Kleine BrogelElementary School

Profile

Kiestraat 1, 3670 Meeuwen, BelgiumPhone: +32 (0)11 792527Fax: +32 (0)11 793091

www.kbro-es.eu.dodea.edu

1

Kleine Brogel Elementary School (KBES) is the smallest Department of Defense Education Activity School. A part of the Isles District, KBES supports the families and children of U.S. Air Force personnel who are stationed at Kleine Brogel Air Base, Kleine Brogel, Belgium. The school serves children from kindergarten through sixth grade in multi-age classroom settings. KBES shares an educational complex with a Belgian public elementary school, De Boomgaard. De Boomgaard is a pre-kindergarten through sixth grade school that includes several American students in its preschool program. This setting provides opportunities for our students to share many cultural events with their Belgian peers throughout the academic year.

KBES is located in the middle of Meeuwen, a small town in the province of Limburg in the northeastern section of Belgium. The city of Meeuwen is approximately sixty miles east of Brussels, Belgium, in the Tri-Border area.

Kleine Brogel Air Base, home of the Belgian Air Force 10th Wing Tactical and the 701st Munitions Support Squadron, is approximately 60 miles northeast of Brussels, 60 miles east of Antwerp, 40 miles north of Liege and about 30 miles south of Eindhoven, Netherlands. The 701st MUNSS is a Geographically Separated Unit responsible for receiving, storing, and maintaining US munitions, and to provide custody and control of those munitions until receipt of proper authority to release them to the Belgian Air Force 10W TAC (F-16 aircraft) in support of NATO’s Strike Mission. The 701st is divided into

2

Meeuwen

five distinct flights consisting of maintenance, operations, communications, custody, and mission support. The 701 MUNSS unit consists of 134 active duty personnel, Department of Defense and local national civilians. The unit supports over 60 family members and a few retirees. The Belgian Air Force, through a bi-lateral agreement between the U.S. and Belgian Governments, provides and maintains property occupied by USAF personnel.

For services and support beyond capability of the unit, the squadron relies on the 52 FW at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, as the support MOB. Further support facilities are available to families through Schinnen Army Garrison and also from the Geilenkirchen NATO Air Base in Germany, which is approximately 60 minutes from the school. The KB Air Force Base is small and has no housing facilities. Therefore, all of our KBES families have the opportunity to live in the Dutch-speaking, Belgian communities surrounding the Kleine Brogel area. Military support facilities on the base, which is 25 minutes from our school, are minimal.

Enrollment at KBES is approximately 30 students and enrollment has remained steady in the last three years; we have many more Kindergarten, First and Second grade students than students in the higher grades. All of the students at KBES are U.S. Air Force dependents. Because of our geographically remote designation, families are carefully screened prior to receiving assignments to Kleine Brogel Base. All families stationed at Kleine Brogel base use local medical services and must travel to the Schinnen Army Garrison base to use commissary, AAFES facilities and to use other services (banking, barber/beauty shop, bowling and gym facilities, etc.) The majority of the school population is Caucasian. The remaining students are Multi-Race, African American, Hispanic and Asian.

The school provides families a place to gather, employment and volunteer opportunities, and a place to socialize with other family members in the school setting. KBES families are very vocal in their support of the school and for the services it offers to students’ families and to the base at large. Families stationed at Kleine Brogel base face unique challenges due to the geographic location of the assignment. Gas rationing plays a big part in the ability of families to travel to other military facilities for shopping or other reasons; many dependent spouses have a difficult time adjusting to the community because of the small number of people stationed at the base and because of a lack of employment opportunities in the local area.

Faculty, Staff Members, Students

KBES has a highly qualified faculty with 100% holding post-graduate degrees. The three multi-age teachers have more than 10 years of teaching experience. The support staff is also highly qualified. Our kindergarten paraprofessional is a civil engineer; our health technician is a registered nurse; our host nation teacher and office support also has physical education qualifications. AFNORTH Elementary School in Brunssum,

3

Netherlands, provides support staff for Art, Music, Physical Education, and Counseling. AFNORTH personnel also provide registration and timekeeper/HR support. Brussels American School provides Speech and Language Pathologist support as well as a CSC chairperson.

Students receive instruction in Physical Education, Music, Art, Foreign Language (Dutch), and Host Nation. After-school clubs are offered to students throughout the academic year. Our Information Center houses our computer lab and also functions as our gathering place for assemblies and special events.

