LIBE 463 - Assignment #1 - Community Analysis and Report

Kidston Elementary School - Coldstream, B.C.

Part 1 & 2 - Assignment Reflection and Focus

In recent conversation with our teachers in Grade 3, we have noticed an area of need in our non-fiction section. Specifically, we are looking at resources on animals around the world. Many of the books we have in the current collection are out of date, old and falling apart, or too difficult for some of our struggling readers. As this is a major unit for all of our teachers at this level, we feel that as a team we need to address our current collection. After completing the community analysis, I would like to focus on:

Grade: 3

Subject(s):  Language Arts (Non-Fiction Writing) & Science

Please click on the links above to access major units and curriculum objectives for each subject area. 

Part 3 - School Community Information and Context 

Kidston Elementary is a K-7 school, located in the Okanagan Valley. The school is in the District of Coldstream, as part of School District 22, Vernon. Based on the most recent census information, Coldstream has a population of 10,648, but is considered to be part of Greater Vernon, with a population of 40,116. The school opened in 1982 and had an extension built in 1999 due to a growing population and a re-structuring of the catchment areas within the district.

Kidston Elementary School Staff:

• 17 Classroom Teachers
• 1.2 Learning Resource Specialists
• 0.2 Intervention Support
• 0.5 Teacher-Librarian
• 1.0 Fine Arts Teacher
• 0.4 Aboriginal Support 
• 0.3 Counselor
• 7 Educational Assistants

Projected student numbers through 2023

Kidston is one of 14 elementary schools in the district, with a student population of 352. Enrollment has increased by 15% in the last two years, with projections showing a further increase of 21% from the current numbers, to a total of 425 students by 2023. In 2017 Kidston had 12 divisions, which has increased to 15 divisions, filling all classroom space in the school. This will be an issue in terms of capacity, and will definitely increase the need for more resources in our Library Learning Commons.

With the average price of a home in the Coldstream catchment in the range of $580,000, we are finding that our student population comes
from both the homeowner and rental market.

The student/family population has grown in recent years. 

Coldstream is showing a trend towards a younger population, with many families opting to rent suites to accommodate larger mortgages. This has created an interesting mix at our school in terms of the socio-economic breakdown. We have a majority that fall in the average/above average income range of $76,673, but an increasing number that fall below the average as well. We also have a small portion of the population that come from low income housing. The majority of our students speak English as their first language. In the Coldstream region, 92.29% of the population recognizes English as their primary language.

Average home prices as of October, 2017

The Students in our School (1701 Verification):

• Total Enrollment: 352
• ELL Students: 6 (1.7%)
• Aboriginal Students: 23 (6.5%)
• Special Education: 28 (7.9%)
• MPID - 1
• Chronic Health - 5
• DOHH - 3
• ASD - 5
• IBI - 8
• LD - 6

In comparison to Vernon, Coldstream has an 18% rate of vulnerability

Based on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) data through UBC, Vernon has 26% of the student population demonstrating vulnerability in one or more of the scales. In comparison, students in the Coldstream catchment are showing an 18% rate of vulnerability, with the highest percentage in the area of Emotional Maturity.

Part 4 - Our Community Resources and Partners

Kidston Elementary is fortunate to be in one of the most beautiful areas of the Okanagan, with a diverse landscape. There are three elementary schools and one high school in this area of SD 22, surrounded by Kalamalka Lake, agriculture and ranch land, and vast park areas with hiking and biking trails. This rural area offers an amazing outdoor experience for our students, with many resources for our teachers to take advantage of in their curricular planning. I've focused my selections below in the area of local habitats and wildlife that would be used with my selected area of the curriculum.

• Mackie House - Mackie House is located only steps away from Kidston's front door. Our community connection with Mackie house is very important to the education of our students. Programs are offered that cover the curriculum, as well as use of an outdoor classroom and hands on learning in Fylton Forest. Our Kindergarten students engage in outdoor learning lessons at least once a week, visiting the Forest and other areas offered by Mackie House.

• Sovereign Park - Sovereign Park is a quick 5 minute walk from Kidston. An outdoor learning experience at the beach during the warmer months is a favourite with the students. Teachers use this as a resource to learn about ecosystems, habitats and local wildlife.

• Bishop Bird Sanctuary - Yet another local resource at our back door. Students learn about native and invasive species, animal and plant adaptations, and local wildlife. This resource is often used in connection with the Allan Brooks Nature Centre. 

• Allan Brook's Nature Center - This is a widely used resource by all schools in the Vernon District. Offering field trips, school visits, and a variety of nature and science programs for kids, this is a big part of the Kidston community. Recently our school took part in a three day visit from Allan Brooks, with educators sharing curriculum focused programs for all of our students in K-7. 

• Kal Park - This would be considered one of our greatest resources in the Kidston area. An area that covers 3,218 hectares, and boasts an abundance of wildlife, animals, and reptiles, is used regularly as an outdoor classroom for our students in grades 4-7. Our staff took part in Pro-D with the Wild BC program, to learn about the different species in the park, as well as safe field trip guidelines and tips.

