school accountabilityinformation, faculty/staff information, and resource information.


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This information can be easily found in our six menu categories:About Us, Students, Faculty & Staff, School Programs, Parents,and Community Resources.

Our school website provides opportunities for students to publishtheir work both locally and globally. Our experience of publishedwork shows an increase in student positive attitudes toward thecontent they are learning or the activities they are participatingin. Student web publication also promotes reflection of individualgrowth and provides opportunities for students to visualize thepurpose of their work clearly. Additionally, as a school that serves

military dependents, web publications allow students to sharetheir work with family members who are deployed overseas orwith relatives in distant states.

Our school website provides diverse resources and information forparents, students, and teachers. As a parent resource, our schoolwebsite provides easy access to school and community materialsand a variety of topics. Examples of student resources include anacademic link that showcases student publications, 4th and 5thgrade service club webpages and educational resources thatprovide access to assorted lessons related to all aspects of ourschools curriculum. Students and teachers use these resources toenhance the teaching and learning environment.

Hale Kula believes in building positive relationships with all

stakeholders in our educational community to increase theirinvolvement and improve communication. We believe that theseresources help maximize the benefits of parent-teachercollaborations to serve each child's educational needs. We makeevery effort to keep our parents and community informed of allhappenings at our school.


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Screenshot of our School Website Home Page

This is a screenshot of our school websites homepage,www.halekula.k12.hi.us. This is an indicator that technology hasbecome a critical component of everyday life. It captures a smallfragment of design with the intention to provide a central locationfor administration, teachers, students and parents to access and


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share information and resources.

A fifth grade class read a Native American tale called, ThreeSisters Garden as part of their language arts and social studiescurriculum. The teacher documented their Three Sisters

Garden project and posted the slide show on her class web pageso parents would be aware of the learning going on in the

classroom.


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Teachers posted grade level handbooks, newsletters, and otherinformation on their web page.


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Participation in Joint Venture Education Forum

Hale Kula Elementary School has been an active participant in

Joint Venture Education Forum activities since 2003. The JVEFpartnership between the Department of Education, the military,and community stakeholders to improve educational opportunitiesfor all students has been positive and has resulted in a number ofgrants which have benefited the school. Additionally, the HaleKula principal has served for the past two years on the JVEFBoard as a representative of the Military Impacted PrincipalCouncil. As a member of the Board, the principal participated in

discussions and decisions about the Interstate Compact, StrategyGroup funding, the changing role of JVEF in the future, and otherissues of importance to military-impacted schools.

Hale Kula has benefited greatly from JVEF Technology Grants,and teaching and learning is changing as a result of our access totechnology tools purchased with JVEF funds. As documentationof our goal to implement 21st Century teaching and learning atour school, we applied for and received a Department of DefenseEducation Activity grant, Implementing Blended Learning to

Achieve Success. This $420,000 three-year grant will enableHale Kula Elementary and Wheeler Middle School to pilot aprogram which combines learning through technology and face-to-face learning. We look forward to sharing our program withothers including DoDEA schools.

All in all, Hale Kula has been the beneficiary of over $700,000 inJVEF grants. These include grant allocations for Textbooks andTechnology, Transition Centers, Citizenship, Repairs andMaintenance, Hawaii 3Rs, Partnerships, and a Bridging theCultures program. We are most appreciative of this support and


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will continue to partner with JVEF in the future. As we lookforward to re-inventing JVEF now that funding is no longeravailable, the participation of all stakeholders to positively impacteducational opportunities for all students is crucial.

JVEF Participation


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Joint Venture Education Forum grant funds were invaluable toHale Kula. Grants were received for textbooks and technology,

service clubs, transition services, partnership with HHBN 25th ID,

repair and maintenance, and a Bridging the Cultures program.Parent Participation and Active Volunteer Program

Establishing positive and productive working relationships amongstudents, teachers, support staff, administrators, and parents isan essential part of Hale Kula Elementary. Our vision states: HaleKula Elementary school Working, Learning and succeeding

together! Parents and families are an important part in thelearning process of our children. This is achieved by manydifferent programs and resources throughout the school year.

The Parent Community Networking Center (PCNC) is a vital partin getting the community, military and our families involved in thedevelopment and support of programs for personal growth andstudent achievement. Family members share in planning,

delivery and evaluation of educational services for their childrenthrough participation in School Community Council and the ParentTeacher Organization (PTO). Many activities and projects havebeen completed with parents and community/militarypartnerships within this last school year. Our partnership withHeadquarters and Headquarters Battalion 25th Infantry Division


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enables us to request and receive soldier support at many ofthese activities and events.

The activities planned and implemented by the PCNC includedchaperone training, copy machine training, Book Fair FamilyEvents, storytelling session, Parent-to-Parent workshops, waterplay day, workshops on literacy and behavior management,monthly book swaps, Turkey Trot, Jump Rope for Heart, andother grade level or schoolwide activities.

The School Community Council and the Parent Teacher

Organization are other opportunities for volunteers to becomeinvolved at Hale Kula. The SCC monitors the schools progress onthe Academic and Financial Plan and conducts a survey to getfeedback from parents on how we are doing as a school. ThePTO provides funding for many school or grade level activities topositively impact learning for students. For example, they fundedan art instructor who taught lessons in every classroom; theypurchased a new cafeteria projection screen; they paid for fieldtrip buses for each grade level; they paid for the Hawaii OperaTheatre to come to our school to do a performance for students;and they funded grant requests from school staff.

