Great First Week of School!

Dear Carnation Parents,

We’ve had a great first week of school with our wonderful Carnation Tigers! How lucky we are to have such wonderful children and families to work with. The staff and I are very excited to be working with you and your children again this year. It’s great to see so many new faces as well as those of you who have been with us before. While at the end of last school year our enrollment figures were down a bit, we’ve gotten quite a few new students since then and our K-5 numbers are back up to approximately 415 students. In addition, we have over 100 students in the PARADE Home-school Program (K-12) and two and half Preschools with approximately 30 students on campus. All in all, that makes for a pretty big campus with over 550 children coming and going. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation to follow our building safety guidelines and for communicating effectively with the school office and administration. Working together we will have a great year!

This first week of school was filled with getting students settled into their new classrooms and school routines, learning all the rules and guidelines set forth to keep everyone safe, and meeting new friends.

Meeting the learning needs of each student is our top priority at Carnation Elementary. Our state test scores (see on Page 3) continue to demonstrate steady progress this year in Reading and Writing. As a school we were above the state average on nearly every WASL Test (3rd-5th Grades). Our greatest success this year was in 4th Grade Writing where 71% of our students met or exceeded state standards.

With the hard work of our staff and students we have increased this score by 23 pts. in the past 4 years. In addition, over 80% of all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders passed the WASL in Reading. We are very proud of our hard work and yet we still have a ways to go in Math (as does the rest of WA state). Teachers district and state-wide are already digging in to work on Mathematics improvement this year. The state just revised and released the new Math Standards for the State and teachers started working before school began to understand those standards and develop grade level alignment plans to improve student learning in math.

Carnation teachers will share more with you about their curriculum, classroom expectations, and classroom goals at our annual Carnation Elementary School Curriculum Night on Tuesday, September 16th starting at 6:30pm.
Please plan to attend!

Individual student WASL Reports will be mailed out from the district to all 4th & 5th grade parents in late September.

Mr. Doug Poage, Principal

Welcome to the 2008-2009 school year at Carnation Elementary School!

Whether you are new to our school this year or you are returning once again, we are excited to have you and your child as a part of our “school family.” Many of you may already be aware that Carnation Elementary is a unique place for children to learn. With its warm, caring staff, small size, and child-centered atmosphere, our goal is to work together to meet the needs of every child.

I am excited to be back again this year, beginning my 8th year at Carnation, to lead this outstanding staff and be a part of this supportive community. It is our goal to continue the tradition of putting what’s best for kids first in every decision we make at Carnation Elementary. It is a great privilege that we have to care for and educate the wonderful children of this community. Each child is unique and special and it is our job to find new ways to challenge and stimulate them using a variety of methods and learning strategies.

I hope you will join us this year, in partnership, to make your child’s learning experience positive and rewarding in every way. Please find a way to get involved this year either through PTSA or as a partner in the classroom.

Once again, welcome back to school. The staff and I look forward to working with you and your child this year. If you ever have any questions please feel free to call me at the school office (425) 844-4553 or E-mail me at: poaged@ riverview.wednet.edu . We also encourage you to check out the Riverview & Carnation Elementary Websites at www.
riverview.wednet.edu for additional information about our school, staff, and district programs.

Mr. Poage, Principal