• Category 1

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: 1 - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 3,500
    Student Enrollment: 730
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 24.4%
    White/Caucasian: 56.1%
    Hispanic: 5.8%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.3%
    Asian: 6.3%
    Native American: 0.1%
    Other: 7%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:25
    % Reduced Lunch: 40%
    % ELL Learners: 5%
    Founded: 1963
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Julie Lavender
  • CONTACT:
    238 Sorghum Mill Road
    Camden, DE 19934
    302-697-3279
    julie.lavender@cr.k12.de.us
Allen Frear Elementary School
Camden, DE
Our school motto is “One Team, One Goal, No Limits.”
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Our school motto is “One Team, One Goal, No Limits”. As One Team we will listen to, trust, and respect each other, students, parents, and members of our community. With One Goal in mind we will do everything possible to reach all learners. We see No Limits therefore, we believe in making every day count and emphasizing partnerships to support individual success. Not only is this motto evident in the school with teachers, staff members, and students, but with our Allen Frear parents as well.

Our Leadership Team (consisting of teachers, paraprofessionals and parents) is an active participant in designing our professional development vision for the year. Parents are an essential part of our approach to addressing the needs of the whole child through visible learning, literacy strategies, and consistent school wide practices while integrating social emotional learning with mindful practices. With active parent volunteers in our building we can work as a team to make a difference.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
At Allen Frear Elementary School we plan to continue to “Notice and Wonder” as we enter the 2018-2019 school year. We will notice the strengths of our staff and students while wondering what we can do differently to enhance the learning of all. We will focus on Visible Learning practices and actions including formative assessments, continue to develop a differentiated and well-balanced literacy block through teaching signposts and using the texts Notice and Note, and Disrupting Thinking to implement instructional strategies while continuing to develop social-emotional learning practices. In addition, we will continue to support implementation of “Fountas and Pinnell” and a “Being a Writer” curriculum to enhance our ELA block. We will continue to ensure our teachers are empowered and involved in developing school goals, professional development, and foster a collaborative environment with one another.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
At Allen Frear Elementary, we support our teachers through professional development opportunities that include collaborative planning sessions, faculty meetings, building in-service days, and district learning sessions designed to facilitate learning with one another to improve student achievement. Developing consistent, school wide practices such as utilizing specific graphic organizers, common lesson planning, and ensuring learning is visible in the classroom were implemented to increase student achievement.

Our students are taught to nurture their own emotional well-being through mindful practices while striving to achieve rigorous academic goals for themselves. Students develop personal strengths including perseverance, emotional regulation, and positive academic mindsets. This balanced approach allows students to take risks as individuals and creates a more engaging environment that prepares the students for the challenges of the world.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
At Allen Frear Elementary, the goal of this year’s professional development is to continue the school’s focus on Visible Learning practices and actions including formative assessments, developing a differentiated and well-balanced literacy block, and implementation of School-Wide SEL practices. The plan is designed to be a collaborative and ongoing process that allows us to foster the social-emotional and educational well-being of our students.

Our teaching staff participates in weekly collaborative learning sessions that are designed to provide opportunities for our teachers to analyze data, plan lessons, discuss student strengths and weaknesses and support one another in implementing strategies to support student learning. Ongoing, collaborative sessions that allow discussions among teachers with a student-centered focused is the key to success.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
At Allen Frear we are “One Team, One Goal, No Limits”! As One Team we engage students, parents, and members of our community in the educational process. With students as our focus it is our Goal to reach all learners as we see No Limits in a child's ability to achieve success. Teachers are empowered and involved in developing school goals, professional development, and foster a collaborative environment with one another. We have also revamped our Positive Behavior Support team to include student leadership and social emotional learning through mindful practices. Each year we develop a theme that builds upon our motto. This year at Allen Frear “We are Champions!” Our students are champions of learning, our teachers are champions of teaching and we all work together with our school community to be champions in support of one another. Our school emphasizes collaboration with one another and recognizes that this is the key to success as we all have a responsibility to support students.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: 1 - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 3,500
    Student Enrollment: 730
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 24.4%
    White/Caucasian: 56.1%
    Hispanic: 5.8%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.3%
    Asian: 6.3%
    Native American: 0.1%
    Other: 7%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:25
    % Reduced Lunch: 40%
    % ELL Learners: 5%
    Founded: 1963
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Julie Lavender
  • CONTACT:
    238 Sorghum Mill Road
    Camden, DE 19934
    302-697-3279
    julie.lavender@cr.k12.de.us