Shayane Hakala

EDUC 5180
9/8/14
Placement

Penngrove!
Penngrove Elementary school is a year round, public-charter school set in the country
side of Penngrove, near Petaluma. It is the oldest school in the Petaluma City Schools District
(known as Eagle School but renamed after district merging) although it is not in its original
location. The school started as a one building school which was moved to its current location in
1876. It has since been updated and improved upon to include 5 buildings, 1 field track, 2
playgrounds, 3 basketball courts, several gardens, and beautiful art donations and creations made
by parents and students. The school is warm and inviting while also demonstrating its dedication
to learning. Along ever hallway are several motivational quotes, art work, and displays of student
work

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The school is set up off a main road, and has a lovely lookout to the hills and mountains.
The physical classrooms are sectioned by grade level. Every class has easy access to the office,
bathrooms, and the playground. Kindergarten, needing its own special accommodations is closed
off from, but not excluded from, the older classes and includes its own playground and set of
bathrooms. The buildings are open, provide lots of natural light, are spacious enough for easy
maneuvering, and each year a request for furniture is provided to all teachers. The school is
fortunate to have a library, computer lab, nurses office, counselors office, psychologists office,
main office, two RSP rooms, a teacher workroom and kitchen, a basement for storage, several
closets for supplies, multipurpose room, shade structure, and staff and student parking lots. Each
classroom is fairly high tech in that they have smart projectors, ELMO projectors, computer
bays, iPads and/or Chrome books, and several computer based programs for academic content.
The school has several web pages, a twitter feed, and interactive blogs in which students and
teachers/administrators participate. Technological literacy and inclusion is a specific goal for the
school, and several teachers participate in grant writing and specialized training in order to
achieve it.

As of 2014, Penngroves population is comprised of 400+ students, 19 teachers (16

classrooms), 2 Resource Specialists, a Reading Specialist, Speech Therapist, Guidance
Counselor, Psychologist, Nurse, 2 Custodians, 2 Secretaries, 4 Function Duties, 4 Special
Education aides, and 12 Student Teachers. The student body, statistics from 2011 found at
publicschoolstats.com, can be viewed in the chart below.

Student Population All Grades

Student

# of Students

Percentage

Male

Female

White

345

81.2%

200

145

Black

1.4%

Hispanic

57

13.4%

32

25

Asian/Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander

1.4%

American Indian/Alaskan Native

0.5%

Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander

0.2%

Two or more races

1.9%

The average student: teacher ratio is 22:1. The school has several teacher teams
comprised of co-teacher teams, grade teams, leadership teams, and rotation (BEST and Life
Skills) teams. The teacher/administrator population is varied yet reflective of the student body;
however, there is only 1 male teacher at this site. The school has a reputation for being very
accommodating to all families and student needs. In some opinion this accommodation has made
the school a first choice school for families with students with special needs. Their classrooms
have anywhere from 3-13 students with IEPs. That being said, they seem to accept and include
students with fairness and understanding regardless of need. Penngrove was a pilot school for the

Common Core standards and have fully adopted them now. The school recently moved several
existing teachers to new grade levels to better suit the new standards.
So far my opinion of the school is one of total passion. I love this school, I wish I had
gone to this school, and I would love to work for this school. At first I was hesitant of the year
round model; however, I see many benefits to the program. Students have a more appropriate
length of break time, have more time spent focused on learning, teacher breaks are allowing
them to come fresh to school each week, and staff have more time to assess the strength and
growing points of the school year. The school is dedicated to making learning fun and engaging.
The staff is adamant on incorporating interesting extracurricular and philanthropic activities. My
master teachers have been supportive and helpful while also being knowledgeable and flexible. I
have been encouraged and involved in nearly every school function and training possible, an
experience I am truly appreciative of. Before the year began I was questioning my aptitude for a
career in education, but now every quam has been settled. I love teaching and I love this school. I
feel heart sick in that it is only a temporary place for me to fulfill my goals.