This section should provide information on
• Size and demographics
• Vision, mission, values
• Leadership and governance
• Goals
• Faculty and staff base
• Principal student types
• It should include a copy of the current strategic plan/ and state school report card information.

Size and Demographics:

Starke Primary School currently houses approximately 235 students consisting of two kindergartens, three first grades, two second grades, two third grades, two instructional classes (K-1 and 2-3), one B. D. class and one Pre-K class. Music, physical education, OT-PT, speech, nurse/clerk, learning center parapro, breakfast, lunch, latchkey, tutoring, title and reading recovery are additional services provided for our students.

L.E. Starke’s Mission is for all students to be literate in all academic areas and have life-long learning skills.

L.E. Starke’s Values:
We believe and support the District Core Values:

Literacy
We learn to read so we can read to learn.

Humanity
We treat everyone with respect and kindness

Unity
We remain steadfast to our common purpose

Informed Practice
We study and think before we act.

L.E. Starke’s Vision:

Again, we mirror the District Vision statements, but we have put them in “student / parent user friendly” language.

• Teach the district curriculum and use the evidence of our assessments to continuously improve.
We try to teach and learn more everyday.

• Help students take responsibility for and develop pride in their own continuous improvement.
We do our best everyday.

• Be a collaborative partner in advancing the mission of the district.
We work together.

• Seek, reflect and act upon feedback from students and parents to improve teaching and learning.
We think of ways to make things better.

• Create, use and evaluate diverse learning activities to assist all students to be successful.
We use many things to help students learn and be successful.

• Use a variety of means to enhance communication among students, schools, families and communities.
We use all kinds of ways to keep everyone informed.

• Make the best use of human and fiscal resources to achieve individual and organizational excellence.
We use everything we can to do our best.

• Model clear expectations and provide fair consequences to assure a safe, respectful, inviting learning environment.
We practice I Care behavior so Starke is safe and friendly.

Goals

Starke School Wide Improvement Plan (Goal)
SWIP/Goal: If all Starke teachers use writing best practices and increase time spent on writing instruction then 90% of our students’ writing scores will improve by May 2008, as measured by our spring grade level writing rubric (check list).

District Goals with Starke Targets
Goal 1: Improve student and employee performance.
• Starke will continue improving our ISAT Reading Scores by targeting all reading skills assessed during our literacy reading times. We will “attack the ISAT” again with our “ISAT Boot Camp”.
• Starke will begin a two year project of developing our writing curriculum so that our third graders will be ready to meet and/or exceed on the 2009 ISAT Writing Test.

Goal 2: Improve and align support programs and services to assist each student’s success.
• Starke will use all means available to provide additional reading support for our at risk students as identified by standardized assessments and/or ARC process.

Goal 3: Improve Quality Assurance Process.
• Starke will continue to survey all parties for their input.
• Starke will develop a sharing relationship with a similar school outside our district that will allow us to test our ideas and share concerns.

Goal 4: Strengthen relationships among stakeholders.
• Starke will continue to improve communication with our stakeholders.
• Starke will build on the strength of our PTA (Parent, Teacher Association) and SOS (Service of Starke) programs.

Leadership and Governance:
There is strong leadership throughout Starke starting with our office team of Stan (principal) and Mary (secretary). Leadership continues through our staff leaders both individual and School Instructional Leadership Team. It concludes with a strong supportive PTA.
Site based / Shared decision making is practiced at Starke. Our School Instructional Leadership Team is responsible for making specific decisions as stated in the Contract. Staff has control of their grade level budgets, which includes supplies and reallocated textbook fees. Please note the decision making flowchart in the SILT information.

State/Federal Context

This section should provide information on:
• State priorities, goals, measures
• State and federal initiatives that impact the school
• State support that impacts the school’s capacity to deploy a Continuous Improvement Framework and Process.

Our number one priority in regards to this section is NCLB (No Child Left Behind). District 108 spends $6000 + per child, which is small compared to like size school districts about I-80. We believe we get a lot of “bang for our buck”. Please examine our 8 year ISAT results which will show you that we are well above our projected scores. In fact, our Math ISAT results for 2006 were 100% meets and/or exceeds.

Student and Stakeholder Requirements

This section should provide information on:
• Key requirements for services
• Significant differences, if any, in requirements among student and stakeholder groups

L.E. Starke currently has 115 out of 235 students on free / reduced lunches. We are bused students from the Pekin Housing Addition, Normandale, instructional and Behavior Disorder students from the entire district. We house the district kindergarten overflow class and one Pre. – K. autistic class.

We’ve notice an increase in the number of students entering school with no pre-school experience and those coming with limited skills in relation to their age. The number of students reading below grade level is targeted by our literacy data.

Relationships to other organizations (state, regional, district, community levels)

This section should provide information on:
• Types and numbers of other organizations
• Any limitations, special relationships or special requirements that may exist with some or all schools, business, or other organizations.

We have great relationships with the following organizations:
• Tazewell County Health Department. They provide our:
Latchkey
Tutoring
• Schramm Educational Center (Special Education Coop)
• ROE 53
• Pekin Police Department
• Pekin Fire Department
• Tazewell County Children’s’ Advocacy Center
• Tazewell County House of Hope
• Pekin Salvation Army
• Starke PTA (Parent Teacher Association)
• Starke SOS (Service of Starke)

Competitive Situation

We consider the following very important in keeping us on a “level playing field” with schools of higher social economic populations:
• Technology we have in the schools for our students.
Essential Skills Software
• Our “outstanding” teaching staff.
• Our forward thinking administration. (Both previous and current.)
• Our “out-of-the box” curriculum ideas and methods.
• Our parent involvement.
• Our Starke Literacy Program
• Our Reading Recovery Program

School Directions

This section should include information, as appropriate:
• Major new thrusts
• New alliances
• Introduction of new technologies
• Changes in strategy
• Unique factors

Starke Grade 3 ISAT Reading Score = 92.5% District Ranking #1
Starke Grade 3 ISAT Math Score = 97.5% District Ranking #1

Starke School had the second highest ISAT Math and Reading Scores for District 108 last year (2007). We have 1 ½ title teachers. This has meant that we’ve had to think “outside the box” in dealing with this handicap. We are drawing on the services of parents, grandparents, student interns and specialists to service our at-risk students. This is the only way we can get the double and triple “doses” of literacy for our students that need it.

Our PDSA School Wide Plan of developing a writing program is a new “thrust” for us that we feel very positive about. We are pleased with the data being collected and used to drive our instruction.

Our master schedule allows us to get all literacy groups in before lunch, which everyone knows is the best instructional time for students.