Each week, we highlight a different school or profession at Clover Park School District. Last week, we showed our #CPSDPride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to Hillside Elementary School!
Hillside is one of six CPSD elementary schools located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) near the Madigan Army Medical Center, right next to the JBLM Teen Zone.
Nestled in a suburban community, Hillside hosts a diverse student population with families from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. “Hillside has such a unique student population,” Principal Lauren Bolster said. “They have such incredible resiliency and bring with them an amazing worldview because of the many places they have experienced.”
Like other JBLM schools, Hillside becomes home to new students throughout the year as military families change stations. Hillside Huskies build their pack by bringing in new families and supporting one another through these changes. “I love how welcoming this community is,” Principal Bolster said. “Throughout the year, we gain many new students and our community does an amazing job welcoming them.”
Currently in her first full year at Hillside, Principal Bolster is excited to explore the opportunities her and her team have to deepen community bonds and encourage family engagement. “I look forward to building more opportunities for our families to partner with us,” she said. “Whether they join us for an event at school or enjoy recess with their student, I want families to feel welcomed and encouraged to be part of our Hillside team.”
To continue our Hillside shoutout, we honored reading interventionist Lindsay Evans and third grader Jordan Spence.
Evans has been a Hillside Husky for 16 years. As an interventionist, she works with students to help fill gaps they may have in their reading skills. “I like seeing the growth they can make in a year,” she said. “Not only in their reading ability but also in their overall confidence and their desire to pick up a book and start reading on their own.”
By working in small groups, Evans gets to know each student and relates to their experiences as military kids. “My stepdad was in the navy, so I was a military kid for a portion of my childhood,” she said. “Teaching these kids is very special and close to my heart.”
In her 16 years as an educator, Evans is proud of her ability to connect with each of her students and watch them grow. “I can learn exactly what they need and let them know that I’m in their corner by being their advocate so they can thrive independently,” she said.
Jordan is rocking third grade and finds the curriculum more interesting than what she’s learned before. “We get to do fun science projects and other things I haven’t done in all the other grades,” she said.
After school, Jordan likes dancing with friends and skateboarding but in class, science is Jordan’s favorite subject. She also enjoys learning about fractions and reading chapter books like Jumanji. “I like this school because you can make a lot of good friends here,” she said. “Also, when something is bad, I feel comfortable talking to any of the teachers.”
Jordan is proud of herself for being a standout student because she listens to her teacher, raises her hand in class and is confident in herself. After learning about magnets this year, she wants to become a scientist and study physics when she grows up.
Go Huskies!
Hillside Elementary is one of the few academic bright spots in Clover Park School District (CPSD). The JBLM elementary schools (Beachwood, Meriwether, Rainier, Hillside, Carter Lake, Evergreen) are the best performing elementary schools in academics and student growth in the District.
All their students are active duty military connected. Apparently the alleged disadvantage of frequent military family moves to new assignments does not present a disadvantage for student achievement. Military connected students represent 34.5% (4394) of District students (12736) with about 2/3rds (2717) of those students attending the 6 elementary schools on base.
Yet CPSD singles out “military students” in the same breath that it discusses “marginalized” student groups (race, ethnicity, economic disadvantaged, sexual orientation, etc. etc. etc.) as though they are synonymous: they aren’t. Maybe it has more to do with the culture found on military bases versus that found in the greater community outside JBLM.
It’s about time that the District made the distinction between on-base and off-base schools based upon academic performance and culture as opposed to academic failure and lame excuses.
LakewoodCARES