Bethel Springs Points of Pride

    Bethel Springs Elementary School

·      Enrichment Opportunities: Accelerated Math programs are in place for students in grades 4 and 5 who meet program criteria.  Multiple strategies are utilized in all classrooms to differentiate instruction for students.  More than half of our students in grades 3, 4, and 5 participate in the Band and/or Choral programs.    Students engage in a variety of enriching educational field trips.  Assemblies of many types are presented to enhance curriculum.  Our Nature Trail provides learning opportunities related to science and the environment to our students and to the community at large.

·         Remediation Opportunities: Reading Specialists, Special Education teachers, a Math Specialist, an Instructional Support Teacher, an ESL teacher and paraprofessionals support the efforts of classroom teachers to provide remediation for students who need it.  Students receive one-on-one and small group instruction to help them advance toward grade level benchmarks.

·         Extracurricular Programs: Almost all of our students participate in extracurricular activities.  Activities include: Band, Chorus, Reading Club, Mind Benders, Sports Club, Homework Club, Mindbenders, Science Club, Art Club, School Beautification Club, Drama Club, School Musical, Computer Club, Peer Buddies, Helping Hands, and Broadcasting Club.

·         Community Service: The Helping Hands Club has engaged the entire school population in several projects to benefit those in need.   For example, this group led the school community in raising money for UNICEF.  Students have contributed books to a local family literacy center and have donated food items to a local shelter.   Helping Hands students visited local nursing homes and created activities to raise awareness about autism.  Last year the entire school community took part in a walk to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, raising over $10,000.00 for this worthwhile cause.

·         Teacher Development:

·         Teachers continue to be actively involved in professional development efforts.  Writing has been a particular focus, with an emphasis on the development of Writer’s Workshop as the preferred instructional method.

·         Teachers continue to explore the many avenues for the integration of technology and student learning.  To enhance instruction, teachers use Smartboards, Student Response Systems, tablets, digital cameras, etc.  A variety of web-based programs (e.g. Odyssey, Kidbiz,  and Raz-kids) are used for instruction and tracking of progress.

·         Teacher Achievement:

·         Seven teachers on faculty are “Writing Fellows” of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literacy Project.

·         Three teachers have acquired certification in the Wilson multi-sensory phonics program

·         Teachers have acquired grants to fund various curricular and extracurricular projects.

·         Parental Involvement: Parents’ participation in fall and in spring parent-teacher conferences is close to 100%.  Over 95% of students are represented at Back-to-School Nights.  We have an active Home and School Association that promotes the involvement of parents in many activities ranging from fundraising to assisting teachers in the classroom with special events/projects.  The Building Advisory Council is a parent organization that helps to proactively prevent and solve school issues.

·         Continuous Improvement: Through the LEA (League for Educational Advancement) process all stakeholders participate in identifying and working on areas for school improvement.  A recent survey sponsored by the LEA Core Team showed that BSES parents give our school high ratings in terms of:

·         Student Learning (90% of parents gave scores of 8, 9, or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.)

·         Safe and Caring Environment (89% of parents gave scores of 8, 9, or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.)

·         Management of Systems (90% of parents gave scores of 8, 9, or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.)

·         Student Recognition: Students in grades 1 and 2 are recognized as “Students of the Month” and celebrated in an awards assembly. Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 are awarded “Bethel Bubbles” for displaying characteristics related to Qualities of a Learner on the Progress Report; these are displayed and shared on school-wide announcements.  Fifth grade students participate three to four times per year in Writing Sharefest, a forum for sharing and celebrating writing.  Several students were selected to participate in the PMEA District 12 Choral Festival and four students participated in the PMEA District 12 Band Festival.  All students participate in the Delaware County Young Authors’ Contest; two students were recognized at the county level for their writing.  Seventeen of our second grade students competed in the Philadelphia Zoo’s Unless Contest, completing a project to depict and communicate to others the plight of the orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo; the team achieved second place in a field of 183 schools. All students participated in and had work displayed in our Art and Literature Fling, which celebrated Indian culture.