Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year!  For those of you who are returning, welcome back.  And to those of you who are new to our school, we are glad you are joining the Grace Best family.  I’m excited to be starting my third year at GBES and my fourteenth year in the Lewis Palmer School District.  Although 540 students may conjure up thoughts of a large elementary, the staff and families do a great job keeping our school a tight knit community. 

 

There are many opportunities for you to become actively involved in our school and district communities.  Please consider being a volunteer within the classroom/school or being a member of PTO (Parent Teacher Organization), BAAC (Building Accountability Advisory Committee), or DAAC (District Accountability Advisory Committee).

 

Our school improvement plan aligns with the district vision by focusing on three areas: student achievement, whole child, and community engagement.  Our academic goal focuses on improving our reading achievement. Although we are pleased with the improvement shown in our state reading scores, we do not measure success by tests alone.  We believe in educating the whole child and building on their strengths.  We offer our students art, music, library, technology, counseling, and physical education opportunities.  Our whole child goal is to improve the participation rates in before/after school enrichment activities such as Student Council, Sound Beariers’ Choir, and Science Matters.  In terms of community engagement, we are entering our second year of providing community recycling opportunities for paper and aluminum.  The drop-off sited is located behind the school on Adams Street.  Please support our efforts.

 

We have several procedures and programs in place to help us make children as successful as possible.  Some of these include:  preschool and pre-kindergarten, RTI (Response to Intervention), Gifted Education, Battle of the Books, on-site counselor, art and gym shows, and the YMCA offering on-site before and after school child care, to name just a few.

 

I am a child-centered educator.  I would like students and parents to know that I value students as the main ingredient in a successful educational process.  It takes team work to accomplish great feats and I look forward to working with the parents and community to help Grace Best move forward to be the best learning environment that it can be for our students.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance.

 

Peggy Parsley

 

Email me at pparsley@lewispalmer.org