Kent Lake Elementary is the setting where all members of the learning community are dedicated to ensuring that students experience high achievement and opportunities for social, emotional and academic growth. Students attending Kent Lake are assigned to the building based on residence within the geographic attendance boundaries of the school, as well as the district’s School of Choice Program.

Kent Lake Elementary is a K-5 building located two miles north of the City of South Lyon in the southwest corner of Oakland County. Oakland County is located north of Detroit, Michigan. This growing county is rich in culture, resources, quality living opportunities and the home of many major industries. Kent Lake is in close proximity to highly respected colleges and universities. The building is a short drive from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti and Washtenaw Community College, also located in Ypsilanti.

Our mission statement reflects the high standards and expectations we place on our students and ourselves. Students maintain high academic achievement as well as high average daily attendance. To realize these standards, the staff of 29 teachers, one administrator, one secretary, one office clerk, one building engineer, one social worker, eight playground supervisors and two custodians, together with parents and volunteers, work collaboratively to increase the achievement of all children. Our PTO and CHEERS volunteers are a tremendous support to the programming at Kent Lake. Members of each of these organizations consistently contribute over 3600 hours each year to assist in various activities throughout the school. Curriculum Night and Parent/Teacher Conferences, which take place in the fall, are also well attended by parents.

The core curriculum at Kent Lake is the foundation for the learning that takes place on a daily basis. Students are provided rich learning experiences in all areas of Language Arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening and literature), Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Health, Physical Education, Music, Art, and Technology.

Students at Kent Lake benefit from the curricula that are based on validated research about what children should be learning in all of the traditional elementary subject areas. Teachers are well trained and use “Best Practices” as their guide to instruction. Our curricula are constantly updated through Subject Area Committees (SACs) to insure that they are aligned with the State of Michigan standards and benchmarks. Strong efforts are made to prepare our students for the Michigan Assessments, such as the MEAP.

Teachers are well trained and use research based best practices as their guide to instruction. Each year, our teachers attend at least thirty hours in professional training and meet weekly regarding school improvement and staff development. They are available to parents by phone, voice mail, and email. We have an excellent blend of experienced and newer teachers who frequently collaborate with each other to foster student success.

Guidelines for decision making at Kent Lake are set by the Board of Education policy called the Shared Involvement Process committee (SIP). Important financial, organizational, and school policy issues are considered at monthly meetings comprised of four parents, four teachers, one support staff, and the principal. The SIP committee makes a strong home-school connection. Meeting times and minutes are placed on the back of the weekly newsletter, the Wave.

Accreditation Status
Kent Lake Elementary is involved in an accreditation process designed to help us improve student learning. Accreditation is a process whereby staff, district personnel, and the Board of Education, commit to a set of preconditions, or standards, identified as necessary for a quality education.

These standards are identified by an external source such as the North Central Association, and the State of Michigan. The accreditation process originally gave standards to college prep high schools, but that process has been extended to include middle and elementary schools. The process fosters school improvement through requirements for data collection, self-study and evaluation of school programs and services. All South Lyon elementary schools have received accreditation by NCA as well as "interim" accreditation by the Michigan Department of Education. South Lyon high School is accredited through the University of Michigan and North Central Association.

North Central Accreditation
Kent Lake Elementary currently has begun the next cycle of their NCA process. Through the Performance Accreditation Framework Kent Lake will reflect the NCA CASI Standard, "to maximize the proportion of promoted or graduated students who are self-directed learners and are prepared to make successful school-to-school or school-to-career transitions." The NCA CASI Performance Accreditation Framework focuses on designing and implementing a quality school improvement processes and on documenting enhanced student performance. The performance accreditation framework is based on three assumptions:

Currently, Kent Lake is in Phase VI of Performance Accreditation. Members of the learning community have completed the Kent Lake School Profile and chosen the three goal areas. The three NCA approved goals are:

1. All Kent Lake learners will demonstrate an improved ability to comprehend a variety of genres across the curriculum.
2. All Kent Lake learners will demonstrate an improved ability to utilize higher order thinking skills to solve real world problems.
3. All Kent Lake learners will improve their ability to write purposefully in order to effectively communicate to an audience.

Kent Lake had its first peer review revisit on December 15, 2005.

Kent Lake completed the third year of implementation of the intervention strategies set forth in their NCA plan. Data collection has begun regarding the success of those intervention strategies. The school will have its Quality Assurance Review on April 19-20, 2011.

Michigan Adequate Yearly Progress
In Michigan, Adequate Yearly Progress is a measure of year-to-year student achievement on the MEAP test. Schools are required to test 95% of all students. AYP is calculated separately for reading/language arts and mathematics by comparing our scores to the percent proficient threshold scores set by the State of MI. All of the South Lyon Community Schools made AYP with MEAP results exceeding the State established threshold scores in both reading and math.

School Improvement Goals
The School Improvement Goals were based on the alignment of curriculum/instruction with the guidelines and benchmarks of the State Mandated Core Curriculum. The focus of improving student achievement is reflected in the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) plans and Credentialing plans. Baseline data used in developing these plans was based on the analysis of 2009 MEAP scores, district assessment scores, classroom assessments and student work. Kent Lake, in adopting its School Improvement plan, has remained committed to increasing student learning for all students. AYP or Credentialing plans were developed by grade level teachers who met regularly throughout the year to analyze assessment data and evaluate and implement strategies.

Target Area Goals-Instructional Focus Summary:

Language Arts:
Students will utilize “learning to read” and “reading to learn” strategies (i.e. Word Study, FQR sequencing. predicting. making corrections) for better comprehension of narrative writings.

Mathematics:
Students will improve their ability to analyze and interpret data. Students will improve in their problem solving strategies and their ability to justify their reasoning.

Social Studies:
Students will improve their ability to draw deep conclusions based on accurate interpretations from graphs, charts, and maps.