Mission

The mission of Clover Creek Elementary was created in cooperation with staff, parents, and community. Through reading and writing, knowing and applying, thinking and integrating, and applying in context, we will prepare our students for productive lives. Literacy is central to success in any goal in life. The ability to communicate well is essential in any field one may choose.

Parent and Community Involvement in Learning

Parents and community members can get involved by joining the school's site-council. The council meets each trimester to review progress on the site improvement plan. Other parents are involved in our PTA.

We welcome parent involvement because we know it takes a partnership between schools and parents to help students achieve their best.

What Makes Us Special

Clover Creek Elementary School is located in a rapidly growing area. Students moving into several new large subdivisions located within our boundaries will be bussed to other elementary schools. We continue our classroom focus on improving student achievement, specifically in communication arts, math, and science.

Students continue to increase their involvement in the Accelerated Reading program. We are a school that loves to read! Our sixth graders attend Camp Cispus Outdoor Education in October. Our fifth and sixth graders gain valuable training in conflict resolution and use this training on a daily basis on our playground.

Raising Expectations and Standards

Each year staff and community members on our site-council review and revise the school improvement plan. Clover Creek is in our second year of implementation of the Professional Learning Communities' initiative which focuses intently on how to improve achievement for all students. Our staff meets weekly in grade-level learning communities to analyze achievement data and develop specific strategies to improve student learning. A district advisory committee each year reviews the progress of our learning teams. As a result, Clover Creek’s staff is gaining expertise in the use of various assessment data. Teachers gather and interpret data each day. Students take trimester assessments in both communication arts (reading and writing) and math. In April, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning is administered to all students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6.

WASL Success

Our third grade students continue to perform well on the WASL, and our 5th and 6th grade students showed strong improvement in all areas assessed. We're particularly proud of our 5th grade students who increased the percent meeting standard on the science assessment by 300% (from 9% in 2007 to 27% in 2008). Our staff continues to work hard each day to help all students succeed!

Community Connections

Our building is used by many community organizations including Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Bethel Recreation, Pierce County Planning Community meetings and various local homeowners' associations.

Adequate Yearly Progress

Clover Creek did not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP), as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act. Of the 36 areas measured, the school met all but five of the required benchmarks. AYP is determined primarily by year-to-year student achievement on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) in reading and mathematics.

Each year individual schools and the school district must “raise the bar” in gradual increments so that by 2014, 100 percent of students achieve proficiency in each subject area. Clover Creek met the benchmarks in each category for all student sub-groups.

Top-notch staff

Clover Creek has approximately 32 classroom teachers. They average 13 years of teaching experience and 56 percent have a master’s degree. They are joined by a wonderful support staff who have students’ best interest in mind in all that they do.

Bethel School District

Bethel School District serves about 17,500 students in 17 elementary schools, five junior highs (with another opening its doors in 2010), three comprehensive high schools, one alternative junior high/high school, and an online academy. The district has won national awards in technology and communications, as well as state awards in professional development, energy conservation, and the arts. In addition, five district teachers have earned "Washington State teacher of the Year" in the last 25 years - more than any district in the state.

The Bethel School District covers 202-square miles in south Pierce County. The area is one of the fastest growing in the Puget Sound region. In 2006, district voters passed both a four-year levy for operations and a $175 million bond to build new schools. As part of the first phase of the bond, two elementary schools and one junior high (temporarily housing Spanaway Lake High School) were opened in September 2009.

In 2007-2008, the district's budget was $158 million, about 80 percent of which went to salaries and benefits. About 1,050 certificated staff and about 1,000 classified (support) staff work for the district. Tom Seigel joined the district in 2001 as superintendent. He previously worked in Boulder, CO as a superintendent. Prior to his work in public education, Seigel served in the U.S. Navy for 25 years, completing his military career as a Commander.