Addison Elementary School

650 Addison Ave.

Palo Alto, CA 94301

    "The arches of Addison welcome everyone, leading us to learning as we grow." These words from the Addison School Song describe the Addison commitment to developing a strong learning community for all children. Addison is primarily a neighborhood school with approximately 370 students in grades kindergarten through five, including students from East Palo Alto and elsewhere in the district. The school population is approximately 17% minority (Hispanic, Asian, African American, and Pacific Islander) and 83% Caucasian. Addison children represent 12 countries and speak more than 16 languages. The average daily attendance is about 97%.

    Addison teachers create child-centered classrooms where children work collaboratively as well as independently. Children share core experiences and have the opportunity to build on these foundations in directions that meet their specific needs and interests. Parents are also a visible presence in the classroom, guiding students in small-group activities, preparing materials, and providing one-on-one tutoring.

    Addison actively serves the community. After-school care is provided on site to more than one third of the Addison families by the Palo Alto Child Care (PACC) program. Other after-school activities include foreign language instruction in Spanish, French, and Japanese; art classes; brownies; and scouts. Community groups use the facilities in the evenings and the playground is filled with organized sports and informal play, both after school and during the weekends.

Students' Needs:

    Some students have special needs. Addison has many programs to satisfy these needs. These programs include:

Reading Recovery: One-on-one instruction to identified first graders. Paid partially with State funding through the Miller-Unruh program.

GATE: The district Gifted And Talented Education teacher assists teachers in designing and implementing independent and small group projects.

English Language Development: provides intensive English language instruction to students whose native language is other than English. Students learning English also receive some tutorial support in their native languages.

Classroom Teachers: parents, the principal, the resource teacher, speech and language teacher, and school psychologist work together as a Student Study Team to develop strategies to support children with needs that require special attention.

The Speech-Language and Resource Teachers: attempt to team-teach to provide a language arts program four days a week that parallels the classroom program so that students do not miss what is happening in their classrooms. 

A Psychology Intern: under the direction of our school psychologist leads children in CARE groups to develop their social skills.

Addison's Scores on California Standardized Tests

Scores range from 1-99. A score of 99 indicates that the school scored higher than 99 percent of the other public schools in California. All scores are from "McCormack's Guides '99."

School Safety:

    Addison's rules are based on mutual respect, responsible behavior, and safety for self and others. Specific expectations are provided to students and parents during the first weeks of school when all children are also reintroduced to conflict resolution skills which help then "talk out" their problems and disagreements. To support this "Talk It Out" process during recess, teams of fifth graders trained to be Dispute Resolution Specialist (DRS's) are available on the playground to help students mediate their disputes. Attention to conflict resolution skills has significantly reduced the number of issues that arise during recess, and discipline referrals are minimal. The playground is supervised by teachers at recess and three noon supervisors at lunch. At noon, the library is usually open, and various activities, such as chorus, art, games, and chess provide alternatives to playground play. Since many children begin to ride bicycles to school in third grade, third graders participate in a bicycle safety program presented by the Palo Alto Fire Department. This includes formal safety instruction as well as a practicum in which children ride their bicycles. 

    Disaster preparedness is a priority at Addison. There are regular fire and earthquake drills as part of the disaster plan, which is reviewed annually. There is emergency equipment, supplies, and food, and many of the staff members participate in First Aid and CPR training.

Addison Elementary School Vision:

"Our community school

Where each child is our child:

Preparing for lifelong learning

Following curiosity

Meeting academic challenges

Becoming caring, tolerant and responsible people

In and for the larger world"

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