Description of School Context: The Pinello administrative team consists of one counselor, one social worker, a full time assistant principal, and a principal. Our instructional team consists of 12 classroom teachers encompassing two teachers in kindergarten-5th Grade. The support staff consists of two Title I teachers, two special education teachers, twelve special education educational assistants, two significant support needs teacher, a part-time English language learner teacher, one full time speech language teacher and one part time virtual speech language teacher, one gifted and talented teacher, one physical education teacher, one music teacher, and one STEM teacher. Currently 19% of the teachers have three or less years of experience. One hundred percent of the teachers contracted at Pinello Elementary are highly qualified. 69% percent of our student population qualified for free and reduced lunch in the previous year.
School Vision : Pinello staff believes achievement including every student matters and every moment counts.
School Goals: 1: Increase student growth in math and reading but establishing data driven instruction, vertical alignment and building learning walks. 2. Provide opportunities to engage and involve parents and families in the school community. 3. Establish consistent assessments of professional development.
Description of Planning Process: The UIP development process includes Pinello staff analyzing and discussing current data, historical trends, and short term and long term goals. Members of the Building Leadership Team begin meeting in September to determine priority performance challenges and root causes using both local and state data. Parents and other members of BAAC and PTO also provide input into the UIP process. The UIP serves as a comprehensive needs assessment to guide the comprehensive school-wide plan.
Behavior Support:
Pinello Elementary has a Positive Behavior Intervention Support program. Specific behavior expectations are clearly established, defined, explicitly taught to students and prominently displayed throughout the school. The school-wide behavior expectations are defined as R.O.A.R – R- Respectful, O – Organized, A - Always Safe, and R -Responsible. Students are recognized for adhering to these school-wide expectations by receiving a ROAR Award. Students read the ''character trait'' of the week on the morning announcements. The school adopted a school-wide social emotional program (Capturing Kids' Hearts) to support student teacher relationships. Last year Pinello achieved National Showcase status for our implementation of CKH. A disciplinary infraction policy is in place for students who are in violation of school and classroom rules. Data regarding disciplinary infractions, referrals and suspensions are collected and analyzed by the PBIS team and presented to the rest of the staff on a monthly basis. The team meets monthly to review data and make program improvements. Pinello Elementary is also part of the district Positive Action Team. This group organizes activities to benefit the community. The school has established a student Link Crew which plans school-wide events to support positive behavior and to recognize good deeds.
Support Services (Special Education Services, English Language Learners, and Gifted):
Pinello Elementary provides specialized individual services in the area of ELL, Gifted and Talented, and Special Education for students who have been identified. Each student that is identified has a tailored Education Plan that ensures the services are provided in direct alignment with the identified student's education goals.
Student Demographics:
Student enrollment at Pinello Elementary is approximately 300 students in grades K-5. Our student body consists of 37% white not Hispanic, 42% Hispanic, <1% Black, <1% multiple races, <1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and <1% American Indian or Alaskan Native. 69% of our students qualify for free/reduced lunch.
Title 1:
Pinello Elementary recognizes the importance of parent engagement and communication in the success of students. The school implements the MTSS initiative to support parent engagement, as communication remains increasingly important. Pinello Elementary regularly engages in parent involvement activities for our Title 1 students. At the beginning of each school year, the Title 1 teachers invite parents to a parent compact meeting where they explain the program to parents and seek parental participation through a question and answer session. Parents are also encouraged to provide ideas and input for the Compact. In addition, 4 times a year Pinello offers Academic Nights that focus on academic enrichment in literacy, math, and STEM. We engage parents through conferences, weekly emails via parent portal (Remind software), open house, programs, and special activities. Additionally, through our newsletter we send home tips on how parents can become involved in their child’s education and support their child at home. We engage parents in the development of improvement plans and have participation in BAAC, PBIS and PTO committees.
The Title I team and classroom teachers use a combination of CMAS, DIBELS Next, intervention program assessments (SIPPS etc.), i-Ready, STAR Reading, common interim assessments, formative checks, and classroom data to identify students who require additional support. These groups are flexible.
MTSS: Pinello has a MTSS team that consists of a building administrator, counselor, Title I teachers, specials teacher and classroom teachers. They provide professional development on the MTSS process to the staff, meet monthly to discuss student data and goals for students who are on or being placed on an MTSS plan. Members of the team meet with assigned teachers to assist with writing goals, determine interventions, how to track student progress and follow up with next steps. Pinello Elementary uses Tier I, Tier II and Tier III interventions to ensure students have multiple opportunities to support student needs.
Transitions Meetings: Each spring, Kindergarten teachers attend a preschool parent night to answer questions parents may have about Kindergarten. Pinello also works to provide a smooth transition from preschool by having Kindergarten Round-up. This provides parents an opportunity to meet with classroom teacher and learn about the different skills they can work on with their child over the summer. To ensure all measures are in place prior to students starting Kindergarten, a special education teacher and Kindergarten teacher from Pinello attend staffing meetings at the Pre school.
Extended Learning Opportunities: Pinello Elementary offers a range of extended learning opportunities both before and after school hours. Opportunities include Running Clubs, Lego Robotics Clubs, Jr., Lego Robotics Club, Student Counsel/Link Crew, Environmental Club, Battle of the Books, choir, and scouts.