Commonwealth Accountability Testing System

School Report Card

Our School Growth Chart

2004-2005

Garden Springs Elementary School

Gerald Cooper, Principal

2151 Garden Springs Dr

Lexington, KY 40504-3459

Phone: (859) 381-3388

Fax: (859) 381-3400

Email: gcooper@fayette.k12.ky.us

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Here is our school's report card for the 2004-2005 school year. This report card is full of important information, including academic performance, teacher qualifications, our learning environment, and much more. Please take a moment to learn more about our school. For a more detailed look at our school, please contact us to see our Expanded Report Card on file at school, which includes more information than we can provide here.

Year	Goal Line	Assistance Line	Index
2000	68.2		69.2
2002	72.6	68.2	71.7
2004	77	70	75
2006	81.4	71.8
2008	85.8	73.6
2010	90.2	75.4
2012	94.6	77.2
2014	99	79
Standard error: 1

The School Growth Chart:

To see how we're performing, please take a moment to examine our growth chart. This chart starts with our school’s baseline CATS score from 2000. We've drawn a goal line from that starting point to our goal of 100 in 2014. Every two years a new index point will be marked on the chart to show whether we are meeting our goal and earning rewards, progressing but short of our goal, or falling far short of our goal and eligible for state assistance. Over time, these points will form a performance trend line for our school.

About Our School

Garden Springs Elementary began in August 1964 as one the first open-classroom schools in the nation. In early 1988, fire damaged the school extensively. It was rebuilt and reopened for classes in August 1988. Since its beginning, the school's mission has been to establish strong foundations for life long learning by educating all students and equipping them to become responsible members of society. The staff is committed to the philosophy that every child is a unique, valuable person, differing from others in capability, needs, intellect, emotions, and maturity. Teachers recognize that each child, though unique, has the ability to perform at his or her full potential, when challenged, using developmentally appropriate practices. The school's goal is to provide every student with the opportunity for success at high levels of achievement. A team of highly professional educators, support personnel, and parent volunteers ensure the quality of Garden Spring Elementary School's instructional programs and exhibit a genuine concern for children. (NOTE: Teacher Qualifications based on current year data.) The parents of Garden Springs Elementary students are very involved with the instructional program. Many trained parents implement several instructional strategies to support our instructional goals for each child. Also, the students participate in a variety of community service projects and clubs. These programs ensure that every child meets their potential.

How Our School Ensures Educational Equity

Garden Springs Elementary recognizes that we live in a multi-cultural world. Our school provides educational equity for all students regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or disability. Special Education procedures are in place and adhere to district and state guidelines concerning children with disabilities, providing them all with an individualized education plan. We have an ESL program for our students whose first language is not English, which gives them additional help outside the regular classroom. The ESS program provides equal opportunity for all students to participate based on individual need. The Gifted and Talented program targets students based on abilities and talents to ensure educational equity. The school staff is trained to analyze data to identify any performance gaps in subgroups (gender, race, special education, gifted/talented, free/reduced lunch). Strengths and areas of concerns are pinpointed, then priority needs, objectives, strategies, and activities are implemented through our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) to address these needs. The school ensures equity by providing extra-curricular activities for all students. Some after-school activities include Comic Creators, Drama Club, Chess Club, Beta Club and STLP. Everyone strives to ensure that equal opportunities, through equal educational experiences, are provided to every student.

School Enrollment (end of year membership 2004-2005) 619

How Our Students Perform
Kentucky uses the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) to hold schools accountable for student progress. CATS has three parts: the Kentucky Core Content Tests, the national Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS/5), and other measures of the school’s performance, including attendance, retention and dropout rates. Together these three elements make up a school’s CATS Performance Score for every two-year period.
Kentucky Core Content Tests
Kentucky’s tests rate student performance using four categories: Novice, Apprentice, Proficient, and Distinguished. These categories translate into a scale of 0-140, with 100 being considered proficient. The state goal for all schools is 100 by the year 2014. This chart compares our school's performance with all the schools in our district and all the schools in Kentucky.
KCCT Test	Novice			Apprentice			Proficient/Distinguished			Academic Index
	School	District	State	School	District	State	School	District	State	School	District	State
Reading (4^th)	10%	12%	11%	20%	23%	22%	71%	65%	68%	89.2	85.6	87.1
Science (4^th)	6%	7%	6%	53%	42%	40%	41%	51%	54%	79.8	85.4	87.6
Writing (4^th)	27%	14%	8%	50%	47%	48%	23%	39%	43%	57.1	69.7	74.9
Mathematics (5^th)	24%	25%	25%	30%	28%	30%	46%	47%	45%	73.8	76.4	74.4
Social Studies (5^th)	14%	23%	21%	38%	25%	27%	48%	52%	53%	75.3	77.6	79.3
Arts & Humanities (5^th)	31%	31%	30%	46%	38%	37%	23%	31%	32%	56.3	61.6	62.8
PL/VS (5^th)	13%	16%	14%	28%	22%	23%	59%