Eatonville Elementary School was awarded a STEM Lighthouse grant for the 2016-17 school year.They were selected for their ability to reach students in STEM education. The grant was for $20,000. We are honored to be recognized for all of the innovative instruction and activities we incorporate along with our arts program.

 

OSPI Designated

2017

Washington Innovative School

Eatonville Elementary School, Eatonville, Wash.

Outdoor kindergarten on the district farm

Eatonville Elementary School (EES) is a rural school in the southeast corner of Pierce County. It serves 391 students in kindergarten through fifth grades, with 48 percent of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch. EES has undergone a transformation from an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)- identified priority school to an OSPI School of Distinction in 2017 due to its work over the last three years. This transformation has been due to a deliberate effort to capitalize on early educational opportunities for students in a place-based educational campus, incorporating outdoor lab and learning sites available in the town and neighboring forest sites.

After years of failed bond attempts, EES finally was remodeled in the last ten years. The renovated building is equipped with lighting and HVAC occupancy sensors for security and long-term energy savings. Also, the school system received a $1,000,000 grant to equip all schools with occupancy-sensitive thermostats and HVAC sensors, which help to further reduce energy consumption. EES makes use of both a sharing table and a sharing refrigerator to reduce food waste.

Eatonville focuses on student health in many ways. Students spend at least 150 minutes each week in physical activities, with at least 50 percent taking place outdoors, including a full 60 minutes of recess daily. The school has tripled school breakfast participation by adjusting the master schedule to support low-income students. EES has hired a new counselor and has a nurse available to provide monthly guidance classes and individual sessions related to bullying, peer relations, and self-esteem. Mental health services are provided through a partnership with Multicare, a local health provider. The custodial staff implements a green cleaning program that incorporates recycled materials and products certified as having lower environmental impact and being safe for human health.

The school is part of a district that has gone through a community visioning plan (GRITS) with a nonprofit partner, GRUB, to build a 3.2-acre farm which has been planned for long-term sustainability, and educational opportunities for growing sustainable crops and production for town and school usage. The farm is a major asset for the students at EES, and especially its outdoor kindergarten. The farm includes a resident barn owl for organic owl pellet discovery, and a newly made lahar trail for educational purposes.

Environmental concepts are integrated into the school's literacy and math program, with STEM concepts and art provided every day in an embedded, practical, handson learning format. Educators employ curricula such as Arts Impact and Engineering is Elementary. EES has a library fully outfitted with environmental resources, including books and videos and hands-on examples of plants/animals (fur, bones, et cetera), and multiple art projects in the school that are based on STEM NGSS principles.

Eatonville students have unique opportunities to make actual contributions to the world around them. Water testing data collected as part of the Nisqually River Education Project is shared with environmental organizations to aid in decision making regarding the health of the watershed. In addition, students from all elementary schools participate in tree-planting as guided by the Nisqually River Education Project staff in an effort to promote the health of the watershed and as part of a larger project to re-route the stream. Eatonville students participate in salmon tossing to introduce marine derived nutrients into the Mashel River. Second grade students from Eatonville also helped build rain gardens in the town to help filter stormwater and encourage the planting of native plants.

• Computer Science Grant OPSI Awardee 2017-2018

• Arts Impact Grant