Running head: STEEP FALLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CFA 1

Makayla Frost

University of Maine at Farmington

Steep Falls Elementary School Contextual Factors Analysis

September 25, 2018

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Steep Falls Elementary School CFA

Community, District, and School Factors

Steep Falls elementary is part of the Bonny Eagle School District, MSAD#6. This district

includes: Bonny Eagle High School, Bonny Eagle Middle School, Buxton Center Elementary,

Edna Libby School, George E. Jack School, H.B. Emery Jr. School, Hollis Elementary, and

Steep Falls Elementary. These schools serve the towns of Buxton, Hollis, limington, Standish,

and Frye Island. “The Mission of the Bonny Eagle School district is to help all students reach

their full potential.”

Steep Falls Elementary School is located at 781 Boundary Rd in Steep Falls, Maine.

Steep Falls is a small village in the town of Standish. The village has a total population of about

1,300 while the town of Standish as a whole has a population of about 10,000, estimated by the

Census Bureau. Steep Falls clocks in with a 0.06 diversity rating with 97% of the population

identifying as white (suburbanstats.org). The median household income is estimated by

city-data.com to be about $65,900 compared to Maine’s overall median household income at

$53,000. About 10% of individuals in Steep Falls are below poverty level (Factfinder.com).
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According to Factfinder, 95.5% of Steep Falls residents received a high school diploma or

higher.

The bar graph above represents the number of students that attend each elementary

school in the district. According to publicschoolreview.com, about 114 students attend Steep
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Falls, making it the smallest school in the district, by number of students. The school serves

grades K-3, with six teachers, giving a student-teacher ratio of 13:1. The mission of Steep Falls

Elementary is as follows, “Steep Falls Elementary School will feel like a safe home where we

are kind to one another. Students and teachers will work together to make learning fun and

exciting.”

An “anomaly” is the word often used to describe Steep Falls Elementary. There are very

few full time staff at the school, nine to be exact (which includes the custodian and the

secretary). Even the principal at Steep Falls is part time. Charlotte Reagan is the principal at both

Steep Falls and H.B. Emery. She spends only Tuesdays and Thursdays at Steep Falls and the

remaining three weekdays at the larger H.B. Emery. An assistant principal also roams the

building one or two days a week, as she is shared between other schools in the district as well.

Many administrators work together in this district to provide coverage for all of its schools.

Classroom Factors

Housed inside the small school there are six classrooms being used as full time

classrooms; two kindergarten classrooms, one first grade, one second grade, one first and second

split, and one third grade. Specifically in the third grade homeroom there are eighteen students.

Five girls and thirteen boys. This number fluctuates throughout the day as the school is testing

out a new way of doing things. Steep Falls is using flexible grouping between the four

classrooms that make up grades first through third. The students “flex” for math and reading. All

of the students in those four classrooms are separated by ability level. In a classroom at any

given time there may be first, second, and third graders all together.
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In reading, students are separated by their DRA levels and in math students are grouped

by their most recent NWEA scores. The students are separated by “priority.” Priority one means

the students who are severely struggling, priority two is students who are falling or have fallen

behind, priority three is made up mostly of students who are on grade level, and priority four is

for the students who are above grade level. The students stay in these groups for six weeks, then

the teachers meet, assess the groupings, and move students as needed. This is a new teaching

style at Steep Falls and it requires all of the teachers to work together very effectively. The

teachers in Steep Falls are well acquainted with close collaboration, and work well with one

another. Third grade teacher Christy Sayer said, “These women are my family.”

The goal of flex grouping is to limit the range in ability of the students in each room,

allowing the teachers to narrow their focus and target more specific skills to work on with each

group. With a smaller range in ability, it allows the teachers to use their differentiation to really

target each learner in their classroom. Flex grouping blocks are an hour and a half long. Only one

of the four classrooms has full time push in support, and that is the priority one group.

Each student carries a “book box” with them when/if they switch classrooms. Out of

eighteen students in third grade homeroom, only four flex out to another classroom for literacy

and seven flex out for math. During literacy, six students from other classrooms come to Mrs.

Sayre’s classroom and during math four students from other rooms flex to the third grade room.

Christy Sayers third grade classroom is made up of eighteen students. There are no ELL

students. One of the eighteen receives special education services and one other student is

currently being assessed. This group of students, with the exception of two new students this
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year, have been together as one group since kindergarten. This gives the group a unique dynamic

that is unlike any other school in the Bonny Eagle District.

Each morning two students from the third grade read the announcements over the

loudspeaker. The announcements end with the students reciting the shared vision as a class and

then standing for the pledge. The end of the announcements marks the official beginning of the

day. Prior to the announcements, the students should be working on their one page of morning

work that is given to them as a packet at the beginning of the week, and turned in on Friday.