Student Performance

Our school Vision Statement is: Kleine Brogel Elementary School strives to nurture the development of students as life-long learners. Our vision is that students will enjoy learning, think creatively, and act responsibly. We work toward this vision Statement every day by giving students opportunities to build confidence and self-belief. Our Continuous School Improvement Goals are vocabulary development and math problem solving:

Goal 1: Math Word ProblemsAll students will increase performance on targeted developmentally appropriate mathematical word problems using instructional interventions as measured by system wide and/or school based assessments. The targeted skills are: understanding the problem, applying knowledge, choosing appropriate strategies, and using skills to solve problems. Goal 2: VocabularyAll students will increase performance on targeted developmentally appropriate vocabulary skills using instructional interventions implemented in all curricular areas as measured by the TerraNova3 as well as other system-wide and school-based assessments. The targeted skills are: to develop a comprehensive vocabulary used to analyze and understand key concepts in curriculum areas. The data that was used to establish and analyze progress towards these goals include the Terra Nova (Edition 3), IXL assessments, beginning, middle and end of the year Pearson math and benchmark assessments, SRI and BAS test scores. Many strategies are used to support these goals and include Book Buddies (shared reading), word walls, Reading Street Writing Prompts, vocabulary development activities, project-based learning, partner reading, and community volunteer readers.

Data is shared at faculty and professional development meetings throughout the year. Teachers use both formative and summative assessment data to guide instruction. Students that do not make adequate progress in any curricular area are identified and receive extra support inside and outside the classroom setting. Our Student Support

4

Team (SST) meets regularly and provides teachers with ideas and support for at-risk students. If students continue to struggle, they may be referred to our Case Study committee (CSC). Because of the small number of students taking the TerraNova, (7 in SY 2013-14) our scores are not displayed in the school for privacy reasons. However, KBES students consistently score at or above their peers in other DoDDS and U.S. schools.All staff members are active participants in our continuous school improvement committee. Our efforts are aligned with the NCA five AdvancEd standards, and the staff work on Purpose and Direction, Governance and Leadership, Teaching and Assessing for Learning, Resource and support Systems and Using Results for Continuous Improvement. We also have an active School Advisory Committee (SAC) that meets quarterly and makes recommendations to the assistant principal on school policies and procedures.The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is very active and hosts many events during the school year that support our CSI goals and foster a positive, fun school climate. The assistant principal provides child care for the regular monthly meetings, and staff members support the PTO by attending meetings and working closely with parents.We have a strong school-home partnership which is promoted through SAC and PTO. We also host quarterly family luncheons in our school lunchroom that include parents, extended families, community and base leadership, and siblings. We are members of a community Facebook page that helps with communication with the school and base community. Parent volunteers work in classrooms and are present regularly in the school.The school communicates regularly with parents and with the base community. Our school website is updated regularly with a current menu, registration information, changes to the school calendar and other pertinent and important information. Staff members receive a weekly bulletin and daily communication when warranted with information on specials schedules, recess and lunch duties, study trip information and other important reminders. There is a school-home partnership bulletin board at the entrance of the school that is updated weekly with school and community information. A weekly parent newsletter is sent electronically to the community and hard copies are sent home with students to help parents keep abreast of important school information and upcoming events. Classroom teachers regularly communicate with parents through newsletters, telephone calls, email, assignment notebooks and personal notes.

School Facilities

KBES shares four buildings with the Belgian public elementary school, De

Boomgaard

Cafeteria where hot lunches are served “Family Style” and use locally-sourced

fresh food.

Classrooms and offices with WiFi computer access

5

Media center offering 18 on-line computers for students and books for research and reading pleasure

One Computers on Wheels (COWS) is located in the 4/5/6 classroom with 14 laptop computers

All classrooms have Smart Board Technology, and ELMOs are available as well.

Educational Services

Full-day kindergarten program

Health Technician (a licensed nurse) provides health-care for the students

Art, PE, and Music instruction are provided by itinerant DoDDS teachers from

AFNORTH Elementary School, Brunssum, Netherlands

Art and Music enrichment instruction is provided by locally contracted teacher

Itinerant Special Education Educators provide services for students who qualify

for an “Individualized Education Program” (IEP) in academic or communication

areas

The Host Nation teacher also serves the school as a front-office support person,

and teaches P.E. on a regular schedule at the local Sport Hall.

