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Canyon Vista Elementary School, a California Distinguished School (2006), is nestled in the hilltop community of Aliso Viejo next to Soka University, our community partner. With a breathtaking view of Wood Canyon and the hilltops of Laguna Beach, the school opened its doors in August of 2003. Built as a “walking school”, all of the families live within the local community and can walk in neighborhood groups to the beautiful, new school. The school is at the hub of a tightly knit community where parents gather in the afternoons to socialize amongst themselves and in the office prior to picking up their children. The facility, currently houses 674 students in grades K-5, is comprised of thirty classrooms, a multi-purpose room, and computer lab featuring the latest in state of the art technology including internet access in every classroom and wireless access throughout the school.
The focal theme of the school is Teaming for the Learning of All Children (TLC), a 2005 Golden Bell award winning program. The goal of the program is to improve the academic performance of all students through differentiated instruction to address their individual needs with special education support services provided within the context of the regular education program. The TLC model fully differentiates the curriculum by scaffolding students in grades 1-5 with a modified version in Kindergarten. Scaffolding is providing support to the neediest students, taking place during the “supplementary skills” portion of the day, grouping students according to their instructional level for reading and math. A TLC support team including classroom teachers, two credentialed special education teachers and two trained full time aides is available to provide additional assistance during supplementary skills instruction to reduce the student to teacher ratio in specific classrooms. Students move between classrooms within their grade level for an intensive hour of “skills” instruction with students of similar abilities. Skills instruction may include remediation, depth and complexity strategies or acceleration of the curriculum beyond the state standards depending on the needs of the child. We have sustained continuous improvement because we have a leadership model that works. Teachers weekly collaborate about strategies to maximize results, thus sharpening our focus.
In 2006, Canyon Vista earned an API of 901, showing 20 points of growth from 2005. The growth is due to the staff's commitment to excellence, to the TLC Model and to the principles of No Child Left Behind. We believe that every child can and will learn and meet the grade level standards. We accept high levels of learning for all students as the fundamental purpose of our school and are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning. Staff members were hired based upon exceptional commitments of time and resources to children and the TLC Model.
Families in Aliso Viejo know their neighbors and take pride in being a part of our school's community. They are a powerful link in the home/school partnership to ensure that each child develops the intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities to be a life-long learner.
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