Third graders are expected to come in, put their backpacks on their hook, put their folder back in

its spot, make a lunch choice, and then begin their morning work. After the announcements,

morning work is corrected briskly with student participation, meanwhile students are expected to

correct their own work and fill in any spaces that they did not get completed.
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This chart is displayed on the whiteboard at all times, reminding students of their

morning standard operating procedure (S.O.P.).

Next, students meet down on the rug for a read aloud, currently the first book in the

“Secrets of Droon” series. The one chapter takes about ten minutes to read aloud. Directly after

the read aloud the children complete some phonemic awareness activities verbally and as a

whole group. After phonemic, the students line up for their special, with the exception of

Thursdays. Children have physical education, music, art, and library as their “specials.” Their

specials last forty minutes.

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After their special the students go right into their literacy block. This is a flex block, so

some students travel to one of the three other classrooms across the hall, and other students travel

into the classroom. Literacy block in Mrs. Sayre’s classroom consists of a read aloud, movement,

a visual discrimination activity, and then stations. Movement is a required part of literacy

program that the school has adopted. The children complete four different yoga-like moves for

about thirty seconds each. Also part of this literacy program is work with visual discrimination.

Each day there is a different activity the class does as a whole group. This takes about three to

ten minutes, depending on the activity. Literacy stations are made up of five stations and five

groups. One of those groups is a guided reading station with the teacher.

Directly after literacy the children line up for lunch. Following lunch, the children go out

to recess. As soon as the children come in the classroom from recess they are expected to grab

their writing folders, notebooks, and a pencil and come down to the rug. There, the writing

lesson takes place. Most days include a read aloud where the students dissect a new style of

writing. Each writing lesson concludes with ten to fifteen minutes of independent writing time.

The goal is for this time to increase as the year goes on.

The last part of the day is math flex groups. Once again, several of our third graders

travel to other classrooms, and several others enter the classroom from other grades. Math group

always begins with a brain teaser. The children are given about five minutes to work on the

problem and then we go over it as a class. This is used as a quick warm up to give the students

exposure to multi-step thinking, and also thinking outside the box. The students really enjoy

starting their math time with a brain teaser.

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When math time has concluded, all students travel back to their homerooms where they

pack up and get ready for dismissal. That is a snapshot of a day in Christy Sayre’s third grade.

The classroom environment is very inviting, but not overwhelming. The photos below

show two different angles of the classroom. The photo on the left shows the quaint little reading

area in the corner of the classroom, by the classroom library. This space also doubles as the

gathering space for read alouds and writing lessons. The photo on the right gives an idea of how

the desks are clustered. There are twenty desks in the classroom, two extra to accommodate for

all of our literacy students in flex group. The desks are in groups of five. Near, between, or

beside each cluster of desks are three drawer bins. These bins hold math and literacy materials.

On top of the bins are caddies containing pencils, markers, scissors, glue sticks, and any other

materials the children may need. Parents were asked not to send their children with supplies this

year, due to the flex grouping. It is easier for each classroom to provide materials for the students

to use while they are in that classroom.

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On the ceiling, facing the whiteboard there is an overhead projector. This projector can

connect with the Elmo or the Apple T.V. The Elmo is a document camera, allowing anything

that is placed under it to appear on the whiteboard. The Apple T.V. allows any computer to

connect through airdrop by entering a code. When the computer is connected, and the airdrop is

successful, whatever is on the computer screen is then displayed on the whiteboard. It essentially

allows for screen sharing directly from the computer from anywhere in the room, and completely

cordless. These pieces of technology have become essential for the everyday function of the

classroom. Morning work is displayed and corrected using the projector and the elmo. Any

worksheets throughout the day are explained by placing them under the Elmo. Airdrop is used

everyday as well. It is used to display the math brain teaser of the day, and the visual

discrimination activity of the day. Airdrop is used to play any videos as well.
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Each student has their own personal ipad. The ipads have the ability to airdrop to the

projector, just as the teachers devices do. This allows students to display their work on the

whiteboard right from their seat with a simple click of a button.

Students use their personal ipads frequently throughout the day. They have also become

an essential piece of the daily routine in many ways. These pieces of technology enhance the

function of the classroom, and create the opportunity for further learning. The devices also

enhance the teachers ability to present information for the students as well as differentiate the

delivery of instruction.

There is one large piece of technology that has not proved to be essential to the function

of the classroom. A 3-D printer was donated to the school last year by a grant. The printer is

housed in Mrs. Sayre’s third grade. Last year the classroom used the printer twice all year. This

is an extremely expensive and powerful tool, yet it has only been utilized twice. That being said,

it is a new tool. Technology takes time to understand enough to build it into planning. Maybe in

another year or two, the printer will become a crucial part of a unit or project for one of the

classrooms.

