Springer Elementary School

1120 Rose Ave.

Mountain View, CA 94040

    Springer School is one of six elementary schools in the Los Altos School District. It is located in the city of Mountain View, California. Fifty-two percent of the students reside in Mountain View, forty-three percent in Los Altos, and five percent are attending Springer on Interdistrict Agreements and live in the surrounding communities.

    Springer School was selected as a California Distinguished School in 1989. The review team praised the high caliber of classroom instruction and teacher preparation.

Students' Needs:

    The Springer staff is dedicated to meeting the unique learning and social needs of each student. Students are assigned to self-contained classrooms and they are regrouped within and across classrooms to assure classroom instruction is at the appropriate level. Classroom regrouping has become emphasized in grades one through six. The staff of these grade levels have developed criteria based upon district grade level standards. Through the grouping process within the classroom for formal reading instruction, students are provided a setting that is at their instructional level. Acceleration and support instruction is provided for all children. A school psychologist is available for testing and conferencing with parents.

    A Student 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. Counseling services are provided two days per week by two well trained, caring CHAC counselors.

    Special education services are available to all eligible students in the district. Services include two all-day special classes in small group instruction from learning disability specialists, and speech and language instruction. Students with severe handicaps are served in other programs both in and outside the district..

    The Resource Specialist is a specially credentialed teacher who works with students who have learning disabilities and are in need of learning assistance. These students are served through pull-outs during the regular school day (students leave the regular classroom individually or in small groups to receive separate instruction in a different classroom). They are also served through work with the Resource Specialist in their regular classrooms. This service is called collaboration. This teacher and regular classroom teachers also meet weekly to discuss and plan program and instructional modifications to enhance the learning of students with special needs in the Resource and regular education programs.

    Services for children with limited English proficiency are available at Springer. Students remain in the program, receiving instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL) and with their academic needs. Support is provided to these children throughout the period of time they are in the process of gaining English skills.

    Instruction for Gifted and Talented children is provided in a variety of settings. The foremost setting is in the classroom. Springer classroom teachers plan objectives of the curriculum to extend to the higher level thinking levels of application, evaluation, and synthesis. An example of this planning can be seen through the Wednesday POW (Problem of the Week) program. The school has adopted a five-step problem solving process. All children have the opportunity to take the problem to the evaluation and syntheses level of understanding. It is expected that the GATE child will perform at this level of extension consistently. The school also provides several opportunities for GATE children to take the curriculum "one step beyond."

    The Los Altos School District provided the extended day program for children. Extended day classes are offered throughout the elementary schools. Springer offers the accelerated mathematics program for children who demonstrate talent in the field of mathematics. This program is offered daily in grades three, four, five and six.

Springer'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:

    Science aides, a schoolwide physical education specialist, vocal and instrumental music teachers, and computer lab aides, largely funded by the Los Altos Education Foundation, offer special classes for students each week.

    Springer's school library, staffed by library aides and parent volunteers, has been upgraded with Measure A funding. A professional librarian oversees district library services, with special attention being given to updating our book collection. The Springer PTA strongly supports the school library with both cash contributions and volunteer hours. 

    Springer uses a relocatable building to house the computer lab. The lab is staffed by three fine technology assistants. The lab provides curriculum support via the tools of Claris Works and has implemented science, social science, and mathematics software to support and enrich the classroom curriculum. As a result of the fine work of the district and school Technology Committee, the Computer Center has become an integrated aspect of the total instructional plan. Grade one students work daily with a keyboard-phonics development program entitled "Read, Write and Type." Students in grades two through six learn the total application of Claris Works including word processing, data base management, spreadsheet, and graphics. Students also use the Internet for research and also use E-mail to communicate with others around the district and around the world.

    All Springer teachers are assigned to grade levels within the scope of their teaching credentials. One Springer teacher has been selected as a district mentor teacher, and six are leading classes for other teachers. Three teachers were trained in the new science implementation network. One teacher received a grant to travel to Washington to develop relative assessment procedures for authentic assessment of science units. Other teachers serve as members of the Site Council and work on district-level committees including the Technology Committee and Curriculum Council.

    Four teachers funded by the Los Alto Educational Foundation serve students in the area of vocal and instrumental music. Two of these teachers are part-time. Two of the teachers are full-time traveling music teachers. Beginning in grade four, the students learn the recorder as a precursor to participation in the band and orchestra in grades five and six. In addition, three physical education instructors funded by the LAEF visit the school three days per week to provide a high quality physical education program for all children.

    The Springer 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, and first and second year teachers are evaluated every year.

    All district teachers participate in district training programs. Teachers new to the district are provided with help from principals, mentor teachers, and grade level peers. Due to the increase in new teachers at Springer, two part-time consultants participated in planning and instructional activities to further refine the skills of our new teachers.

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