School Accountability Report Card

School Accountability Report Card
School Year 2001-2002

School Information		District Information
School Name	Olita Elementary (Lh,Rsp)	District Name	Lowell Joint
Principal	Linda Boznanski	Superintendent	Dr. Ronald Randolph
Street	950 S. Briercliff Dr.	Street	11019 Valley Home Ave.
City, State, Zip	La Habra, CA 90631-6223	City, State, Zip	Whittier, CA 90603-3042
Phone Number	562-902-4251	Phone Number	562-943-0211
FAX Number	562-690-0273	FAX Number	562-947-3620
Web Site	www.ljsd.k12.ca.us/olita	Web Site	www.ljsd.k12.ca.us
Email Address	lboznans@lws.lacoe.edu	Email Address	Jlaurich@lws.lacoe.edu
CDS Code	19-64766-6020200	SARC Contact	John Laurich

School Description and Mission Statement

OLITA’S PROFILE

Olita School is located on 950 S. Briefcliff in La Habra, California, and is one of five elementary schools in the Lowell Joint School District. Our school serves students in grades kindergarten through sixth grade with an enrollment of 463 students. There are two Special Day classes on campus; one class for grades 1-3, the other for grades 4-6. Grades one through three have classroom sizes of 20:1, while upper grade classrooms have fewer than 30 students. There are 28 teachers and 19 support staff.

Twelve percent of the parent community have graduate degrees, while 65%, the majority of the parent population, have some college background or college degree.

The ethnic distribution of the enrollment finds 50 % of students white, 40% Hispanic, 6% Asian, and the remainder, made up of black and other, less than 2%. Twenty one percent of the student body in grades 3-6 have been identified GATE and 9% are ELL.

The flavor of Olita Elementary School can best be captured in the yearly schoolwide themes that we have had over the years- Camp Olita-The Adventure Begins, Camp Olita-The Adventure Continues, Olita Has Star Power-Watch Us Shine, We Celebrate Learning, We Are Olita’s All-Star Team and We Cultivate Minds and Values- Watch Us Grow. Each theme sets the tone for high expectations, attainment of excellence, and a lifetime adventure for learning.

The school’s vision is for students to have enthusiasm for learning coupled with strong character traits that will carry them through the years as life-long learners. This vision is the shared responsibility of students, staff, parents and community. Staff stresses personal integrity, social responsibility and our national heritage.

Character building is a strong component of everyday instruction. We have a sequential, spiraled character education program that starts in kindergarten and follows through to sixth grade. Monthly qualities are taught, rewarded, communicated to parents, and displayed on our marquee and monthly office bulletin board.

Teaming and collaborative planning have provided the backbone for a strong academic program that sets a schoolwide vision where every part of the school skeleton is joined. Certificated and classified staff members work in harmony to provide a learning environment that is safe, creative, challenging and appropriate for the various levels of learners. There is a common vision for behavior, student and staff recognition, excellence, and time on task.

Olita parents are actively involved in the education of their children. Parents work in classrooms and participate in fundraising and expanded curricular events. Parents serve on Olita’s School Site council, PTA Executive Board as well as the chaired PTA committees. Attendance at Back to School Night and Open House are extraordinary with classrooms averaging 85-100%.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to encourage each child to develop individual excellence and a desire for lifelong learning so that they can be contributing members of society. To accomplish this we provide a positive, engaging, and challenging learning environment where all students are given equal access to the core curriculum.

We believe that each child is a unique learner and that children thrive with personal recognition for academic progress and effort. With parents as partners, we have established a nurturing and supportive learning community, where staff work collaboratively and cohesively and share in the responsibility of assisting Olita students in demonstrating positive character traits, tolerance, social skills, effective communication, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and decision making.

Olita’s learning environment supports and empowers each child to become a responsible and productive citizen.

