Santa Rita Elementary School

700 Los Altos Ave.

Los Altos, CA 94022

    Santa Rita School is one of six elementary schools in the Los Altos School District. The school is located approximately one mile from the downtown center of the City of Los Altos. The neighborhoods served by Santa Rita are located between Foothill and Central Expressways in the cities of Los Altos, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. Twenty-four self-contained classrooms contain over 500 students in grades kindergarten through six.

Students' Needs:

    One of Santa Rita's goals is to meet the unique learning and social needs of each student. Students are regrouped within and across classrooms to assure appropriate classroom instruction. A full time Resource Specialist and an aide are available to work with students needing additional support makes early intervention possible for all students.

    Volunteers from the Los Altos Rotary provide assistance in computer labs and individual tutoring. Two special programs, "one to one" tutoring in first grade reading and after-school tutoring by students from Los Altos High School, offer extra support to referred students.

    A school psychologist is available for testing, conferencing with parents and staff members, and for helping classroom teachers identify effective instructional practices for students with special needs. A Students Study Team helps to determine the best placement for children with special needs. A school wide discipline plan, written by parents, staff and students is implemented uniformly. Awards for good citizenship as well as clear consequences and communication with parents help students meet high expectations for behavior.

    The school's English as a Second Language program provides up to one and one-half hours of special instruction in English each day for approximately 60 qualified students. They remain in the program until their academic skills and English proficiency are adequate for them to be successful in the regular program.

    The ESL program is staffed by a full-time teacher who holds a special credential in second-language teaching methods. The ESL teacher received the 1994 National Award for Excellence in Teaching English as a Second Language. Additionally, classroom teachers at Santa Rita have received training in techniques for working with ESL students in their classrooms. Instructional aides funded by the School Improvement Program provide assistance in math, reading, and written language for students in grades 1-6.

    Instruction for children identified as Gifted and Talented is provided in afterschool enrichment classes open to student sign-ups. 

Santa Rita's Scores on California Standardized Tests

Scores range from 1-99. A score of 99 indicates that the school scored higher than 99 percent of the other public schools in California. All scores are from "McCormack's Guides '99."

Learning Environment:

    As a result of State class size reduction efforts, all kindergarten, first, second, and third grade classrooms have no more than 20 students. Classroom aides, funded by the School Improvement Program, assist teachers with small group instruction. A science aide, physical education specialists, and vocal and instrumental music teachers offer special classes for students each week, largely funded by the Los Altos Educational Foundation. A mathematics specialist has been assigned to Santa Rita School for one hour per day to provide additional grouping to increase the instructional opportunities for the sixth graders in mathematics.

    Every classroom has a networked computer teaching station (consisting of a Macintosh CD-ROM computer hooked to a TV for large screen display). All classroom computers are networked and connected to the Internet and the World Wide Web.

    Santa Rita has two computer labs. In the "Read, Write, and Type" Lab, students in grades 1 and 2 learn "touch" keyboarding integrated with phonics and spelling. Students in grades 3-6 use the Macintosh lab twice weekly for word processing of classroom writing assignments, projects and internet research. The lab is also open at lunch recess most days.

    Santa Rita's school library, staffed by two library aides and parent volunteers, has been upgraded with Measure A and PTA funding. A professional librarian oversees district library services, with special attention to updating the book collection and CD ROM research software at each school.

    All Santa Rita teachers are assigned to grade levels within the scope of their teaching credentials. All district teachers and administrators participate in district training programs. Teachers new to the district are provided with help from principals, mentor teachers, a "new teacher" coordinator and grade level peers. 

    In addition to regular teaching and playground supervision duties, all Santa Rita teachers work on school-level committees and several are members of district-level committees. One Santa Rita teacher serves as a district mentor. Six teachers have served as an instructor in the district "Teachers Teaching Teachers" staff development program.

    The Santa Rita principal monitors effective classroom instructional practices through classroom observation and evaluation. Teachers are expected to meet both individual goals and district standards for effective teaching. Tenured teachers are evaluated formally every two years. First and second year teachers are evaluated every year.

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