School Improvement Plan

Highlight 3-5 strengths of your school and how those strengths foster belonging, wellbeing and learning.

At Newcastle Elementary, we take pride in our strong community culture, meaningful family engagement, and commitment to advocating for student needs. These strengths not only create a sense of belonging for students and families but also support student wellbeing and learning in tangible ways.

1. Community Building

Newcastle Elementary fosters a positive and inclusive environment through intentional daily routines. Every morning and at the end of the day, staff greet students, creating a welcoming atmosphere that encourages connection and sets a positive tone. Not only do we have teachers greeting each student at the door to their classrooms, our Principal high-fives each of the students arriving by bus, while our Dean of Students welcomes students being dropped-off by car on the opposite side of our campus. Additionally, morning meetings are used in each classroom to build relationships among students, teaching respect, collaboration, and empathy. These practices contribute to a sense of camaraderie and mutual support, both among staff and within the student body, ensuring that everyone feels they belong. We celebrate positive student behavior, awarding Lion Coins to students who independently model our Lion Code expectations of Safe, Kind, and Responsible. Our building focuses on specific Social-Emotional Learning content each month, frequently with building-wide assemblies to bring our student community together around a focused conversation led by our school principal.

2. Family Engagement

Newcastle actively involves families in our school community through a variety of activities and events designed to create environments for welcoming and inclusive experiences. Musical performances at each grade level include opportunities for families to dance with their students, sing with their students, and even participate in an indoor musical pajama party camp-out. Our Multicultural Night is beloved by our families, who represent cultures from around the world, as they share games, hobbies, and food representative of their own background and experiences. The evening culminates with dance and musical performances from around the world, in a sort of Newcastle’s Got Talent production. Our annual Celebration of Learning provides parents an opportunity to visit not only their child’s classroom, but each location throughout the entire campus, interacting with specialists and support staff who are available to share activities and experiences from their child’s daily schedule. Pizza is provided for free to every family participating in our Celebration of Learning. Many of our parents have shared that our Celebration of Learning is their favorite night of the year as it provides deeper insight into their child’s school day. We also open our doors to a large number of volunteers who partner with us in our support of student learning on a daily basis. These volunteers range from mothers and fathers to grandparents and other extended family members. These volunteers play a critical role in the work that we do, with over 2,300 sign-ins over the past year, averaging 12 volunteers daily. Our belief is that such strong partnerships with families will strengthen our students’ academic and emotional development, ensuring that they feel connected and supported not only at home, but at school as well.

3. Advocating for Student Needs

Our Newcastle staff is dedicated to responding to and supporting the diverse needs of our students through numerous strategies. Six of our staff volunteered to participate as members of the Ignite Leadership program, a targeted approach to developing classroom skills consistent with Universal Design for Learning strategies, while also serving as district leaders, opening their instructional spaces as model classrooms. This team is facilitating Newcastle building-trainings focused on the development and implementation of lessons catering to diverse learning styles with the goal that students thrive academically and socially, while also fostering a deeper sense of belonging. We have established an ongoing partnership with Issaquah Schools Foundation, which has funded our before and after school math support program over the past five years. This student support program currently provides targeted interventions to 50 students over the course of 18 weeks (from November until Spring Break). Our counselor has coordinated with our Newcastle PTSA to pair volunteers with students demonstrating financial needs to develop an opportunity for access to needed school and community resources. This has included access to clothing and personal items, school spirit wear, yearbooks, and holiday resources. These services are particularly important with the increasing numbers of families experiencing economic hardships (currently 20.57% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch). Additional support is provided to identified students through Title/LAP, Multilingual Support, Special Education, paraprofessional small group and in-class support, VOICE Mentors, and our school counselor within the context of the academic school day.

Based on your data and observations, describe 2-3 of the challenges you hope to address through school improvement? Be sure to address areas of gap closure.

Through our data analysis and observations, we have identified three primary challenges we aim to address through our School Improvement Plan. These challenges center around enhancing support for our multilingual learners, maintaining high achievement levels for our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and Students with Disabilities (SWD), and addressing the unique needs of our kindergarten students with disabilities. We are committed to narrowing achievement gaps and supporting growth for every student, and are confident that by addressing these challenges, we can move closer to that goal.