Opportunities for Parental Involvement

Contact Person Name

Linda Boznanski

Contact Person Phone Number

562- 902-4251

Each year PTA fills a 12 seat executive board with an accompanying 19 person support group that runs the committees. Parents work closely with the school to promote school spirit, conduct fundraisers, plan social events, plan assemblies, run the Reflections Program, put together a yearbook, provide identification bracelets, organize reading incentives, organize Red Ribbon Day, and conduct outreach programs, such as making meals for families in distress or providing eye glasses for Third World countries. Parents and teachers also support outreach efforts by participating in Project Love (Indian gift program) and project Santa.

Last year parent volunteers logged in a documented 5,279 hours (perhaps with an equal number of hours not documented) which is about 14 hours per family. PTA membership increased by almost 100% from the two prior years. We have a student enrollment of 470 and a PTA membership of 424. Parents attend Bingo Night, carnival, Family Night, skate nights, picnics, and field trips. They are kept apprised of school events through the monthly voice mail, weekly mailings and monthly newsette. Parents also wear their Olita spirit shirts on Friday and on field trips.

Parent speakers come to the classrooms and talk to the classes about their heritage, what they do for a living, or an interest or hobby they have. We also have a group of parents who decorate the outside office windows with seasonal themes. Parents cook foods from their culture to celebrate international holidays. They help with Indian Day, Aloha Day, Johnny Appleseed Day, Hoe Downs, colonial day and Thanksgiving.

Parents are further involved in Student Study Team meetings, School Site Council, the District’s Academic Day of Excellence, 2 parent conferences a year, as tutors in the classroom and assistants to the teacher, signing of assignment books, being noon duty aides, plus intramural and physical education helpers.

I. Demographic Information

Student Enrollment, by Grade Level 2001-2002

Grade Level	Enrollment	Grade Level	Enrollment
Kindergarten	67	Grade 9
Grade 1	69	Grade 10
Grade 2	76	Grade 11
Grade 3	82	Grade 12
Grade 4	66	Ungraded Secondary
Grade 5	62
Grade 6	94
Grade 7
Grade 8
Ungraded Elementary		Total	516

Student Enrollment, by Ethnic Group
The percentage of students is the number of students in a racial/ethnic category divided by the school's most recent California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) total enrollment.

Racial/Ethnic Category	Number of Students	Percentage of Students	Racial/Ethnic Category	Number of Students	Percentage of Students
African-American	0	0.0	Hispanic or Latino	203	39.3
American Indian or Alaska Native	2	0.4	Pacific Islander	27	5.2
Asian-American	1	0.2	White (Not Hispanic)	281	54.5
Filipino-American	1	0.2	Other	1	0.2

II. School Safety and Climate for Learning

School Safety Plan

Date of Last Review/Update

Date Last Discussed with Staff

There is a consistent discipline plan with expected consequences. The agreed upon rules were reviewed and posted in each classroom and sent home to parents. Students are aware of inappropriate behaviors. Students understand the ideas behind the Peter, Paul, and Mary Video and CD, "Don’t Laugh at Me". Students follow a district adopted code of dress that is consistently enforced.

Students are accounted for, and when out of the classroom they have restroom or hall passes. Students cannot come to the office without a pass. Only one runner goes to the classrooms to pick up the lunch count/absences. Visitors must check into the office, sign in and wear a visitor pin. There’s a minimum of classroom interruptions. Teachers are not called out of their classrooms or to the phone during instruction time.

Announcements are made once a week on Tuesdays by the principal. Teachers make sure that students are in the room during announcement time. Phone messages are given to staff through notes in their mailboxes. Students line up before school and are brought by the teacher to the classroom. Parents and students are assisted at arrival and dismissal time by a student Safety Patrol, which is sanctioned by the Automobile Club of Southern California. Our Safety Patrol program has been adopted by two other schools in the district. Noisy groundskeeping work is done before students arrive and during recess. Students use walkways and do not run around campus. So as not to interfere with classroom activities, lunches and materials that arrive late to school via parents are delivered to classrooms only at recess or lunch time. Parents follow a traffic pattern when delivering and picking up their child. The rules are reviewed often in the monthly newsette.

We have monthly fire dills, lock down drills, and mock earthquake drills. In place is a comprehensive earthquake plan with job descriptions. After each drill we have a debriefing and make any changes that would better our procedures.
The absence phone line is used by parents to report absences. If we do not hear from parents, we call that day to verify an absence. We want to make sure that the child is safe and with adult supervision.

