Emerson Elementary School

Description

Emerson is a Title 1 school that has free breakfast for all students and free and reduced lunch for 86% of its students. Over 30% of our students live with single parent/guardian families and most of those are being raised by family members. Most of our families work and have limited transportation including many with no car. This requires funds for bus transportation for any before and after school activities and makes it challenging for parent/guardian participation.

With many non-English speaking families, our instructional assistants help translate materials into the perspective languages of most of our students' families, but it is often difficult to communicate with parents and families about issues with schoolwork and upcoming events.

We have two family support workers who help with attendance and homework issues as well as connect with the staff and teachers to provide relevant information to parents. Throughout the year we are planning for several literacy awareness events to try to get families into the building to learn tips and tools for reading with their children at home.

With less than half of the fourth graders passing the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) in recent years, we have great opportunities to help our struggling students.