Strength/needs analysis and student characteristics

Stude Gender Age Math Reading Word to Other

nt Describe
Themself

1. Female 8 Years At Grade Above “Winer” Chronic “Poison

6 Months Level Grade (Winner) Ivy.” Financial
Level struggles at home.

2. Male 8 Years At Grade Above “Happy” Interested in

7 Months Level Grade sports.
Level
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3. Male 8 Years Above Above “Determend” More than two

9 Months Grade Grade (​Determined) grade levels
Level Level above in both
math and literacy.

4. Female 8 Years At Grade At Grade “​Nice” New student

3 Months Level Level

5. Male 8 Years Above Above “Silly” Learns best when

6 Months Grade Grade sitting up front
Level Level

6. Male 8 Years Above Above “Weird”

7 Months Grade Grade
Level Level

7. Female At Grade Above “Loveing” Digestive issue,

Level Grade (Loving) needs to use the
Level bathroom or see
the nurse often for
stomach pain.
Works slowly.

8. Male 8 Years Below Below “Smart” In the process of

0 Months Grade Grade assessing for new
Level Level services. (Parent
push.)

9. Female 8 Years Below Above “Funny” Quiet and shy.

0 Months Grade Grade Does participate.
Level Level

10. Female 8 Years Below Above “Happy”

2 Months Grade Grade
Level Level

11. Male 8 Years Above Above “Weird” Creative and

10 Months Grade Grade artistic. Often
Level Level draws instead of
doing work or
listening to
lesson.

12. Male 8 Years Below Below “Pachint” New student.

10 Months Grade Grade (Patient) Currently being
Level Level assessed for
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(Priority services. Extreme

One) self confidence
struggles. First
experience in a
public school.

13. Male 8 Years Above Above “Lil Trucker” Mom is a teacher.

3 Months Grade Grade Speaks out often.
Level Level Cousins with
student 16.

14. Male 8 Years Above Above “Craze” Talks while

11 Months Grade Grade (Crazy) teacher is talking.
Level Level A lot of hands on
behavior.

15. Male 8 Years At Grade At Grade “Fun” Used to receive

11 Months Level Level speech, but now is
just on monitor.

16. Male 8 Years At Grade At Grade “Fun” Cousins with

9 Months Level Level student 13.

17. Male 8 Years Above Above “Happy”

2 Months Grade Grade
Level Level

18. Male 8 Years Below Below “Silly” Receives special

11 Months Grade Grade education
Level Level services. Part of
(Special (Special the
Ed.) Ed.) McKinney-Vento
program, meaning
he gets a special
bus to pick him
up in Saco.

This chart just gives a small glimpse into the makeup of Mrs. Sayre’s third grade

classroom. Student twelve is a clear outlier of the group, due to being a new student. It was clear

on the first day of school that this student was below average in reading, writing, and math. It has
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been a long few weeks working with other professionals in the school to get this student

assessed. This student was homeschooled and has attended private school. Coming in he brought

very little information about his academic abilities. Along with the academic portion of the day,

the expectations socially and environmentally seem to be a big adjustment. He is adjusting well,

but he still needs constant reminders of how we behave at school and some basic rules, such as

not leaving a classroom without telling an adult. It is critical to be patient with this student when

reminding of directions and rules, as his self confidence is extremely low and he sometimes feels

the need to punish himself if he thinks he has done something wrong. He was adopted at a young

age and needs support emotionally and academically. So far, he seems to be the student who

needs the most support throughout the day. Having two sets of hands in the classroom right now

has been infinitely helpful in terms of supporting this student while also supporting the rest of the

class. The school counselor and all the other personnel required to complete all of the

assessments needed for a full evaluation, are all part time at Steep Falls. These staff are shared

among the district, most commonly with H.B. Emery. This makes things very difficult and

creates a struggle with getting students their services.

There are some aspects of being a small school and a close-knit community that have

advantages, and of course some that present challenges, part time staff being one of those

challenges. Resources necessary to meet the needs of all students are not always readily

available. These staff may only be here once a week, and at the maximum twice.

While the lack of diversity may seem like a negative thing to an outsider, it can be an

advantage for a teacher. Communication with parents is much more feasible, and quite frankly,

effective. It allows parents to be much more involved with their child’s learning, the school, and
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with the community as a whole. This has major implications for an educator. Working with

parents who are engaged and involved provides flexibility and confidence that learning will be

continued at home.