School Programs and Practices that Promote a Positive Learning Environment

Award assemblies are held each month to recognize each class’ Citizen of the Month, Student of the Month (based on the month’s character education quality), and "Catch Them Being Good" winners. Monthly awards are also given through Cafeteria Trophies and a Principal’s Award. Students in grades 4-6 work to qualify for each month’s Homework Club Award.

Students are given opportunities to be class leaders through either the Student Leadership program we have in grades 5 and 6 or class responsibilities found at each grade level. Upper grade students can become members of the school’s Safety Patrol, Student Leadership, Big Buddies, cafeteria or office helpers.

To encourage a love for reading we have sponsored the Olita Reading Club for grades k-4 and a twice a year Reading Raffle for grades five and six. Students in grades 3-6 can compete to become Multiplication Champions with recognition in our monthly Newsette and attendance at gatherings to celebrate. Students in grades one and two compete to be Fry Word Champions and if they achieve this honor they receive a "Fry Word" tee shirt that they wear on "FRY..day".

Recognition is given per quarter for students who are judged to be the best scribe by displaying exceptional printing or cursive writing. Students can qualify for the school’s academic honor roll. We participate with the Kiwanis Club of La Habra to recognize those students who have brought up their grades through the " BUG" award.

Fifth and sixth graders may participate in the district’s Day of Excellence and compete for academic medals. The nation’s Presidential Academic Awards are also given to sixth graders who have attained a high academic grade point average through elementary school.

Jog-a-thons, Book Swaps, spirit days, and cards given for acts of kindness are other methods to promote a positive learning environment where students are given recognition both in the classroom and schoolwide.

Suspensions and Expulsions
The number of suspensions and expulsions is the total number of incidents that result in a suspension or expulsion. The rate of suspensions and expulsions is the total number of incidents divided by the school's California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) total enrollment for the given year. In unified school districts, a comparison between a particular type of school (elementary, middle, high) and the district average may be misleading. Schools have the option of comparing their data with the district-wide average for the same type of school.

	School			District
	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
Suspensions (number)	4	6	4	175	169	51
Suspensions (rate)	.01	.01	.01	.05	.05	.02
Expulsions (number)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Expulsions (rate)	0	0	0	0	0	0

School Facilities

Olita School consists of seven major buildings with five bungalows. There are two wings for the primary classrooms and an additional two wings for the upper grade classrooms. Kindergarten is separated from the rest of the campus by an enclosed play yard. In addition to the classrooms there is a library, computer lab, reading center, speech room and a school psychologist’s room. The central office houses the office manager’s station, attendance clerk’s office, nurse’s office, principal’s office, lounge, workroom, EL teacher’s room plus the multi-use and kitchen.

In year 2002, two major additions were made to the primary and upper grade playgrounds, with an expenditure of $43,000.

III. Academic Data

Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
Through the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, students in grades 2-11 are tested annually in various subject areas. Currently, the STAR program includes California Standards Tests (CST) in English Language Arts and Mathematics in grades 2-11, and Science and History-Social Science in grades 9-11; and the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition (Stanford 9), which tests Reading, Language, Mathematics (grades 2-11), Spelling (grades 2-8), and Science and History-Social Science (grades 9-11 only). Note: To protect student privacy, scores are not shown when the number of students tested is 10 or less.

California Standards Tests (CST)
The California Standards Tests show how well students are doing in relation to the state content standards. Student scores are reported as performance levels. The five performance levels are Advanced (exceeds state standards), Proficient (meets standards), Basic (approaching standards), Below Basic (below standards), and Far Below Basic (well below standards). Students scoring at the Proficient or Advanced level have met state standards in that content area. Note: To protect student privacy, scores are not shown when the number of students tested is 10 or less.

