Reading is a necessary, lifelong skill and teachers at Countryside stress it in all aspects of the curriculum by using the Steps to Literacy program to help students improve their reading skills.

“We find that our children are reading and writing at a higher level than before this program,” principal Arlene Glaser said. Data from the school improvement plan indicate that 81 percent of third-graders, 89 percent of fourth-graders and 80 percent of fifth-graders passed the reading portion of the Virginia Standard of Learning exam for the 2005-2006 school year.

“In kindergarten through second grade, students learn to read. In third through fifth grade, they read to learn,” Glaser said. The target pass rate for the 2006-2007 school year is 86 percent of third graders, 92 percent of fourth graders and 85 percent of fifth graders, according to the school’s improvement plan.

Countryside has three ESL teachers and three assistants who incorporate the Steps to Literacy strategies into their lessons, Glaser said. More information about the Steps to Literacy program is available here.

Each Wednesday, there is an after-school homework club for ESL students to provide extra study help for the Virginia Standards of Learning exams. At Countryside, the parent liaison is fluent in Spanish and English to help reach out to Spanish-speaking families in the community, Glaser said.

Each month, there are special events to encourage parent and community involvement in the school. Bingo nights, restaurant nights, parent information nights and holiday breakfasts are always popular, she said.

“I want the parents and community members to realize this is a warm, caring place,” Glaser said.

At a school where the motto is “Celebrating Every Student,” the Taste of Our World dinner is a unique event organized annually to celebrate Countryside’s diverse student population. Each year, parents are invited to wear clothing traditional to their ethnic heritage and bring traditional food to share at a school potluck. The students participate by performing dances from other countries they learned during physical education class.

When it comes to music and the arts, the two are regularly incorporated into classroom curriculum, Glaser said. Art and music teachers keep up-to-date on what classroom teachers are studying and try to integrate the lessons. For example, the fourth grade musical was a program about Virginia history because that is what they are studying for their SOL exams, Glaser said.

“We look at the whole child when we teach,” Glaser said. “I think that we have developed students who are lifelong learners.”