“Learning puts a smile on your face” is the theme of the 2006-2007 school year at Cool Spring Elementary, and there are smiles everywhere, Principal Jill Broaddus said.

One reason students are smiling is because of the recent addition of the Dance Dance Revolution video game to their gym class. Two students at a time compete while the rest of the class mimics them on practice mats. The school even recently had a formal competition for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.

The PTA provides regular after-school activities for students each Tuesday. In the past, the eight-week sessions have included classes in etiquette, sign language, art and scrap booking. The most popular activity the PTA organizes is chess, which takes place on Friday, Broaddus said.

“I’ve been here five years now. One of the greatest things I think about Cool Spring is the way the whole community works together,” Broaddus said. Parent volunteers step up to help with everything from tutoring students to decorating bulletin boards to helping with photocopying – which gives teachers more time to focus on their students, she said.

In each classroom, at least one computer is connected to the classroom television so lessons and activities can be projected for the whole class. All students spend at least 30 minutes each week in the computer lab. Mr. Casto, the technology resource teacher, works with students to come up with different games and reviews to help prepare them for the Virginia Standards of Learning tests. He even works with students as young as first grade to help them prepare PowerPoint presentations, Broaddus said.

Every year, the fourth- and fifth-grade chorus performs at Art Night. Parents are invited to the school to look at pieces of student artwork on display throughout the school. There also are scheduled individual performances so students who are learning instruments like the piano or violin have a chance to perform for their peers.

For students who are not fluent in English, there are two full-time ESL teachers as well as two aides. These teachers will work with students individually to help them increase their skills, and will work with them in the context of the regular classroom as well.

Broaddus said her staff is constantly working to improve students who struggle in reading. The teachers at Cool Spring have been learning to implement the Steps to Literacy program to help regular classroom students as well as special education and ESL students learn to read.

“If you can read, the sky is the limit for you,” Broaddus said.

According to the school improvement plan for the 2005-2006 school year, 90 percent of third-grade students passed the reading SOL. This is on par with the district-wide goal of 90 percent of students passing all required SOL tests. Seventy-eight percent of fifth-grade students passed the reading SOL in 2006.