CST - English Language Arts
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	School			District			State
Grade Level	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
2	---	76	81	---	63	62	---	32	32
3	---	77	74	---	65	68	---	30	34
4	---	67	59	---	58	56	---	33	36
5	---	51	60	---	50	55	---	28	31
6	---	55	54	---	54	53	---	31	30
7	---			---	58	50	---	32	33
8	---			---	48	59	---	32	32
9	---			---			---	28	33
10	---			---			---	31	33
11	---			---			---	29	31

CST - Mathematics
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	School			District			State
Grade Level	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
2	---	---	89	---	---	74	---	---	43
3	---	---	68	---	---	70	---	---	38
4	---	---	53	---	---	47	---	---	37
5	---	---	51	---	---	50	---	---	29
6	---	---	72	---	---	56	---	---	32
7	---	---		---	---	42	---	---	29
8	---	---		---	---	40	---	---	26
9	---	---		---	---		---	---	22
10	---	---		---	---		---	---	21
11	---	---		---	---		---	---	18

CST - Science
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	School			District			State
Grade Level	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
9	---	---		---	---		---	---	33
10	---	---		---	---		---	---	31
11	---	---		---	---		---	---	28

CST - History/Social Science
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	School			District			State
Grade Level	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
9	---	---		---	---		---	---	24
10	---	---		---	---		---	---	24
11	---	---		---	---		---	---	32

CST - Subgroups - English Language Arts
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	Male	Female	English Learners	Not-English Learners	Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Not Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Migrant Education Services
2	79	83	50	84	80	82
3	72	77	40	77	56	79
4	58	61	33	60	14	64
5	56	64	0	62	25	66
6	49	60	0	56	31	59
7
8
9
10
11

CST - Subgroups - Mathematics
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	Male	Female	English Learners	Not-English Learners	Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Not Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Migrant Education Services
2	88	89	67	91	90	88
3	72	63	100	66	56	71
4	55	50	33	54	14	57
5	56	46	50	51	50	51
6	71	72	67	72	63	74
7
8
9
10
11

CST - Subgroups - Science
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	Male	Female	English Learners	Not-English Learners	Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Not Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Migrant Education Services
9
10
11

CST - Subgroups - History/Social Science
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	Male	Female	English Learners	Not-English Learners	Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Not Socioeconomically Disadvantaged	Migrant Education Services
9
10
11

CST - Racial/Ethnic Groups - English Language Arts
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	African- American	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian- American	Filipino- American	Hispanic or Latino	Pacific Islander	White (not Hispanic)	Other
2			63		81		85
3			67		71		78	100
4			67		60		55	75
5			75		50		63	100
6			100		44		62	60
7
8
9
10
11

CST - Racial/Ethnic Groups - Mathematics
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	African- American	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian- American	Filipino- American	Hispanic or Latino	Pacific Islander	White (not Hispanic)	Other
2			88		85		94
3			83		63		70	100
4			67		57		49	50
5			75		41		52	100
6			100		75		70	80
7
8
9
10
11

CST - Racial/Ethnic Groups - Science
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	African- American	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian- American	Filipino- American	Hispanic or Latino	Pacific Islander	White (not Hispanic)	Other
9
10
11

CST - Racial/Ethnic Groups - History/Social Science
Percentage of students achieving at the Proficient or Advanced level (meeting or exceeding the state standard)

Grade Level	African- American	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian- American	Filipino- American	Hispanic or Latino	Pacific Islander	White (not Hispanic)	Other
9
10
11

Stanford 9 (SAT 9)
Reading and mathematics results from the Stanford 9 test are reported for each grade level as the percentage of tested students scoring at or above the 50th percentile (the national average). School results are compared to results at the district and state levels. Note: To protect student privacy, scores are not shown when the number of students tested is 10 or less.

SAT 9 - Reading
Percentage of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile

Grade Level	School			District			State
Grade Level	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002	2000	2001	2002
2	92	90	96	80	80	83	49	51	53
3	84	90	86	71	81	79	44	46	47
4	70	83	74	67	71	68	45	47	49
5	60	64	73	64	65	68	44	45	46
6	85	64	75	78	69	71	46	47	48
7				64	73	65	46	48	48
8				71	69	72	49	50	49
9							35	35	34
10							34	34	34
11