Setting and Context
-Culture and Community-
Traut Core Knowledge School is a Choice school which means that families must choose to send their students there. There is not a school bus that brings students to school so parents are responsible for getting their students to and from school. Traut is on the south side of Fort Collins, Colorado. This generally means it is upper-middle class families that attend the school. The school is right around the corner from Preston Middle School meaning that many of the students from Traut end up going to Preston for middle school. The school is tucked behind a medical complex that has an ER and other buildings.
The Mission statement at Traut states that their goal is to “provide excellence and fairness in education for elementary school children. Excellence in education means raising academic standards and achieving success for all students. Fairness in education means providing equal opportunity to learn for all students.” This statement is emphasized through their vision which states that their vision is “educational excellence in knowledge, skills, and character with strong parent-teacher-student partnerships.” Traut has twelve character qualities that they emphasize in much of their teaching that also help to meet their vision of providing students with educational excellence in character. The character qualities include honesty, perseverance, cooperation, integrity, patience, citizenship, humility, kindness, self-control, respect, responsibility, and the appreciation of other’s strengths and cultural backgrounds.
Another piece of the mission and vision statements that are very visible at Traut is the strong parent-teacher-student involvement in the school. Traut has a Teacher Advisory Board (TAB), Parent Advisory Board (PAB), and a Student Advisory Board (SAB). The TAB and PAB meet together once a month to vote and make decisions for the school; the two committees together meet as the Site Based Management Council or SBMC. Before the SBMC makes decisions it must first look at and follow the Decision Making Matrix or DMM. This document lays out who should be making decisions and what process that person needs to go through to get decisions approved.
The Mission statement at Traut states that their goal is to “provide excellence and fairness in education for elementary school children. Excellence in education means raising academic standards and achieving success for all students. Fairness in education means providing equal opportunity to learn for all students.” This statement is emphasized through their vision which states that their vision is “educational excellence in knowledge, skills, and character with strong parent-teacher-student partnerships.” Traut has twelve character qualities that they emphasize in much of their teaching that also help to meet their vision of providing students with educational excellence in character. The character qualities include honesty, perseverance, cooperation, integrity, patience, citizenship, humility, kindness, self-control, respect, responsibility, and the appreciation of other’s strengths and cultural backgrounds.
Another piece of the mission and vision statements that are very visible at Traut is the strong parent-teacher-student involvement in the school. Traut has a Teacher Advisory Board (TAB), Parent Advisory Board (PAB), and a Student Advisory Board (SAB). The TAB and PAB meet together once a month to vote and make decisions for the school; the two committees together meet as the Site Based Management Council or SBMC. Before the SBMC makes decisions it must first look at and follow the Decision Making Matrix or DMM. This document lays out who should be making decisions and what process that person needs to go through to get decisions approved.
-Demographic Characteristics-
Traut Core Knowledge School has about 479 students enrolled. At the school each class size is capped at 25 students, with the exception of Kindergarten classes which generally have 18 to 19 students. There are three classes for each grade again with the exception of Kindergarten where there are four classes, two all day and two half day. There are around 23 full time teachers, all of the specials teachers work four days a week making them 80%.
At Traut, around 354 of the students are Caucasian, which makes up about 74% of the student population. This percentage of Caucasian students is fairly typical in Fort Collins, making Traut similar to other schools around the city. Compared to the rest of the state of Colorado, with a typical percentage of Caucasian students being around 55%, Traut is much different. At Traut there seems to be a pretty equal amount of boys to girls; this seems to be typical throughout Fort Collins and the State of Colorado. Traut also has a much lower number of students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch. Total only about 9% of the school population at Traut is eligible. This is compared to the 30% of student populations around Fort Collins who are eligible and the 40% in the state of Colorado.
Traut Core Knowledge has 93% school Math proficiency and 95% school Reading/Language Arts proficiency. The schools ranks 21st out of 991 Elementary schools in Colorado. The Math proficiency between girls and boys is about equal at the school and throughout the city of Fort Collins and the state. Reading and Language Arts proficiency is also fairly equal between boys and girls; this is slightly different than the city and state.