Quarterly Family Luncheons

Special Programs and Events

Use of neighboring sports’ hall and indoor swimming pool for Physical Education

program activities

Study/Field trips that enhance educational experiences

Annual “Welcome Back to School BBQ” sponsored by the PTO

Annual host nation track and field outing

Annual multi-cultural sports’ days (K/1/2 and 3/4/5/6)

Annual multi-cultural sports’ week (2-3)

Annual multi-cultural cross country run (1-6)

6

Annual Thanksgiving luncheon with parents and Belgian high school advanced

English class students who then partner with the 4-6 class for ed. Activities

An active Parent Teacher Organization that sponsors many events: Parents’

Night Out School Store Fall Fest Chili Cook Off

Thematic holiday student events (Carnival/Dr. Seuss classroom activities; Winter

Polar Express classroom activities) Volunteer work parties Fundraisers

Annual Belgian/American (grades 4/5/6) week-long, study trip

Sinterklaas visit – shared activity with the Belgian host school

Weekly swimming instruction at a neighboring indoor pool that highlights the

students’ PE program; sports instruction takes place bi-weekly

“St. Elizabeth’s Sponsor Run”: partnering with military parents/supporting a local

facility for special needs children

School Advisory Committee

Strong School/Home/Community Partnership

School Bus Program

The Belgian Air Force from the Kleine Brogel Air Base provides two school buses and drivers for the KBES student population who live within the designated bus routes. As our base is a Geographically Separated Unit (GSU) with no family housing on the base, the length of the students’ bus rides to/from school varies from ten to forty minutes. There is currently one student who walks to school; the rest of the students ride the bus to and from school. Our bus drivers have been in their positions for many years and are a part of the KBES family. They help in many ways around the school and perform many large and small tasks for our school community.

Our bus program is supported by the Belgian military and is not a contracted service. It is totally financially supported by the Belgian government. Because we are not tied to a strict busing budget, we are able to offer many study trip opportunities during the year that we would not otherwise be able to offer

Challenges and Opportunities

In response to recommendations made during the most recent QAR visit, the staff has increased the school focus on school communications with stakeholders, more actively engaged the school staff in CSI activities and developed a keen awareness of assessing and reporting individual growth to our students and parents. We discuss and share school data regularly and in a variety of ways as recommended by the QAR

7

report. We seek input from our stakeholders regularly, and invite parents and community members to volunteer and participate in school initiatives.

In response to the insights gained from our accreditation activities, we have elevated our involvement with parents, continually asking for input and regularly publicizing our CSI activities and goals in school and parent letters. We have analyzed various forms of data, including assessments from adopted curricular materials, parent input from parent conferences and look at student progress to determine goals and interventions.

We discuss our goals and interventions and continually monitor our classroom practices to ensure that we are focused on our interventions, our school improvement goals and DoDEA and AdvancEd standards. This systematic process ensures that we regularly discuss and monitor the alignment of our goals, interventions, and standards for maximizing student achievement. Our staff collaborates to achieve results-driven goals for which we are mutually accountable, and school leadership provides time and support essential for staff to work on student achievement goals.

Our greatest challenge is analyzing and reporting school data for our small school population in a meaningful and significant way. During school year 2013-2014, only 4 fourth-grade students and 3 fifth-grade students took the TerraNova3. This presents a privacy issue when reporting testing results to the parent and base community; we have asked our DSO instructional support staff to guide us in analyzing and reporting school level data. In lieu of reportable school-wide data, report cards, SRI/BAS and TerraNova scores assist in tracking, monitoring and assessing student progress. Assessment data are reported to parents at least four times a year.

Conclusion

Kleine Brogel Elementary School is a very special small school with over 30 years of providing a unique, dynamic and rigorous education to the children of the military members stationed at Kleine Brogel Base. The local Meeuwen city leadership includes Kleine Brogel students in all the local school initiatives, and our students and families benefit from being in the center of a small, vibrant town center. We partner with the Belgian teachers and staff at our school and have a very enriching cultural experience by being located in a local school instead of on a military base. Our partnerships extend beyond the base to the local community, and we are privileged to be considered “citizens” of Meeuwen.

Kleine Brogel Elementary School is proud to be a place where students experience small classroom settings and one-on-one help. Students also benefit from excellent technology opportunities, cultural and foreign language events as well as a caring, hard-working and talented school staff.

8

DODEA MISSION STATEMENT: 

Educate, engage, and empower each student to succeed in a dynamic world. 

KLEINE BROGEL VISION STATEMENT:  

Kleine Brogel Elementary School strives to nurture the development of students as life-long learners. Our vision is that students will enjoy learning, think creatively, and act responsibly. Goal 1: Math Word ProblemsAll students will increase performance on targeted developmentally appropriate mathematical word problems using instructional interventions as measured by system wide and/or school based assessments. The targeted skills are: understanding the problem, applying knowledge, choosing appropriate strategies, and using skills to solve problems.  Goal 2: VocabularyAll students will increase performance on targeted developmentally appropriate vocabulary skills using instructional interventions implemented in all curricular areas as measured by the TerraNova3 as well as other system-wide and school-based assessments. The targeted skills are: to develop a comprehensive vocabulary used to analyze and understand key concepts in curriculum areas.  

9