Joy Elementary School is part of the Michigan City Area School District. It is in the south central portion of the city, serving the immediate neighborhood as well as many students from the greater Michigan City Area. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade attend Joy School. The special education student population includes preschool, learning disabled, mildly mentally handicapped, moderately/severely handicapped, autistic, emotionally handicapped, and other health impaired students. The total population of the school is 482 students.

The student population of Joy Elementary mirrors the population of Michigan City in many ways. We are both a walk-in neighborhood school and a bussed-in school. Sixty-nine students attend Joy as a result of a Michigan City Area Schools (MCAS) policy, which grants baby-sitter transfers for students outside the Joy School district. There are students who attend Joy from other Michigan City Schools, as a result of specific special education services available at Joy. Joy’s student population embodies a variety of neighborhoods, ethnic groups, and economic classes.

Joy has a current free/reduced lunch population of 57% and a minority population of 52%. Current data indicates Joy serves over 180 single parent homes.

Student mobility is currently at 33%. This reflects a 16% increase over the same time last year. Joy has enrolled 120 new students and withdrawn 42.

Students come to us with very different types of academic and social needs, requiring the staff to look closely at the types of instructional strategies being used.

Joy’s thirty-one fully licensed teachers, including both general education and special education teachers, have a range of teaching experience from zero to thirty-five years, with an average experience of twenty years. Special education teachers and para professionals provide both direct and supportive services. Many special needs students receive additional support within the regular classroom setting. The full-time support staff consists of the nurse, counselor, speech/language pathologist, music teacher, and physical education teacher. (The physical education teacher is trained in Challenge Education. The Challenge Education Course is located on grounds next to Joy School.) A school psychologist, physical and occupational therapists, a media specialist and an art teacher provide additional services. Keyboarding is taught on a rotation basis to students in Kindergarten through 5th grades. A full time library secretary and two instructional assistants complete our staff.

Joy Elementary School was designated a C.L.A.S.S. School in 1995 and strives toward making the programs as brain compatible as possible with emphasis on multiple intelligences throughout the curriculum. This program acts as a vehicle to strengthen our consideration for learning styles, cultural differences and special needs of all students. A Support Team assists in maintaining a C.L.A.S.S. climate throughout the building. Lifeskills, Lifelong Guidelines, and Lifegoals are emphasized and curricular offerings are tied directly to IN State Standards. A General Education Intervention Team meets weekly to consider assistive strategies for struggling students. The staff consistently uses in-service opportunities to assist them in their professional growth. A key element is the weekly grade level team meetings held by teachers. These meetings are used to maintain a consistent instructional focus on the academic standards of the State of Indiana.

The curriculum is guided by Indiana’s Academic Standards and the MCAS Curriculum. Each teacher has these documents readily available for classroom use. Coaches provided through the CLASS program work directly with teachers to align instruction with Standards. The 3-year Curriculum Plan serves as a guide for the School Improvement Committee when planning, reviewing, and revising instructional goals and strategies.

The 4-Block Model, a balanced literacy approach, is a method of language arts instruction used at every grade level. This model encompasses guided reading, self-selected reading, writing, and working with words. Reading instruction is also augmented by: thematic instruction, literature circles, cooperative learning, hands-on applications, peer tutors, cross grade level reading buddies, and the Accelerated Reading Program. The Accelerated Reading program encourages students to read for recreation and assesses comprehension with computerized quizzes. Written language instruction emphasizes the writing process, with quarterly rubric assessments at each grade level. D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language practice) is completed each morning as a reinforcement of written language skills. After school remediation is available for identified at-risk students in language arts and math.

Math instruction also includes D.O.M. (Daily Oral Math practice) each morning.

The fourth and fifth grades use Accelerated Math ,a computer program that manages and monitors students’ mathematics practice and progress. Additional practice throughout the grade levels is provided through the use of timed fact tests, hands-on applications, manipulatives, games, and consumer activities. Currently 11 Joy teachers are piloting EveryDay Math.

Summer school was provided for selected students from grades 2nd and 4th. Teachers analyzed the Spring 2003 NWEA scores of the Jump Start participants looking for common strengths and weaknesses in relation to the RIT scores and correlating skills. After finding common weaknesses
among the program participants the teachers correlated these skills with the Indiana State Standards for Grades Two and Three. Recognizing not all of the student weaknesses could be addressed in a short period of time, three skills and standards in each area of Math, Reading and Language Arts were selected for major concentration during the Jump Start Program.


Lesson plans and classroom activities emphasized these skills and standards with individual and small group activities. A daily routine was established utilizing Daily Oral Math and Daily Oral Language activities.
Math skills addressed included place value, graphing and computation, language mechanics, vocabulary and comprehension were stressed with fable story units. Creative writing and editing was a part of each fable
unit.


