A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Thank you for taking the time to review our annual report to members of our school community. We hope that you will enjoy learning more about our school and what we accomplished in the 2002-03 school year. If you have questions about information included in this report, please contact me or any member of our School Advisory Council. This report is kept on file in our Media Center and we encourage you to review it anytime the school is open.

Respectfully,
Wayne Shear, Principal

2002-03 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN RESULTS

Our School Improvement Plan was developed by our SAC members with input from a wide range of parents, teachers, and community members. It represented months of study and discussion. We are very proud of our plan and the dedicated parents and teachers who put the plan together.

The School Improvement Plan helped us focus our attention on areas that parents and teachers told us were important. The first of our four major objectives outlined how we worked together to improve student achievement in reading. The second objective emphasized improved student achievement in math. The third and fourth objective targeted specific needs of designated student groups.

In 2002-03, Palm Lake Elementary School accomplished the following annual objectives from our School Improvement Plan:

• We implemented the new reading series to increase reading skills measured by the FCAT, Kindergarten-5th grade.
• Teachers participated in district staff development to acquire new skills in teaching mathematics.
• A Literacy Support Teacher was hired to assist classroom teachers with guided reading instruction and to work with small groups of students.
• We implemented the Ensuring School Success, a program designed to improve self esteem, with targeted students.
  

2002-03 SCHOOL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT SURVEY RESULTS

Students, parents, and teachers gave our school high marks in many important areas. Our Palm Lake Survey was available on our Internet site as well as sent home with all students. Parents were asked to give the school a grade in several areas including; Quality of Teaching, Curriculum, Safety, Family Involvement and Specific Student Needs. The average grade in most areas was an "A." Parents told us that teachers demonstrated a high level of energy and commitment to meeting students' needs and classrooms had sufficient technology to enhance learning at our school. Parents also indicated that they felt welcome and that many opportunities were available to support our school. We hope you continue to feel that way! The communication between parents and staff continues to be a strong point in all areas.

REQUIRED STATEMENT ABOUT TEXTBOOKS

A major portion of the school's instructional materials budget has been used to provide each student with a state adopted textbook in the core subject areas. Other funds have been used to provide supplemental materials to assist students in meeting the Sunshine State Standards and preparing for required state assessments.

RESULTS OF EVALUATIONS OF STAFF

One hundred (100) percent of our teachers, administrators, and staff received satisfactory annual evaluations through the district's assessment system.

2002-03 SAC MEMBERS

Our School Advisory Council was made up of 9 parents, 3 business/community representatives, 8 teachers, 1 support staff, and 2 administrators. A majority of the SAC members were not employed at the school. This group closely represented the racial/ethnic background of our students. The SAC members were 13 percent black, 78 percent white and 9 percent Hispanic.

LOTTERY DOLLARS

Each school in Orange County received $10 per student from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. This is the money that is the school's share of revenue from the Florida Lottery. Our total for the 2002-03 school year was $7,866. Our SAC recommended the expenditure of $7,866 of this total for two purposes: to support materials for use by teachers and parents in helping their children with school assignments and also to pay for substitutes so that our teachers could attend the staff development activities related to reading, writing and math instruction.

The School Board of Orange County, Florida does not discriminate in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, marital status, disability or any other reason prohibited by law. The Equal Opportunity supervisor responsible for compliance is Emma Newton, Deputy Superintendent, Human Resources & Labor Relations and she may be contacted at the Educational Leadership Center, 445 W. Amelia Street, Orlando, Florida 32801, 407.317.3239.