School Overview
Mrs. Cora Snyder, Principal
Grades 2 & 3
Student Day: 8:35 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Steckel Elementary School now houses approximately 600 pupils in grades 2 and 3. Currently we have 12 classrooms of each grade. This flexible space school is designed with three classrooms in a pod. The faculty and staff provide a caring and nurturing environment individually and in groups through numerous guidance programs, health services, MTSS services and positive school wide behavior plan.
The MTSS team is composed of the classroom teacher, reading and math specialist, school counselor, school psychologist, and principal. The team focuses on providing students with appropriate learning strategies and interventions to alleviate academic or behavioral concerns that are impediments to school success. High school ‘Career Ed’ students may provide extra support and tutoring to those students who need assistance. A Big Brother/Big Sister Program alongside LVHN and Valley Youth House support our students through social, emotional, and academic supports.
The school houses a two-story indoor butterfly garden complete with a fish pond. An outdoor butterfly garden complements this unique facility offering students the opportunity to investigate the wonders of nature in meaningful hands-on science activities.
MARKING SYSTEM
Students receive quarterly report cards indicating their progress in the basic subject areas and the competencies that are stressed. In addition to a letter grade, teachers also indicate the child’s effort in each subject area. Once weekly special subject areas (library, music, art, physical education, and computers), are graded on a semester basis.
COUNSELING SERVICES
Mrs. Jamie Bisignani - Counselor
An elementary School Counselor serves second and third grades. Direct services are provided to the children, via individual and group counseling; to the teacher, through consultation and assessment; and to the parents through school or parent-initiated conferences. The counselor also offers indirect service by coordinating the efforts of the school support personnel involved with the individual child.
The Steckel counseling program is an integral part of the overall school curriculum and is presented throughout the year during scheduled classroom sessions. Topics include developing organizational skills and improved study skills, self-esteem, improving peer relationships, understanding and respecting individual differences, family dynamics, dealing with potentially dangerous social situations, divorce, and understanding our emotional development
ACTIVITIES
The school’s closed circuit television station offers a variety of highly successful programs. We produce an annual holiday show which is aired throughout the community by the local cable companies and streamed from the district website.
An After -School Program provides individualized assistance and small group instruction in math and reading. This program typically runs twice-weekly from January to April.
The Steckelwood Pops, a musical festival, is presented each May by the 2nd and 3rd grade musical groups.
A very active Parent Teacher Organization PLUS sponsors numerous assemblies, field trips, and Children’s Day for all the students. Parents are encouraged to participate in school activities.
School-Wide Positive Behavior Program (Steckel S.T.A.R.S.)
Our program has been in place for 7 years. We have been able to increase learning time, reinforce social skills, promote responsibility, ensure safety, and create a more positive school environment through our school-wide positive behavior program. Our program teaches, recognizes, and rewards our students for positive behavior. Our five character traits are taught by using the acronym S.T.A.R.S. for safety, team players, achievers, respect, and self-discipline. These expectations are reinforced across all seven of our school settings: the bus, the cafeteria, the hallway, the classroom, the playground, the bathrooms, and the coatrooms. Students are recognized and rewarded through a star system where they can earn prizes from the redemption center, become Student of the Month, Character Trait of the Month award winner, and join our marking period celebrations.