Technology plays an important role in the curriculum used at Joy. All teachers use computers as a tool in their instruction. Currently each classroom has five computer stations and the computer lab has 27 stations. Hyperstudio, Kurzweil, Kid Pix, Compass Integrated Learning systems by Jostens Learning, and Kidspiration are some of the many programs available for instructional use. MCAS provides keyboarding instruction for K-5 students. An Assistive Technology Team affords evaluations and recommendations for special needs students.

Students use Kidspiration to create graphic organizers and presentations. Hyperstudio is used to create student presentations. Students and teachers regularly use Internet resources. Educational links from our Joy web site provide additional skill practice in many areas. Primary classrooms utilize software on reading comprehension. Intermediate classrooms have digital cameras and scanners as additional tools to enhance learning. Accelerated Math software is used in fourth and fifth grades to individualize math progress.

VIKINGS is a reading program at Joy School that encourages the students to read independently. Every book in the VIKINGS program is assigned points according to the difficulty level. Reading levels are also assigned to the books. Teachers monitor the students’ progress from computer-generated reports. Information given on each student includes the number of books tested on and passed, total points accumulated, reading level of books tested, and the accuracy percentage achieved.

VIKINGS is a very stable program, continuing to grow and motivate most of the students at our school. Students are enthusiastic about their independent reading. Monthly celebrations are held to recognize students reaching their grade-level goal. Students reaching their goal are included in a drawing for a free book per grade. 100 Point Club members are recognized as they achieve 100 points in one year. The first 100 points earn a plaque while each 100 points thereafter earn a pin and dessert with the principal. Students earning 400 points during their years at Joy are recognized with a nameplate on our Wall of Fame plaque and students earning over 800 points also receive recognition on a special plaque.

With the VIKINGS program we intend to:

Motivate students to read more
Encourage students to read more challenging books
Improve reading scores
Build higher-order thinking skills
Foster a life-long love of reading
When comparing 2002-2003 data to the current year, the average percent

accuracy shows improvement.

2002-03 – 87.1%

2003-04 – 87.3%

The total points earned increased in all grades each month from 2002-03 totals. The reading level of books read is consistently at grade level or above, except for fifth grade where the recreational reading level is in the fourth grade range. Students have consistently accumulated over 2000 points per month. Over a five-year period the students have maintained an 80% or above accuracy rate for books tested.

Joy has one multi-age classroom (4th/5th) and two teams (one primary and one intermediate) that loop for two years with the same teacher. The Joy staff works with Valparaiso University to provide teaching experiences for the Junior Block elementary majors. These students work in classrooms one and one-half days per week for one semester. They meet one afternoon at Joy with an instructor from the university. Students from the Michigan City High School involved in the cadet teaching program also participate in some classrooms.

In addition to routine assessments done by teachers (informal tests, quizzes, and progress reports), Joy School has quarterly writing assessments and inquiry (project-based) assessments measured by rubrics. Standardized testing is used for all students in grades one through five. All third, fourth , and fifth grader students took the ISTEP test. Moderately/severely handicapped students are evaluated by the Indiana Assessment System of Educational Proficiencies. The Indiana Grade 1 Reading Assessment is administered to first graders. Beginning in the 2001-2002 school year, grades two through five continue to take the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). These electronically administered tests, given three times during the year, monitor students’ growth in language, mathematics, and reading. Test results are prompt, usually within twenty-four hours, enabling teachers to focus instruction for students and evaluating the overall effectiveness of instructional programs.

Activities in which students might participate include:

Safe Harbor - provides after school care, tutoring, and recreation.
Hours 4 Hours – mentoring for students
Junior Achievement - members of the community provide classroom lessons
on community and business aspects.

Joyful Journal - a monthly newsletter produced by students. The
students are responsible for gathering, publishing, and editing information.

Naturalist Club – comprised of 4th and 5th grade students. The group maintains and develops the courtyard environmental lab in addition to other outdoor projects.
WJOY radio - the daily radio program led by 4th or 5th graders who collect and broadcast school news and information each morning.
Student Council - a group of class-elected students from 3rd, 4th, and 5th
grades. These students help at school functions and raise money for special projects.

Athletics - available to 4th and 5th grade students, inter-mural boys and girls basketball and soccer along with boys and girls intramural games and activities.
Joy School Association (JSA) supports student activities and events, sponsors additional activities including a Fun Fair, Family Math Night, Ice Cream Social-Book Fair, Read Across America Family Night, and Art Exhibit Cookout. Joy School is fortunate to have many parental and community volunteers who provide help in classrooms, on study trips, and in the library. Our parent group meets at least once a month throughout the school year