The teachers at Steep Falls are well acquainted with the family’s of many students before

they arrive in the fall. This allows for trustworthy relationships and honest communication. On

the flip side, news travels fast. It is easy for families and teachers to become involved in one

another’s personal lives.

Overall, this group of eighteen students is fairly well represented by the statistics

presented. Conversely, just because numbers only display a small margin of “diversity” in

ethnicity, does not mean there is not a large amount of diversity present. Each student in this

classroom is truly unique and could not be clumped together as a whole. It is important to look at

different perspectives when thinking about teaching this group. There are a few that have shown

to be very active in the first few weeks, but that does not mean there aren’t others who enjoy low

key and focused activities. An effective strategy thus far has been to focus on establishing and

sticking to our classroom routines. Flex grouping adds another whole dimension to the

importance of routines.

The four classroom teachers who are flexing together have been in constant

communication. Now all of the bathroom policies are the same in each classroom, and the

overall classroom expectations are beginning to align. This consistency is absolutely necessary

for these students. First, second, and third graders all appreciate the consistency and have

adjusted well to the transitions between classrooms.

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As a future teacher the routine portion of classroom management has really stood out to

me. This is why the routine is explained in such detail above, it is crucial to the success of our

day in third grade. No matter the academic level, each student seems to prefer to know what their

day is going to look like.

Another important thing to remember is that theses students, other than our two new

friends, have known each other since kindergarten. While this has created a strong bond between

them, it has allowed for the students to learn how to push one another’s buttons. They know each

other so well that they know just how to push their peers over the edge, almost like siblings. This

is important when working with this group. They require many reminders and clear expectations

that are upheld. When choosing their seating arrangement, it has not been easy.

In the chart above it is noted that students thirteen and sixteen are cousins. This is

noteworthy because these boys should not be sat next to, or even remotely near one another.

Together they are too distracted, and distract others, creating a poor learning environment for

themselves and for others.

Another piece of the chart that is extremely important, I think, is the word that they

students used to describe themselves. This was taken from an “All About Me” page that I

distributed to the students on the second day of school. One portion of the page asked the

students for one word to describe themselves. I included this in the chart because it was helpful

to me when getting to know these students. What the children think about themselves says so

much about who they are. This portion of the page made our new student’s struggle with self

confidence very clear. He could not come up with a nice word to say about himself and it took

convincing and many examples to get him to decide on “patient.”

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Overall, when looking at the gathered information and its implications on teaching this

group, there are a few major takeaways. First, it is important to be flexible. In a small school it

doesn’t take a lot for the whole day to be thrown off kilter. Along with that, trying to coordinate

four classrooms to flex at the same time is not an easy task. If one classroom is off schedule, the

whole group is unable to flex. There is a lack of support and extra hands around the school,

making any change in schedule even more cumbersome to deal with.

The shortage of help in the school has opened my eyes to another important take-away.

While there are requirements to meet students special service needs, that does not mean that it is

done seamlessly. It is still extremely important that the classroom teacher is knowledgeable

about the students’ struggles and that they do their best to support them whenever they are in the

classroom. While this small school is lacking in extra hands, they do excel in communication.

All colleagues working with any students who receive special services are extremely

communicative with the homeroom teacher. All staff communicates regularly, even though many

are not at the school more than half of the week. This communication allows the classroom

teacher to better meet the needs of those students.

Lastly, I have seen how a small community works well together to support all of its

children. It is in the vision of the school that it will “feel like a safe home.” This truly speaks to

the environment at Steep Falls. When a parent emails my mentor on Class Dojo, she gets back to

them the next time she is at her computer. When a parent comes in to drop off their child in the

morning, all the teachers are in the hallway greeting students and they know the parent by their

first name. Students and staff really behave like a tight knit community that is so close it is

almost like a family. Students really seem to thrive in this environment, and so far, I have too. It
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has been so enjoyable, and easy, to get to know all of the students and all of the staff. All of the

staff is extremely supportive of one another. There is no doubt in my mind that the students feel

this community environment at Steep Falls, and I really believe it has many positive effects on

their learning.

References

Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). (2010, October 05). American FactFinder.

Retrieved from ​https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml

George E Jack School. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.schooldigger.com/go/ME/schools/1179000535/school.aspx

H.B. Emery School. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.schooldigger.com/go/ME/schools/1179000535/school.aspx

Home / Homepage. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bonnyeagle.org/

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/steep-falls-elementary-school-profile

S. (n.d.). Current Steep Falls, Maine Population, Demographics and stats in 2017, 2018.

Retrieved from

https://suburbanstats.org/population/maine/how-many-people-live-in-steep-falls

Steep Falls, Maine. (n.d.). Retrieved from ​http://www.city-data.com/city/Steep-Falls-Maine.html