Setting and Context; Beattie Elementary
Vision Statement: The Beattie community supports continuous growth with high expectations in a sage and positive environment to inspire a love of learning.
Mission Statement: EDUCATE THE WHOLE CHILD
Culture and Community Context:
Beattie Elementary is a very welcoming school! On the first day I entered the building, the principal met me at the door with a handshake and gave me a tour of the whole building. Each grade level has an open concept "pod" which allows for more corporative learning. They also have a gifted and talented program that they offer to students who qualify. They base all of their curriculum around the concept of "Functional Creativity." Every grade and subject is supposed to incorporate the concept and process of functional creativity in their lessons. The process goes from dreaming to ideating to designing to solving. I really enjoyed having this concept as a basis for all students because it strongly relates to the creative process.
Beattie is the smallest Elementary school in Fort Collins. There are around 320 students and only 30 staff members. It is a school of choice, but most of the students live in the surrounding area around the school. It is located in the middle of Fort Collins in a lower-class neighborhood with many rental homes and apartments. Therefore, many of the students come and go from Beattie. Many stay all the way through fifth grade, but many will come for only a year or even just part of a year because they are staying in a nearby rental home or apartment with their families. This makes for an interesting dynamic in the classroom and school because there are many behavioral issues because of unstable home lives.
Support Structure:
Beattie has a very interesting support structure. There are many parents that are involved in the classroom and with after school activities but there is also a support structure called "Watch Dogs" that they created. Fathers of various children at the school come and volunteer in the school to provide a positive male model in the student's lives. Because there are only around 3-5 male workers on staff it is very beneficial to have the dads in the school helping out.
Students / Demographic Characteristics:
According to USA Public Schools Info, around 23% of students are hispanic, 70% are caucasian, and the other 7% are various other races/ethnicities. Almost half of the students at the school qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Classroom Environment:
The art room at Beattie is one of the largest ones in the Poudre school district for Elementary schools. It has large ceilings, great floor space for discussion and exploration, lots of storage, and plenty of work space. The room has a smart board and a document camera which is used every day in class. We only see around 350 students a week, which is much smaller compared to other Elementary schools in the district. This is very nice because we get to see most of the students more than once a week. Most students we see twice a week which is very beneficial to them and our lessons we teach. There is space in the back of the room and near the front to separate students out from the group if they need to work by themselves at singular desks. The room is extremely organized and clean at almost all times, because the students have a lot of ownership and responsibility in the classroom. They are held to high standards as far as cleanliness, organization, and responsibility for their learning is concerned.
Mission Statement: EDUCATE THE WHOLE CHILD
Culture and Community Context:
Beattie Elementary is a very welcoming school! On the first day I entered the building, the principal met me at the door with a handshake and gave me a tour of the whole building. Each grade level has an open concept "pod" which allows for more corporative learning. They also have a gifted and talented program that they offer to students who qualify. They base all of their curriculum around the concept of "Functional Creativity." Every grade and subject is supposed to incorporate the concept and process of functional creativity in their lessons. The process goes from dreaming to ideating to designing to solving. I really enjoyed having this concept as a basis for all students because it strongly relates to the creative process.
Beattie is the smallest Elementary school in Fort Collins. There are around 320 students and only 30 staff members. It is a school of choice, but most of the students live in the surrounding area around the school. It is located in the middle of Fort Collins in a lower-class neighborhood with many rental homes and apartments. Therefore, many of the students come and go from Beattie. Many stay all the way through fifth grade, but many will come for only a year or even just part of a year because they are staying in a nearby rental home or apartment with their families. This makes for an interesting dynamic in the classroom and school because there are many behavioral issues because of unstable home lives.
Support Structure:
Beattie has a very interesting support structure. There are many parents that are involved in the classroom and with after school activities but there is also a support structure called "Watch Dogs" that they created. Fathers of various children at the school come and volunteer in the school to provide a positive male model in the student's lives. Because there are only around 3-5 male workers on staff it is very beneficial to have the dads in the school helping out.
Students / Demographic Characteristics:
According to USA Public Schools Info, around 23% of students are hispanic, 70% are caucasian, and the other 7% are various other races/ethnicities. Almost half of the students at the school qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Classroom Environment:
The art room at Beattie is one of the largest ones in the Poudre school district for Elementary schools. It has large ceilings, great floor space for discussion and exploration, lots of storage, and plenty of work space. The room has a smart board and a document camera which is used every day in class. We only see around 350 students a week, which is much smaller compared to other Elementary schools in the district. This is very nice because we get to see most of the students more than once a week. Most students we see twice a week which is very beneficial to them and our lessons we teach. There is space in the back of the room and near the front to separate students out from the group if they need to work by themselves at singular desks. The room is extremely organized and clean at almost all times, because the students have a lot of ownership and responsibility in the classroom. They are held to high standards as far as cleanliness, organization, and responsibility for their learning is concerned.