North Shore Elementary opened in 1927 as Coffee Pot Elementary and has all of the original buildings plus a few new ones and a few portables.  In recent years, attention has come for the need to:

1. Update areas of North Shore’s campus
2. To allow our school pride to show with better views from 1st Street and 34th Avenue
3. To plan for growth

North Shore Elementary completed the first phase of a campus renovation in the summer of 2017 in which the school entrance (on 35th Avenue NE), front office, main hallway and the fireplace room were renovated.  Addressing the external perception issue along 1st and 34th, we are very excited that the current chain link fence will be replaced with black aluminum fencing tied together with brick columns accenting the original architecture of the school. Additionally, we are working to make the sign on 1st into more of a monument sign, and increase the landscaping along the parking lot to soften and improve curb appeal.

Lastly, a smart growth master plan is currently being developed. In collaboration with parents, administration, the district and a local architect firm, this growth plan will include: a new 6 or 8 classroom building, the addition of VPK to North Shore, and potentially completely transform the 1st Street side of the campus. This construction should be starting in the 2019-2020 school year with an aimed completion of January 2021.

How has FNSE contributed to the school:

• Provide a classroom boost ($1500 per classroom) to instructional teachers and in grades K-5 as well as support staff (Speech, Gifted, OT, VE) and Specialists ( Art, Music, PE and the Media Center).

The instances in which students are referred for excessive behavior or discipline problems is virtually nonexistent at North Shore Elementary.  Our school expectations are embedded in our Guidelines for Success that form the acronym KNIGHTS (Keep Trying, Nurture our environment, Inspire cooperation, Give our best effort, Have respect, Take responsibility, Support fellow Knights).  Our Guidelines for Success help teachers align their classroom rules with the school‐wide Positive Behavior System (PBS) and expectations. The Guidelines for Success are reviewed daily on our morning news show, the Knightly News, and are posted throughout all common areas in the school.

Our school utilizes a school‐wide Positive Behavior System (PBS) classroom management plan consistent with our core values, Guiding Principles, and CHAMPs. CHAMPs is a proactive and positive approach to classroom management. CHAMPs translates the research on effective classroom and behavior management into easy-to-implement, practical strategies for classroom teachers. Teachers incorporate restorative practices in the classroom through weekly circle meetings, as well as other informal classroom circles. Additionally, restorative practices are exercised when addressing student discipline issues.

There are a number of different options for Before and After-Care at North Shore.  On-site there is the YMCA program that is open from 6:30am-6pm for parents and families.  This program provides breakfast as well as a substantial snack after the school day, and is made up of homework and academic support, as well as extra-curricular activities.  Additionally, the iClass 21st Century Learning Program is a free option for 3rd, 4th and 5th Graders that supports academic learning as well as provides extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities for students.  Finally, the Police Athletic League (PAL), Shore Acres Rec Center, and the Tim McCahan After-School Sports Program all provide a bus pick-up and after-care opportunities for North Shore families.

North Shore Elementary offers a number of different additional educational opportunities both during and after school aimed at enhancing the learning and educational opportunities for all children.

Castle Apprentice Program (CAP):  CAP is a research-based program out of the University of Connecticut that focuses on giving every child exposure to gifted curriculum and project based learning. This is an opportunity for all students to explore an area of interest in a nontraditional setting.  During a CAP session students spend one hour a week in their selected cluster (a topic chosen based on individual personal student interests) and work together to learn about their cluster and create a final product that they will showcase for parents and families at the end of the session.  Some example of CAP Clusters are: Yoga, MakerSpace, Citizen Scientists, Mural Painting, Team Sports, STEM, Coding, Fairy Tale Theater, Dance, World Travelers, Making Music, First Floridians, and Old School Games.

School Gardens:  In a partnership with Edible Peace Patch, North Shore is developing hands on educational gardens that aim to cultivate healthy minds and bodies, producing successful individuals and thriving communities.  These gardens will be used hand in hand with science and math curriculum to aid in student learning.

7th Hour/After School Enrichments: At North Shore we see after-school activities as an opportunity to extend the learning time for students and thus, we refer to it as the “7th Hour.” School administration and parents are committed to continuing to offer educational opportunities after the official school day has ended, and work together to bring a diverse offering of activities for all students. Some activities are fee for service (with scholarships available) provided by outside vendors, while some are free of charge led by teachers. Examples of current offerings are: Challenge Island (STEM-based team problem solving), Spanish, Yoga, Dance, Soccer, Mad Science, Chess Club, Band, Drama, Cooking Club, Coding Club, Art Club, Lego Club, Girlfriends Club, and Crazy 8’s.

