Frank Sparkes Elementary School - Winton, CA

Frank Sparkes is a rural school that serves a huge English Language Learner population. Our mission at school is to create a safe and encouraging environment to enable our students to have high academic achievement. Our motto is "Where Education Sparkes a Bright Future". Our teachers are great motivators who encourage students. Classroom instruction is standards based, carefully planned and delivered. An after school program (ASES) is offered to enable students to get additional help with their assignments, provide enrichment opportunities, and be given a safe environment while some of our parents are still at work. Our migrant students have the opportunity to attend school on Saturday to receive more instruction to gain ground that is often lost when they move due to agricultural reasons. Extensive data analysis from a variety of sources such as formative and summative assessments, benchmarks, and computer programs are the tools that provide us with valuable information on strengths and weaknesses of each student to tailor instruction to meet their needs. Teachers and the principal meet regularly to collaborate about trends found in the data, effective practices, reteaching, interventions, spiraling, and enrichment. Our school is Blue Ribbon worthy due to the fact that we have demonstrated that socioeconomic disadvantaged backgrounds and language obstacles are not barriers to students academic success. Data driven instruction, collaboration, teamwork, creating excitement about learning, celebrating success, and building a culture of valuing education are the keys to students academic achievements.