Meadowlark Elementary School
|
Dr. Lew Gardiner
|
|
Principal
|
|
.
|
|
Dr. McKell Withers
|
|
Superintendent
|
Salt Lake City, Utah
90% of the Students speak a language other than English in their homes. The Number of languages other than English spoken by Meadowlark’s student population has decreased this year to 16, with many of those not proficient in their own language as well as English.
Meadowlark has a high student population of ethnic minorities, students from single families, students on free or reduced lunch programs, and students from families sharing the same address.
Meadowlark has been a YRE school since 1991, they call their program “Education for All Seasons.” At that time they were experiencing increases in at-risk students, declining test scores, and an increase in ESL students and increasing numbers of family mobility and homelessness.
After block meetings, the community voted to implement a four-track year-round model.
Six years later, test scores blossomed, student attendance rates improved significantly, and the learning environment became greatly improved. The new schedule was embraced by the vast majority of parents and has the continued commitment of its teachers. Teacher turnover was almost zero.
When new schools were built, without the school or staff vying for any requested calendar, the Patrons of Meadowlark vote over 80% to continue on a YRE schedule. The school has since moved to a single-track model.
To quote Meadowlark administrators: “we are committed to a calendar format that has given us the vehicle to make needed enhancements with the flexibility to achieve results.”
