School+Environment+Report

__ **School Environment Report** __
 * __ Hidden ____ Oaks __ __ Elementary School __

** **“Our Vision is to provide a learning environment where every child feels success. Our vision includes a safe, caring environment for children, staff and families. Our vision is to produce students who possess a lifelong love for learning.”** ** 2008-2009 School Improvement Plan**


 * Hidden Oaks Elementary has a staff of 107 people. This includes both instructional and classified personal. **


 * Principal – 1**
 * Assistant Principal – 1**

__**Instructional Personnel**__

Kindergarten – 5 First Grade – 5 Second Grade – 6 Third Grade – 6 Fourth Grade – 6 Fifth Grade – 5 Special Area Teachers – 6 Exceptional Education Teachers - 17 Resource Teachers – 4

Pre-Kindergarten through Fifth grade are in self contained classrooms. Hidden Oaks Elementary is also a center school for special education services. These services include three Autistic classes, two Trainable Mentally Handicap (TMH) classes, two Profoundly Mentally Handicap (PMH) classes, two Varying Exceptionality (VE) classes as well as Specialized Learning Disability (SLD) and Other Health Impaired (OHI) classes. Hidden Oaks offers speech, occupational therapy and physical therapy to all of their students and there is a gifted program that not only services the students at Hidden Oaks but other students are bused in from neighboring schools to participate.

The majority of the students participate in a Specials Rotation. The classes offered during this time are Art, Music, Physical Education and Science Lab. We have a computer lab that is no longer staffed but teachers are able to use it. The Media Center is part of the Special Area team as well but is on a flexible schedule. Teachers schedule their classes directly with the Media Specialist. Guidance is also on a flexible schedule and teachers are able to schedule classes with her as well.

__**Classified Personnel**__ Paraprofessionals – 25 Tech Coordinator - 1 Office Staff – 3 Medical – 6 Food Services – 5 Custodial - 5

As mentioned Hidden Oaks is a Center School for Exceptional Education, because of this the majority of the paraprofessionals are for the ESE department and classes. Of the 25 Paraprofessionals only two work in regular ed classrooms. Other classified personnel include the Registrar, School Secretary, Cafeteria workers and Custodial staff.

__**Organization**__ The school is organized by teams. Each grade level is a team as well as ESE and Special Areas. Each team has a team leader that meets regularly with the Principal and Assistant Principal. Team Leaders meet with their own teams either on a weekly basis or as needed. There is also a Leadership team that meets weekly made up of the Principal, Assistant Principal, Placement Specialist, Behavior Specialist, CRT, Guidance Counselor and ESOL Compliance Teacher. __**School Grade**__ Hidden Oaks’ school grade for the 2007-2008 school year was a “B”. This is down from the previous year where they received an “A”. · 74% of the Students met High Standards in Reading · 72% of the Students met High Standards in Math · 59% of the Students met High Standards in Writing · 40% of the Students met High Standards in Science · 63% of the Students made Learning Gains in Reading · 67% of the Students made Learning Gains in Math
 * School Accountability Report: 2007-2008**

Hidden Oak's vision states that it wants all children to feel success as well as create lifelong learners. The Media Center supports this goal by working with all the students to not only encourage reading but also lifelong learning. The programs and classes offered in the Media Center teach students the skills needed to be successful in a Media Center as well as how to utilize the Media Center for their own personal use. These classes include but are not limited to library skills, reasearch skills, parts of book, fiction/nonfiction and book talks. Being able to successfully navigate a library is essential in a student's career in school.
 * Comments:**

Reading has always been a focus of Hidden Oaks. The Media Center is front and center when it comes to promoting reading. Through programs like "Get Caught Reading" and the "The Sunshine State Book Promotion" the Media Center supports this focus. Book talks, book swaps and book clubs also support the reading push by encouraging students to read for enjoyment.