1. Supporting Growth for Multilingual Learners

Our multilingual learners (MLs) are currently not demonstrating the growth we desire, and their progress trails behind that of their peers. Forty-nine percent (68) of our ML students met standard on the Spring, 2024 i-Ready Reading Diagnostic, while 35% (23 students) met standard on the 2024 ELA/Literacy Assessment. Although ML students are not specifically identified in the BIPOC or SWD focus groups mandated by state requirements, we recognize this as a significant gap and are committed to making it a priority. Our ML teachers are invested in creating visuals to support students within the Benchmark Advance curriculum. We plan to intensify support for ML students through such additional resources and targeted instruction provided through ML teachers supporting students within the general education classroom. This in-class model allows our ML teachers to not only partner with classroom teachers, but also directly support students in accessing academic vocabulary necessary for success within the classroom environment. Through this focus on both language and content mastery, we strive to provide these students with the tools they need to reach grade-level expectations and beyond. We have identified our ML students who did not meet standard on either of these assessments, and are partnering with classroom teachers, ML support staff, and Title/LAP to provide targeted supports.

2. Maintaining High Performance for BIPOC and SWD Groups

While our Black, Native American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander (BIPOC) and Students with Disabilities (SWD) have shown strong academic performance in recent years (on our Spring, 2024 3^rd Grade i-Ready Phonics Assessment, 100% of our BIPOC and 75% of our SWD students met standard), we recognize the importance of consistency in supporting these groups to maintain high achievement. As the demographics and needs of these students evolve, so too must our approaches. We are committed to providing ongoing academic and social-emotional support, recognizing that a proactive approach can help address emerging needs and prevent future gaps. This involves continuous monitoring, data-driven interventions (through classroom small groups, Title/LAP Support and use of our paraprofessional staff), and maintaining strong partnerships with families to create a holistic support system for these students. In addressing these challenges, Newcastle aims to foster an inclusive and supportive environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed. We believe that by focusing on targeted support, professional collaboration, and family partnerships, we can close achievement gaps and build a foundation for sustained academic growth and wellbeing for all students.

3. Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities in Kindergarten

As we work towards implementation of UDL principles and practices to create a fully inclusive environment that promotes student agency and a sense of belonging, we are quickly adapting and building a strategy for addressing the unique needs of six kindergarten students. These students demonstrate a high level of need, presenting unique disabilities we have not experienced before. While these students would have been placed in a district LRC 2 classroom in the past, our current goal is to provide an inclusive environment within their home school. This group will require additional supports unlike those our kindergarten students have typically experienced in these early school years, a critical time for foundational learning and social development. To meet these needs, we are partnering with special services, experienced LRC2 instructional staff, and district TOSAs to help us shape and develop our support implementation. We are working to equip our kindergarten instructional staff and paraprofessionals to develop a coordinated team prepared to identify and respond to the unique challenges presented by these changing needs. Partnering with families is another key component, and we are striving to involve parents in their children’s educational journey and empower them with tools to support learning at home. Through these initiatives, we aim to establish a robust support system that allows these students to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally throughout their elementary education journey.

Describe 2-3 opportunities in the coming years your school can leverage for this school improvement plan and to address disproportionality?

In the coming years, Newcastle Elementary has several promising opportunities to advance our School Improvement Plan and address areas of disproportionality. By implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL), integrating curriculum tools such as Benchmark Advance and Ellevation, and providing targeted professional development, we aim to build a support structure to ensure the success of each and every student at Newcastle.

1. Expanding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Practices

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers significant potential for enhancing accessibility and fostering a strong sense of belonging and engagement among students. We plan to expand our use of UDL strategies and practices to make learning materials and classroom experiences more accessible to all students. Additionally, our use of intervention blocks allows us to maximize instructional time, creating consistent opportunities for Title, LAP, and small group student support, helping break down barriers to student learning. Our Ignite team, equipped with UDL strategies and principles, will share best practices to help teachers scaffold instruction and provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate understanding. These methods ensure that every student, regardless of learning style or background, feels included and supported. This intentional focus on engagement and cultural belonging aims to strengthen students' sense of identity and connection to our school community, which we anticipate will positively impact both engagement and learning outcomes.