At Traut, around 354 of the students are Caucasian, which makes up about 74% of the student population. This percentage of Caucasian students is fairly typical in Fort Collins, making Traut similar to other schools around the city. Compared to the rest of the state of Colorado, with a typical percentage of Caucasian students being around 55%, Traut is much different. At Traut there seems to be a pretty equal amount of boys to girls; this seems to be typical throughout Fort Collins and the State of Colorado. Traut also has a much lower number of students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch. Total only about 9% of the school population at Traut is eligible. This is compared to the 30% of student populations around Fort Collins who are eligible and the 40% in the state of Colorado.
Traut Core Knowledge has 93% school Math proficiency and 95% school Reading/Language Arts proficiency. The schools ranks 21st out of 991 Elementary schools in Colorado. The Math proficiency between girls and boys is about equal at the school and throughout the city of Fort Collins and the state. Reading and Language Arts proficiency is also fairly equal between boys and girls; this is slightly different than the city and state.
-Classroom Environment-
The art room is a long rectangular shape that has a door that opens to a blacktop area and a door that opens into the school hallway. The room is located across from the music room and has a display case that faces out into the hallway as well as a large amount of display space in the hallway. The room has many cabinets and places to store books and needed materials. There is a book shelf that is home to much of the paper that is used for projects. The room has two sinks; one is designated for handwashing, this sink has a tub set inside that is filled with clean water as necessary. The second sink is used for cleaning out bowls and paint brushes that have been used for painting. There is an area in a back corner that is where all of the instructional posters and artist posters are kept until they need to be used. These posters are organized by art movement and location that they were made. There is a chalkboard and a projector at the front of the classroom. This is used to inform students about the art or artist they will be learning about as well as what they will be creating. Posters of images done by artists are hung up and talked about as the lesson is being taught for the week. The art room also has a storage shelf that has trays of all kinds of materials that students may need to use to make their art. Some of these materials include rulers, white glue, colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, crayons, scissors, and much more. These materials can often be used by students anytime they would like. The room contains two drying racks and boards for students to place their wet work on so that it does not slip through the rack.
The room has five round tables with five stools placed at each. In the middle of the table a little stick figure is drawn on; this is used to help students and the teacher know where they should be seated. A student is placed at the head, at the end of each arm, and at the end of each leg. On top of the little man is a tin full of supplies that students will always need, these include pencils, glue sticks, scissors, pencil sharpeners, and small pieces of paper to write initials on for labeling clay projects. To assist with clean up there is a helper table. Each class period the helper table responsibilities rotate. Students at the helper table are responsible for wringing out wash cloths at the hand washing sink, collecting folders, which often contain the work from that week, and picking up any materials that were used that day such as markers or colored pencils.
The room has five round tables with five stools placed at each. In the middle of the table a little stick figure is drawn on; this is used to help students and the teacher know where they should be seated. A student is placed at the head, at the end of each arm, and at the end of each leg. On top of the little man is a tin full of supplies that students will always need, these include pencils, glue sticks, scissors, pencil sharpeners, and small pieces of paper to write initials on for labeling clay projects. To assist with clean up there is a helper table. Each class period the helper table responsibilities rotate. Students at the helper table are responsible for wringing out wash cloths at the hand washing sink, collecting folders, which often contain the work from that week, and picking up any materials that were used that day such as markers or colored pencils.
-School-Wide Policies for Management, Safe Schools, Conflict Resolution, and Students with Special Needs-
Traut Core Knowledge follows many of the Poudre School District Policies that allow for the safety of all students. Traut has a counselor who is on site once a week to provide help to students who may need it. All staff has been trained on crisis management for emergencies such as an active shooter as well as weather. Staff has also been required to take a suicide prevention course.
As a school wide management policy, Traut Core Knowledge has Character Qualities that students are expected to use in their daily activities while at school. The teaching of these qualities is integrated into many lessons and activities that students do. Students are reminded of the Character Qualities when they start to get out of hand or are misbehaving.
With Traut being a choice school there is not an extensive Special Needs Program. There is a program from students who struggle in certain areas such as math and reading and it seems like a very strong program that focuses a lot on making sure students are getting the help they need to be successful in school.
As a school wide management policy, Traut Core Knowledge has Character Qualities that students are expected to use in their daily activities while at school. The teaching of these qualities is integrated into many lessons and activities that students do. Students are reminded of the Character Qualities when they start to get out of hand or are misbehaving.
With Traut being a choice school there is not an extensive Special Needs Program. There is a program from students who struggle in certain areas such as math and reading and it seems like a very strong program that focuses a lot on making sure students are getting the help they need to be successful in school.