• Coldstream Creek Park - This is an outdoor learning experience, much like Sovereign Park, but offers a different perspective in terms of habitats and wildlife and often used to study fish and their spawning habits.

• SD22 Aboriginal Education Program - We are lucky to have an amazing Aboriginal Support Teacher, working with our student population. She works closely with our Indigenous students, but also offers programs with our entire school. She shares cultural stories and learning about our connection to nature, wildlife, and the environment that surrounds us at Kidston Elementary. 

Part 5 - Grade Level/Curriculum Area/Library Overview

For this assignment, I am focusing on our students in Grade 3. As a Teacher-Librarian, that also teaches Grade 7, often my focus can be in the area of our intermediate students. However, in looking at one of our school goals in literacy, it was evident based on recent data, that we have an area of need in our primary students. As Mardis states, "If a collection is to serve as a resource base for the entire school, the school librarian should investigate how the users' needs compare to the collection's available resources" (pg. 16).

• School Literacy Goal: ​How can we improve students' writing to be better communicators?

Based on this goal and the data we collected in our most recent PM Benchmarks, we feel we have many students in the Emerging and Developing stages of the proficiency scale that need support with the resources we have available in our library. 

Based on recent PM data, 18 of our 49 students in Grade 3 are Emerging of Developing 

I will be working closely with three of our teachers, to find and provide non-fiction resources to support the reading levels of our students, specifically with non-fiction writing. This will be done as they work on habitats and outdoor education. 

One of the teachers has been at Kidston for almost 20 years, and was the initial contact point when discussing the collection we had to offer in our library. The other two teachers have been teaching for approximately 10 years. All three are open to increasing their use of online resources, but prefer print to teach the understanding of non-fiction text.

Currently we have a hybrid system in our library. All divisions have a regular 30 minute block each week for both lessons and circulation, based on the needs of the teachers. As well, we have 2 hours of open blocks, that teachers can use to sign up for support in the library or classroom. Some of this time will be used to support our Grade 3 students with their writing projects, selecting resources, and learning about non-fiction text features. 

Part 6 - Other Relevant Information

Recently the PAC at Kidston has grown and there is increased support from parents within the community to provide resources for our teachers and the students. An area of need falls within technology use and an increased need for iPads and Chromebooks. Currently we have 5 Chromebook carts, 15 iPads for class use as well as one iPad designated to each division. Technology use has grown in our intermediate divisions, but our primary students have not had much exposure. Teachers in grade 4 indicated they would like our students to know the basics (logging in, navigating Google Search, using GSuite) so they can utilize these tools in their teaching.

This year we implemented a technology prep block for our students in Grades 2-4. Our Vice Principal teaches a weekly 40 minute block, to help support our primary students with technology, navigating with Chromebooks and accessing their GSuite accounts.

To further support out Grade 3 teachers, I am working with Mr. Nelson to teach basic search skills, to find information about animals for their non-fiction writing. Using the Google Safe Search Engine and SD22 digital resources, we are expanding our library collection. Mardis says that "Today, however, it is much more difficult to define a school library collection." (pg. 1). We are fortunate to have a variety of district purchased databases that are readily available for both our intermediate and primary students. We are just beginning to take advantage of these resources, and make them accessible. Our next task is to bring our primary teachers into the mix, and support them with technology use during our open blocks in the library.

In conclusion, it will be important in the coming months, to work closely with our Grade 3 teachers to pick new resources that match our students' needs as well as support them in using the online collections. With the increased support from PAC (both with technology and a budget for new library resources), we have an opportunity to work with our teachers to weed and build a collection that will meet the needs of our students at Kidston.


References

1701 Report. Kidston Elementary School, 2019.

B.C’s New Curriculum. English Language Arts 3. Retrieved from: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/english-language-arts/3

B.C’s New Curriculum. Science 3. Retrieved from:
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/science/3

Census Canada. Statistics for Coldstream, BC. 2016. Retrieved from:
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=5937010&Geo2=PR&Code2=59&SearchText=Coldstream&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=PR&GeoCode=5937010&TABID=1&type=0

Coldstream.civicweb.net. (2019). District of Coldstream 2018 Annual Report. [online] Available at: https://coldstream.civicweb.net/document/58179 [Accessed 29 Jan. 2020].

Earlylearning.ubc.ca. (2020). EDI. [online] Available at: http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/edi/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2020].

Mardis, Marcia A. (2016). The collection program in schools: concepts and practices. (6th ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited

Sd22.bc.ca. (2020). - Kidston Elementary School. [online] Available at: http://www.sd22.bc.ca/school/kidston/About/Plan/Pages/default.aspx [Accessed 30 Jan. 2020].

Seibel, T. (2018). Coldstream, BC - Overview | Townfolio. [online] Townfolio. Available at: https://townfolio.co/bc/coldstream/overview [Accessed 28 Jan. 2020].