2. Curriculum Implementation including Benchmark Advance and Ellevation

The implementation of the Benchmark Advance curriculum provides our school with valuable tools for supporting all students and fostering inclusive learning experiences. Benchmark offers a variety of accessibility options, including features that allow books to be read aloud, enabling students to practice independently and develop confidence. The curriculum also includes a range of instructional support ideas for multilingual learners (MLs), offering tailored approaches to language acquisition and content understanding. These include two targeted curriculums (for newcomers and all other multilingual learners) that are aligned with the general education curriculum that all students are receiving in their classroom. All reading lessons within Benchmark Advance include scaffolded language support through tiered and integrated ML supports. Research shows that ML students benefit from explicit vocabulary instruction, and vocabulary development is a key focus in Benchmark Advance. Students are consistently given opportunities for active engagement through collaborative activities, group discussions, and peer interactions. These interactive opportunities are important for ML students, as they provide practical, real-life use of language and foster both social and academic language development. In addition to these ML supports, the built-in parent communication tools in Benchmark allow us to engage families more effectively.

Ellevation is a valuable platform designed to store data based on our Multilingual (ML) students' WIDA ACCESS scores. Its primary purpose is to facilitate data-informed classroom activities for both ML and classroom teachers. The platform provides a variety of tools and resources that offer guidance and support for our ML students, helping to enhance their educational experience. One of the standout features of Ellevation are the "Can-Do" statements. These statements are organized by grade level and serve as a practical guide for teachers. Essentially, they are descriptive phrases that outline what a student can consistently do with language at their current English language proficiency level, as determined by their WIDA ACCESS test scores. This information allows teachers to tailor their instruction to meet the specific needs of each student, addressing their abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing across various contexts. Additionally, Ellevation offers a digital toolkit containing over 70 classroom activities that teachers can seamlessly incorporate into their language instruction. This wealth of resources aids in differentiating instruction and assessments for our ML students, ensuring they learn in a manner that aligns with their individual needs.

3. Targeted Training and Professional Development

Ongoing professional development is essential to equipping our teachers with the skills needed to implement UDL and new curriculum strategies effectively. Six members of our staff are district participants in the Ignite program and are bringing this perspective-shaping PD to our staff over the course of the current school year. Through Ignite training, our educators receive targeted support in UDL practices, equipping them to create adaptable, student-centered learning environments. Our leadership team also identifies and responds to specific training needs for our building’s instructional team. Our Literacy Implementation TOSA not only provides sessions on Benchmark Advance implementation, but also provides individualized support and modeling for staff members in response to demonstrated needs. We have also been coordinating with our Special Services department and representatives to deliver push-in training for teachers and paraprofessionals working with kindergarten students with specific disabilities, focusing on strategies for inclusion and support. By investing in our staff’s development, we are able to ensure that our instructional approaches will continuously evolve to meet our students’ diverse needs.

Through these opportunities, Newcastle Elementary is well-positioned to foster an inclusive and supportive environment that promotes equity and addresses disproportionality across all student groups. By embracing UDL principles, implementing responsive curricula, and providing ongoing training, we are building a foundation for sustained growth and improvement for every learner.

Based on previous School Improvement Planning & Tiered Fidelity Inventories, describe 1-2 systems, structures or practices recently introduced or expanded that shows promise for student achievement and will be continued? What impact are you observing? What data are you using to monitor impact?

Newcastle Elementary School: Systems and Practices to Support Student Achievement

Through recent School Improvement Planning and Tiered Fidelity Inventories, Newcastle Elementary has introduced and expanded several systems and practices that show promise in supporting student achievement and well-being. A large portion of our efforts have focused on practices encompassed by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), both of which have had a positive impact on student behavior, engagement, and overall school climate.

1. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Implementation

Our UDL implementation has encouraged teachers to consider unique student needs in the planning and development of instruction, adapting and planning lessons that will incorporate the needs of each one of their students. Classroom teachers, grade-level teams, and our building leaders work to monitor the resulting student progress not only through i-Ready and SBA results, but also through Benchmark Advance, SWIS, and SAEBRS. This data provides with only direct access to academic performance results, as well as behavioral and emotional affectations in response to this ongoing work. Our Ignite team members have made their classrooms available as models that can be visited by our staff as well as others from around the district. Additionally, we are providing release days for grade-level teams to coordinate, plan, and build upon their collaborative work as instructional teams. These ongoing UDL practices support all students, equipping them to succeed in a variety of ways and promoting a sense of agency and belonging.

2. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Behavioral Supports

One of our values at Newcastle is the belief that student emotional well-being is a key component necessary for meaningful academic success. Building upon this belief, we have worked to implement a building culture consistent with our Lion Code values… Safe, Kind, and Responsible. In addition to our UDL practices, which support our work in cultivating a supportive and inclusive school culture, we maintain a strong focus on the social-emotional learning and well-being of our students. Our SEL initiatives, guided by the SAEBRS and SWIS data, have led to an increase in positive student interactions and improvements in attendance. One effective approach is the Check-In/Check-Out system, which allows for struggling students to engage in morning welcome meetings and receive reminders of school-wide behavior expectations, while ending their day with a celebration of their successes for that period of time. This practice, along with consistent attendance monitoring, helps these impacted students start each day feeling connected and prepared. Our efforts to reinforce expectations and provide breaks when needed have also contributed to a noticeable decrease in behavioral disruptions. We use SWIS data to monitor student behavior and attendance, allowing us to adapt and respond effectively to emerging needs. The school-wide impact is visible as students demonstrate improved social behaviors and engagement, creating a more positive learning environment for all.

What proactive steps is your school taking through this school improvement plan to disrupt predictable patterns, actively dismantle institutional racism, and address the disproportionality in academic achievement among students of different backgrounds?

Proactive Steps to Address Disproportionality and Institutional Barriers

At Newcastle Elementary, we are taking intentional, proactive steps to disrupt predictable patterns of disproportionality and dismantle barriers that impact students of different backgrounds. Our approach involves integrating SEL and UDL frameworks and securing targeted support for identified learners.

1. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) as a Foundation for Inclusion

Through monthly lessons and school-wide assemblies focused on SEL topics, we address important themes like anti-bullying, empathy, and respect. We utilize programs such as Second Step and create assemblies for our school community to reinforce inclusive behaviors, empathy, problem solving, friendship, and kindness. This year, we recognized October as Anti-Bullying Month, culminating with a school-wide spirit day with students and staff invited to wear orange to demonstrate our solidarity against bullying. These SEL initiatives and activities are designed to nurture an inclusive mindset and promote cultural awareness, laying the foundation for a respectful and supportive school environment where all students feel valued.

2. Inclusive Practices with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Our incorporation of UDL practices has included focused efforts to build upon our ability to facilitate inclusion within each one of our kindergarten classrooms. Our special education staff, classroom teachers, and paraprofessionals are working in close collaboration with one another to facilitate an inclusive experience for six students who, otherwise, would not be able to experience success within the general education classroom. We have continued to build, adapt, and expand this support in response to the demonstrated needs of this group of students. Our paraprofessionals also participate in regular trainings to enhance their role in supporting academic and social needs, ensuring that our entire school community is equipped to contribute to an inclusive environment which supports the success of every student.

Beyond kindergarten, differentiated and culturally responsive instructional strategies are embedded in classrooms to meet students where they are academically, as we use data-driven groups to tailor instruction, while also providing tailored and targeted supports for identified students. This targeted approach allows us to address disparities in academic achievement while honoring the diverse cultural backgrounds of our students. Additionally, we have secured a Co-Curricular Grant to provide before- and after-school programs for students demonstrating academic struggles in math, with the goal of fostering growth in a supportive, accessible environment. We further hope to provide transportation in the following year as we seek to eliminate barriers to this specialized support.

Through these strategies, Newcastle Elementary is committed to addressing institutional and achievement disparities. By embedding SEL and UDL practices, fostering student engagement, and prioritizing equity, we are creating a school culture that actively supports all students and empowers them to thrive.