About Santa Fe

About Kearny Elementary School
Grade Levels Served: K - 6
Enrollment: 511

School’s Mission:
Kearny Elementary School’s mission is to provide an environment that is safe, allows risktaking and is conducive to learning and teaching. Each child will be provided equal education opportunities and a solid foundation in all learning areas, thereby achieving his/her maximum potential. Through this mission we envision:
A place where the school community, children, parents, community members and staff are safe and feel welcome;
A school where children feel successful and develop positive self-esteem;
A school where citizenship, trust, tolerance, respect, courtesy and manners are valued;
A school where children have an opportunity to attain their highest academic achievement; and
A school that is clean, attractive, orderly and that instills a sense of pride and ownership.

School’s Vision:
Kearny’s vision is that all students enrolled:
Achieve success in academic and citizenship roles;
Are proficient in reading, writing, mathematics and science on the Standards Based Assessment;
Are intellectually engaged throughout the school day;
That the foundation for success is joint interaction of student, parent, community, teacher and administrator; and
Receive a quality education that builds the foundation necessary to attend a college or university and become a successful member of our diverse society.

Our School's Operations and Functions
Learning Blocks:
Kearny’s academic programs are designed to keep each student academically engaged and provide a strong foundation as this is their first step towards college and career. Each class at Kearny has a 120 minute Literacy Block and a 90 minute Mathematics Block. The learning blocks are designed to meet each student’s academic needs. Response to Intervention, which focuses on a student’s specific learning needs is included in the learning blocks. One of our District’s Common Commitments is Writing across the Curriculum; the Literacy block often includes mathematics, Science and Social Studies which are also covered individually.

Specials:
Our special classes enhance our academic program. They include: art, music, band, technology and library. Each class visits the specials once a week. All students have Physical Education twice a week as well.

Positive Behavior Program:
Kearny utilizes the framework of a School-Wide Positive Behavior program to teach, monitor and reward positive behavior in a common language. This includes positive behavior expectations, a matrix of behavior rules for all areas, a discipline plan as well as reward tickets and table. Through this program the students are encouraged to “Think, Listen and Care”, Kearny’s school-wide behavior expectations. The TLCs are the following: Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Honest, Be Kind.

Violence and Drug Prevention Curricula:
All classes Kindergarten-3rd grade are receiving Second Step lessons to teach appropriate expression of feelings, impulse control and anger management techniques. Fourth through 6th graders are instructed in Life Skills, a drug and violence prevention program.

Zero Bullying:
Additionally, bullying issues are addressed through specific Code of Conduct classes, lessons to discuss class specific behaviors, harassment and discrimination, and a written contract to pledge respect and responsibility to make our school a safer place.

Why Our School is Unique
Reading Around the World:
All students participate in Kearny’s “Reading Around the World ” program. Each student reads books at home and at school, then receives points for their reading through the Accelerated Reader program. Students are awarded at our quarterly Awards Assembly for their accomplishments.

Cooking with Kids:
Kearny is delighted to have the Cooking with Kids program. This program motivates and empowers our students to develop healthy eating habits through hands-on learning with fresh, affordable foods from a variety of cultures. In the program, students participate in cooking and tasting classes, and explore a variety of foods. Their program is an extension of our curriculum.

National Dance Institute:
Kearny also participates in the National Dance Institute (NDI) program. This program is offered to our fifth grade students and provides an amazing dance program promoting health education excellence and encourages students to believe in themselves. Their program is an extension of our curriculum.

Positive Behavior System:
Kearny’s school counselor has guided our staff and students in our school-wide Positive Behavior System. Through this program the students are encouraged to “Think, Listen and Care”, Kearny’s TLCs. The TLCs are based on the following: Be Caring, Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be Honest, Be Polite, and Be Responsible.

Kearny, Your First Step towards College:
As you walk down the halls of Kearny, you will see not only the names of the teachers, but the university they graduated from. This is done to expose our students to a variety of colleges and universities. Our goal is to build the foundation for college aware and college bound students.

After School Academic Programs:
Kearny students have the availability of after school tutoring programs through SES, Indian Education and the Adelanteprogram. They can also participate in Kearny’s Homework Club.

The Arts:

• Kearny students are active in the Arts throughout our community.
• Three students participated in this year’s State Fair for Art work.
• Kearny students entered the Trees are Terrific contest and their artwork was displayed in Albuquerque.
• Kearny students are involved in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival (three concerts per year) and Artworks.
• This year we had students participate with the Santa Fe Community Orchestra.
• Our sixth grade band and the third grade are involved with the new Santa Fe Opera Integrated Arts Program with instructor Chris Leslie.

Sports Activities
Students are involved in the following sports activities:

• Boys and Girls Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Drill Team
• Wrestling
• Swim Team

For SY 2009-10
Student Achievement Awards:
Beginning last year, Kearny began holding the Student of the Month Breakfast. This monthly breakfast continues this year to honor students who have displayed Kearny’s school wide behavior expectations: Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Honest, and Be Kind. The students honored are selected by a teacher or staff member. Parents are invited to this breakfast and are able to see their child honored by the school.

Awards Assembly:
Kearny holds an Awards Assembly every quarter to honor students who have earned a place on the Honor
Roll, Merit Roll, Perfect Attendance and students’ reading accomplishments. Along with Accelerated Reader, we give awards for Million Word Readers and for “Reading around the World”. Parents are always invited and do attend.

Million Word Readers:
Along with Accelerated Reader, we give awards for million word readers. We also give awards for reading “around the world.”

Student Awards
Kearny students have been involved in and received awards in the following events:

• Cooking with Kids District wide essay contest
• A Kearny student earned the position to represent Santa Fe Public Schools in the State’s Spelling Bee in Albuquerque.
• Cows for Kids essay contest.
• Seven students received honors for their Plate Designs last school year.
• Three students participated in the Georgia O’Keefe Summer Art and Leadership program.
• Our Student Athletic Awards:
• Kearny students participated in Jump Rope for Heart. Our students raised over $1,000 to benefit the American Heart Association.

Our Other Accomplishments:
Kearny strives to impact our global society. Kearny students are involved in our global society. Last year they raised over $700.00 during their Hugs for Haiti drive. This money was sent to Haiti to benefit the people in Haiti that had been devastated by the earthquake. A second grade class wrote letters to President Barack Obama. They were pleased to receive a letter from the President and two photographs. Each student was given a copy of the letter and photographs.