White Rock Elementary School is nestled deep within the Lake Highlands neighborhood that surrounds it. Situated on a quiet residential street, you may never have noticed this little school.
Perhaps you should take a closer look.
White Rock Elementary opened in 1961 and will celebrate its 40th birthday this fall.
“This is a wonderful school, with a very close-knit community,” says Martha Moroch, principal at White Rock.
The school has been honored many times, including receipt of the RISD Superintendent’s Medallion and the TEA Acknowledgement for Comparable Improvement on TAAS for three years.
White Rock also features the “Model Kindergarten Room,” after a program developed by White Rock kindergarten teacher Melissa Draper. The program was implemented at two other Richardson schools and used as a format for training new teachers.
“Observing the model kindergarten classes was the biggest portion of staff development for the kindergarten teachers in the district last year,” Draper says.
“The program was designed to show teachers how our ‘8 Components of Balanced Literacy’ could be integrated into the existing curriculum.”
Draper’s work was so successful that new teachers continue to visit the two White Rock Elementary kindergarten classrooms for training. White Rock also boasts a comprehensive program to build and enhance life skills, directed by full-time counselor Shawn Ledford.
“I visit each classroom every week,” Ledford says. Her lesson usually involves reading a story containing a simple moral, such as “respecting others.” Then, interactive discussions follow the story, with Ledford encouraging students to share related experiences. She also is available to help students with personal problems – at home, with a teacher, or among peers.
“At the beginning of the year, I introduce myself and let them know that I am here to listen, and that my job is to keep secrets,” Ledford says. “I let them know about secrets I can’t keep, which of course involve any kind of dangerous situation, and they seem to understand very quickly that I am someone they can trust.
“I sort our fights between friends, or am just here to listen,” she says, “but I never give them the answers. I help them to explore options and consequences.”
The school’s newest academic enrichment program is generating excitement among teachers, parents and students alike. The “.COM” (that’s ‘dot-com’) program stands for “Challenging Our Minds” and is a school-wide effort to focus on reading and math skills. Each afternoon, students break into small groups tailored to fit their individual needs in reading or math. For example, the fifth and sixth grade math enrichment is delivered through a mock stock market class.
“The students spend the first part of the semester learning about the stock market, how to read the stock report in the newspaper, and how to research a prospective company online,” says fifth-grade teacher Jane Brown. “After the research is done, the students pick stocks in which they invest $100,000.”
Prizes are awarded to the students whose stocks perform best. As part of .COM, fifth and sixth graders also choose a favorite club, which meets each Thursday for about six weeks. The clubs include Newsletter Production, Fitness Club and Percussion Ensemble – to name just a few.
“It’s a chance for our fifth and sixth graders to choose activities they think they would like to learn more about,” Moroch says. “When we decided to do this, I was amazed at how quickly it all came together.”
Every staff member at the school participates in .COM, with even the office secretaries pitching in to sponsor the Girl’s Club, which explores issues such as skin care habits, wardrobe, good posture and good manners. The school nurse hosts the Babysitting Club while Moroch keeps an eye on the clinic.
Another popular choice has been the Make Their Day Club, in which student artwork is delivered to an area nursing home. The students stay and play Bingo with the residents.
And the school is awaiting its new Kindergarten wing, scheduled to open just in time for the anniversary this fall. A new library and computer lab will follow soon. Of course, programs and buildings are just a small part of the school, Moroch says.
“Parents make or break a school,” she says, “and we have some of the most committed and talented parents in the entire district.”
One parent, Julie Jodie, a Lake Highlands High School graduate, chose to live in the area around White Rock Elementary after researching a variety of neighborhoods.
“This is a very strong school in terms of parent involvement,” she says. “We really wanted our children to have the experience of playing with neighborhood friends, and then having those same children in class with them throughout elementary school.”
As the mother of a three-year-old, Jodie has spent hours establishing a preschool database, identifying future White Rock students and setting up playgroups. Last year, she served as the liaison between the school and the area’s Early Childhood PTA, and she currently serves on the White Rock PTA board.
Jodie makes it her mission to spread the good news about White Rock. She helped put together a color brochure for White Rock that is included in welcome baskets to new homeowners.
“This is truly a community school,” she says, “supported by the entire neighborhood, which gives the whole area a very small town feel.”
In certain ways, the more White Rock Elementary changes, the more it stays the same. The school employs a third-grade teacher who teaches in the same room where she attended third-grade herself.
“I believe people come back to this neighborhood for the overall feeling of community,” she says.
