School Accountability Report Card

El Portal School serves 520 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Our school, reopened just eight years ago, is located in a suburban, middle class area. Approximately 37% of our students are from a Hispanic background, 56% Caucasian and the remaining 7% from other ethnic groups. The high expectations of our staff are mirrored in the high expectations of our families. We are a dedicated school community working together to provide a high level of academic excellence to our students. We are committed to the growth of our students academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. National and state measures show the consistent high quality of education that students receive at El Portal. 75.9% of our students scored above the 50% on the latest standardized tests. This year our students exceeded their API growth rate by 11 points. El Portal provides a broad based curriculum and stresses an education that includes personal integrity, social responsibility, and a study of our national
heritage. El Portal offers differentiated instruction focused to meet the needs of our diverse population. We have quality programs structured to meet the needs of all students including our Title One students, English Language Learners, and Special Education students. Our 24 full time teachers are highly trained and are supported by an excellent support staff including a computer technician, library technician, four instructional assistants, an English Language Specialist, and two instructional assistants to aid in the instructional of our English Language Learners. A nurse, school psychologist, and specialists in reading, speech and language, art and music also provide students excellent care. Our school environment promotes learning and our facilities are well maintained. Each classroom is air-conditioned and attractive. Our grounds are colorful and well manicured. We have state of the art playground equipment that offers a fun and safe playground experience for our children. El Portal boasts a large, beautiful new
library with 12,000 volumes offering a wide variety of reading experiences for our students. Not only is the physical environment inviting, but we also offer an array of exciting activities to promote school spirit. Student achievement and good citizenship is recognized on a regular basis. Our CARE awards program (Character, Attitude, Responsibility,Effort) reflects our commitment to encouraging healthy values in each child on our campus.

El Portal Mission Statement

It is the mission of El Portal School to create for our students a strong educational foundation and to encourage and develop in students Character, a Passion for Learning, and Academic Excellence. Our staff, parents, and community members work closely together to help each child reach his/her potential. It is our goal to develop in students a strong foundation in America’s values, traditions and heritage and to teach our students to embrace the diversity of others on campus and in the community. Collaboration between school and home is an integral part of the success of El Portal School. Working together as a school community, El Portal provides a safe, child-centered environment that provides students with the essential skills to become life-long learners. El Portal is a school where students and staff approach the learning process eagerly, with enthusiasm, passion, and wonder. The staff provides an atmosphere that fosters creativity, individuality, cooperation, and understanding. The staff is trained in numerous teaching styles and utilizes a variety of strategies to provide an exciting and well-balanced instructional program designed to meet the needs of all students. The curriculum is comprehensive and challenging, one that builds skills and knowledge while developing critical thinkers and productive members of society. El Portal School is the doorway to adventure where we Believe, Achieve and Succeed.

School Information		District Information
School Name	El Portal Elementary	District Name	Lowell Joint
Principal	Linda Takacs	Superintendent	Dr. Ron Randolph
Street	200 N. Nada St.	Street	11019 Valley Home Ave.
City, State, Zip	La Habra, CA 90631	City, State, Zip	Whittier, CA 90603-3042
Phone Number	562 902-4211	Phone Number	562 943-0211
FAX Number	562 694-0022	FAX Number	562 947-3620
Web Site	www.ljsd.K12.ca.us./elportal	Web Site	www.ljsd.ca.us
Email Address	Ltakacs@lws.lacoe.edu	Email Address	jlaurich@lws.lacoe.edu
CDS Code	19-64766-6020127	SARC Contact	John Laurich

Contact Person Name	Linda Takacs	Contact Person Phone Number	562 902-4211
Parents at El Portal have many opportunities for involvement and are highly visible on our campus. Parents volunteer daily in our library, and in our classrooms. Many parents work one hour per day as volunteer readers. Through our very active PTA, with a membership of 288, parents sponsor many programs on our campus: Fall Festival, Red Ribbon Week, Donuts for Dad, Muffins for Mom, fundraisers that support our field trips and assemblies, the Reflections Program, and Family Night are some of the many activities that take place through our PTA. Parents also help throughout the year as room parents who help plan special events for our children. Parents are also involved in Student Study Team meetings and School Site Council. Parent involvement on our campus is an integral part of the success of our campus programs.

Grade Level	Enrollment	Grade Level	Enrollment
Kindergarten	86	Grade 9
Grade 1	71	Grade 10
Grade 2	77	Grade 11
Grade 3	78	Grade 12
Grade 4	75	Ungraded Secondary
Grade 5	59
Grade 6	88
Grade 7
Grade 8
Ungraded Elementary		Total	534

Racial/Ethnic Category	Number of Students	Percentage of Students	Racial/Ethnic Category	Number of Students	Percentage of Students
African-American	3	0.6	Hispanic or Latino	204	38.2
American Indian or Alaska Native	11	2.1	Pacific Islander	0	0.0
Asian-American	9	1.7	White (Not Hispanic)	288	53.9
Filipino-American	3	0.6	Other	16	3.0

Date of Last Review/Update	January 2002	Date Last Discussed with Staff	January 2003
El Portal has in place a comprehensive school safety program. A disaster and crisis intervention plan is current and reviewed each year. A school wide discipline plan is reviewed and followed with appropriate positive and negative consequences outlined to provide a fair and consistent program for all students. The program is designed to assist students in learning how to make appropriate choices. Guidelines for behavior are reviewed with all students. El Portal’s school programs help to provide a safe and appropriate learning environment for all students. The learning environment reflects an academic focus and El Portal maintains high expectations and standards for achievement and behavior. Pride in the physical environment is stressed and a safe, orderly campus is maintained. Visitors on our campus are expected to wear an identifying badge at all times and our campus is secured throughout the school day. El Portal Safety Patrol is used to help maintained an organized and safe pick up and drop off of students entering and exiting our campus. We review safety procedures monthly with fire drills and earthquake drills.

	School			District
	2000-01	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Suspensions (number)	7	24	6	175	169	51
Suspensions (rate)	.01	.04	.01	.05	.05	.02
Expulsions (number)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Expulsions (rate)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Grade Level	School			District			State
Grade Level	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
2	---	50	43	---	63	62	---	32	32
3	---	71	56	---	65	68	---	30	34
4	---	54	57	---	58	56	---	33	36
5	---	57	55	---	50	55	---	28	31
6	---	54	60	---	54	53	---	31	30
7	---			---	58	50	---	32	33
8	---			---	48	59	---	32	32
9	---			---			---	28	33
10	---			---			---	31	33
11	---			---			---	29	31

Grade Level	Male	Female	English Learners	Not-English Learners	Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Not Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Migrant Education Services
2	45	42	33	47	27	50
3	56	57	31	63	39	64
4	51	62	0	64	15	72
5	50	62	20	62	44	60
6	59	61	0	63	37	67
7
8
9
10
11

Grade Level	African- American	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian- American	Filipino- American	Hispanic or Latino	Pacific Islander	White (not Hispanic)	Other
2			100		31		48
3			50		50		65
4			100		38		69
5			33		39		70
6			100		33		71
7
8
9
10
11