by Louise Wolcott
Blanche Pope Elementary Accelerated School will welcome the new school year with a retreat to be held on August 30, 1995, at the Hale Koa Hotel. School staff, parents, students, and community members will meet to welcome newcomers, renew school spirit, and refocus on the school vision. Goals and plans for the upcoming school year will be finalized.
As our school-community enters into the third year of the accelerated school's process, we can celebrate increased student achievement as measured by Stanford Achievement Test scores, increased involvement in school governance and decision making, and increased communication and collaboration among all role groups.
We will continue to emphasize reading throughout the curriculum and teachers and parents will continue to participate in the Success Compact training sessions. The Success Compact training provides a constant approach to teaching reading that balances word recognition skills and reading comprehension strategies.
The other primary focus is to integrate Hawaiian culture and values into the curriculum. By providing Pope School students with Hawaiian language, music, and dance, we are striving towards an important part of our vision:
...While encouraging knowledge and an appreciation of cultural diversity, all aspects of Hawaiian culture are celebrated and taught, with everyone learning that traditional cultures and values have a place in modern society.
Parents and community members are always encouraged to participate in whatever way they can. Our partnerships with Price/Costco at Hawaii Kai will again benefit the students by providing backpacks and school supplies at the beginning of the school year. Our partnership with the Friends of Waimanalo has provided our school library with an updated automated catalog system to access information throughout the State. In addition, Blanche Pope has implemented its Local Area Network and will soon be part of a Statewide Network which along with Internet, will allow students to communicate worldwide from the computers in their classrooms.
Blanche Pope School-Community is dedicated to inspire academic success and excellence for all students. Our accelerated school builds on strengths and serves as a resource to promote learning. We are ready for another successful school year!