Information and Downloads

School Improvements

 From the Desk of Mrs. Doherty,

I have a vision that at this school we will create a culture of care. While this is currently my personal vision, I hope it becomes a vision every one of us will come to embrace. I believe that such a shared vision will become a guide toward our efforts to make a positive difference in every student's life at this school. Feeling important and listened to is my picture of what a culture of care looks like. Our goal should be to care that students, parents, teachers, and community members feel valued and listened to.

There will be times of miscommunication and mistakes, but we will all learn together how to fix our mistakes and grow from them.

We want to teach students that we care about their ideas and visions, we listen to what is difficult for them, we care that they learn what strategies keep us safe at school, we care that they learn strategies to problem solve, we care that they learn that we can only control our own thoughts and actions, we cannot control anyone else, we will listen and see content areas they need help with and content areas they have strong abilities in, we will care enough to challenge them and motivate them to give their all, we will listen when it is a day too difficult to give it our all, we will care enough to support our teachers and meet to discuss any questions that arise, we are in this business because we care.

One last thought, laughter is good for your soul! It does not indicate you are making light of a situation.

Laughter lets me relax. It’s the equivalent of taking a deep breath, letting it out and saying, ‘This, too, will pass’. — Odette Pollar

Thank you for being part of the Cork Family! 

The mission of Cork Elementary is to provide quality education in a nurturing, safe learning environment achieved through a partnership of family, staff, and student involvement.

We are always striving to be better. Our goal is to become an Excellent rated building on our State Local Report Card.

What we are working on…

• Communication: Developing our webpage, sending out tweets with updates, informational flyers sent home.

• Curriculum and Instruction: Following Board adopted curriculum, supplementing instruction with highly engaging activities and videos to grab our student's attention. Researching teaching strategies for student engagement and developing skilled learners. Use of iReady as a diagnostic tool to check student levels of understanding and mastery of concepts to guide instruction. Career Education and Safety Education are included.

• Technology: Daily computer lab time for student supported practice and iReady diagnostic and lessons.

• Culture and climate: Implementing Positive Behavior Intervention Supports. Developing a matrix that guides students and staff as to what constitutes a positive behavior. "SOAR When Nobody's Watching"- goal to develop intrinsic motivation to be thoughtful of others and how your actions influence others.

• Finance: Collecting Boxtops to use towards activities, rewards, and supplies. Supporting PTO fundraising activities earmarked for creating an environment in which students want to be here and learn.

• Facilities: Staff and students are mindful of caring for our buildings and grounds. We keep an eye out for areas in need of a safety check or general need of TLC. We are responsible for the care and upkeep of our building.

• Building Leadership Team: We have created a team that meets to discuss concerns, make educationally sound decisions, review data, and problem solve.

• Data Meetings: Student data is collected and discussed to devise improvement plans or to think outside the box for ways to help struggling students and to provide ideas for enrichment activities.

• Title 1 Tutors/Intervention Specialists: Using our specialists in unique ways to reach the individual needs of our students and to get small group/ one on one time to go over content. Our focus is to use our specialists to shift focus to our testing grades and working with students on test-taking strategies, vocabulary identification so the student understands exactly what is being asked of them, and a one on one approach to content development.

And of course, the day to day planning and adjusting that teachers do to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.