Volunteers help out in many capacities throughout the schoolyear. Volunteers provide a valuable service at Hale Kula, and weappreciate all they do for our staff, our students and their

families. This year, 250 volunteers were honored at the end ofthe school year. Active parent engagement is important at anyschool, and at Hale Kula, we continue to explore ways to involveparents as partners in their childrens education.


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Active Parent and Volunteer Participation

We rely on parents and volunteers at Hale Kula, and we providemany opportunities to engage our families in school activities andevents. Our partnership with HHBN 25ID provided volunteers formany of our schoolwide events such as the Book Fair Events andWater Play Day. Proud families celebrated when their studentsreceived honors such as Super Eagle of the Quarter, Spotlight


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Student, or when students graduated.


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Accommodations for Highly Mobile Students

Every school year, several hundred new students enroll at Hale

Kula Elementary School. These students come from differentschools in different states or countries, and one of our goals is toensure that we provide the resources and supports they mayrequire as well as providing opportunities for them to participatein extracurricular activities. Because Hawaii is a member of theInterstate Compact Commission, we closely follow therecommendations of the Commission regarding minimizingeducational disruption for military students especially during

transitions and deployments of a family member. If there areany problems or concerns between the school and parents, the

Army School Liaison Officers are available to mediate. The SLOsare an integral part of our Hale Kula school community, and theyserve as a point of contact for families transitioning to Hawaii.

Additionally, the Army School Planning Committee comprised ofmilitary and school leaders as well as the School Liaison Officersmeets regularly to discuss concerns related to education at our

military schools, and we discuss ways to address any problems.

Students are provided with supports such as special education,counseling, or English Language Learner services. Testing forGifted/Talented identification takes place during the first andsecond semesters. Response to Intervention services as well astutoring supports are available for those who are identified asneeding extra help. Federal grants (21st Century CommunityLearning Center and Department of Defense Education Activity)provide funding for after school tutoring and enrichment, tutoringduring the summer, and a KinderKamp program for enteringkindergarteners with no prior preschool experience.


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Students are able to join service groups such as Junior PoliceOfficers (JPOs), Greeters Club, Hope Garden Club, or PeerMediators throughout the school year. Student Council officersare elected at the end of the previous school year; however, newstudents can be elected from their classroom to be the StudentCouncil Representative. Additionally, students are selected by thephysical education teacher to represent Hale Kula at complexathletic events based on attitude, sportsmanship, and teamworkas well as skill level. The PE teachers make every attempt toselect different students for these teams to give many differentstudents the opportunity to represent our school.

Opportunities abound for mobile students at Hale Kula; we wantall students to feel that it does not matter when they enrolled atour school. They are welcome to become involved in the studentactivities which are available.


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Accommodations for Highly Mobile Students

These photos provide evidence of some of the extracurricular andenrichment opportunities our highly mobile students are able toparticipate in. Cross country running, ukulele classes, Robotics,


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and dance were just a few of the activities our studentsparticipated in this past school year.

Safe Environment for Students

Safety is a primary concern of our Hale Kula school community.We emphasize Safety First in whatever actions we take. At thestart of every school year and every quarter, teachers reviewrules with their students and go over the Positive BehaviorSupport Matrix which describes expected behaviors in differentschool settings.

Positive Behavior Support is a school-wide system that addressesour vision in which students work together and become kind,respectful, and responsible citizens. Our system at Hale Kula hasbeen based on Tribeswhich is a way of thinking and learningwhich focuses on the classroom and the school as an inclusivecommunity of learners. Our Positive Behavior Support System isfocused on these five areas which are the Tribesagreements:

Safety First By addressing safety and being proactive, wecan minimize accidents. Mutual Respect Treat others as we want to be treated.Attentive Listening Listen with our ears, our eyes, and our

heart.Appreciations/ No Putdowns If we dont have anything

nice to say, dont say anything. Right to Pass/ Right to Participate Everyone has the right

to be heard and the right to pass in group discussions.

Additionally, PBS supports the States General Learner Outcomes(GLOs) of literacy, civic responsibility, safety and well-being aswell as being included in our Academic and Financial Plan to


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sustain comprehensive support for all students.

Hale Kula has a Positive Behavior Cadre made up of staff

members from every grade level as well as the counselors andthe vice principal. The mission of Hale Kulas Positive BehavioralSupport Cadre is to have all Hale Kula staff members beknowledgeable about and engaged in the use of positive behaviorsupports as a means to enhance the learning of every student.

All stakeholders have made safety a priority, and when studentsencounter problems with others, a Conflict Resolution system has

been implemented where students reflect on their behaviors andhow they can have unintended consequences. Although we dohave some students who can be challenging, having a school-wide policy in place has helped everyone to be consistent inimplementation.

At Hale Kula, we are committed to ensuring a safe learning

environment for our students and staff. We continue to analyzeour school-wide and grade level behavior data to determine waysto address any problems proactively and through positiveinterventions.


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Safety at Hale Kula

Students are always reminded about safety rules. Quiet Zones inthe hallways as well as the Super Eagle Walk were instituted afterthe Positive Behavior Cadre analyzed data and realized that manyhallway infractions could be addressed proactively. The number


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of infractions decreased when we implemented these newexpectations.


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Thank you for this opportunity to share this abridged version ofour Joint Venture Education Forum Norbert Commendation Award

evidences with you. We encourage you to visit our website atwww.halekula.k12.hi.us or email Principal Jan Iwase at

[email protected]

hale kula elementary joint venture education forum norbert commendation award application 2011-2012

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