Currently North Shore Elementary has 66 students enrolled in its gifted program and houses a full-time gifted Teacher. Students in the gifted program meet daily with the other students in their grade level and the gifted teacher and engage with an innovative project-based learning gifted curriculum.

Unlike many other schools North Shore screens all incoming Kindergarteners for the gifted program, and then has identified students tested by the district.  By doing this the school eliminates teacher and parent bias when testing for the gifted program and is better able to serve all students.

We all know there is a reputation of testing overwhelming public schools and teachers, and taking away from creative learning. There is a perception that in public schools all teachers do is teach to a test and that students are tested all the time. At North Shore we do use dand assessments to help measure student learning but we do not let it define us. All students in grades 1-5 take a MAP Assessment for in ELA (Language Arts) and Math three times a year (Fall, Winter, Spring). Kindergarten takes just two MAP Assessments (Winter and Fall). This assessment consists of an untimed computer based test that takes students around 30-60mins. Additionally, grades 3 and 4 take a Science Assessment through MAP.

In addition to these MAP Assessments grades 3 through 5 participate in the FSA testing. This testing takes place in the spring and is controlled by the state (as far as testing windows etc.). Typically, a student in grades 3-5 will be doing FSA testing for about 5 hours spanning 4 days. This includes two 80 minute sessions for each Math and ELA over a 2-day period. Grades 4 & 5 also take one 120 minute Writing Assessment.

Essentially, the MAPs are check-in tests along the way that the teachers use to assess where the students are and customize their learning, then the FSA is one annual standardized test.

North Shore believes in its teachers, and that they know how their students will learn and experience school best. As such, homework is a teacher-by-teacher choice. Some classrooms (most K classes) have a monthly packet that goes home with various activities to work through with your student as home time allows.  Some classrooms have a weekly packet, while some other classrooms have no homework at all. There is not a top-down one size fits all approach to homework at North Shore. Parents can discuss with their child’s teacher and go from there.

Seeing and understanding the value of learning other languages, parents and administration have been working together to provide foreign language options for students.  Currently, foreign language is not included in the regular day at North Shore, but Spanish is an option for an after-school enrichment once a week (see Question #10 for more information).

North Shore Elementary has full-time art, music, and PE teachers.  All students have Art and Music once a week and PE 3-times a week.  Additionally, recess is provided daily (for 20mins) and supervised by the classroom teacher. All teachers are given a bag of recess supplies (balls, hula hoops, chalk etc.) at the beginning of the year to help facilitate fun free play outside.

North Shore’s principal, Ms. Cooper Dawson, is passionate about student engagement and student learning.  It is a priority at North Shore for teachers to understand what each of their students’ learning needs are and to ensure they are being met.  While students work together throughout the day, they also “cluster” by ability and do individual work as well. The philosophy of Pinellas County Schools is that the only way for all kids to achieve success is to challenge and raise expectations on all students, not just a few.

North Shore has adopted a Project Based Learning model through their CAP Program for several years. Teachers have received professional development to further incorporate the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) into their regular day.  Additionally, all grade level teams meet weekly with Ms. Dawson to problem solve issues as well as share successes and strategies to better serve students. This collaborative strategy allows for more innovation in the classroom.

There are many options for middle school that are available to Pinellas County Public School students and families like those who attend North Shore Elementary.  The two current feeder middle schools based on geography are John Hopkins Middle School and Meadowlawn Middle School.  In additional to a regular day, John Hopkins offers 2 additional programs that students may apply for as incoming 6th graders:

• International Baccalaureate (IB Program)
• An award-winning Center for International Studies in the Arts and Multimedia Journalism Magnet Program.

Additionally, there are a variety of district application programs available for middle school families such as:

• Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School (has a gifted program component)
• Sanderlin (currently a K-8 school with and International Studies focus)
• Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle School
• Bay Point Middle School

The district is currently in the process of building build a new middle school at the former Riviera Middle School site in partnership with the YMCA. Currently that school is slated to open in 2022 and will most likely be a combination of zoned students and magnet/lottery students.

As with the selection of elementary schools, there are, and will be, numerous choices available for your child within Pinellas County Public School System that will build upon the wonderful educational foundation provided at North Shore Elementary.

The school grades are based purely on one standardized test given by the state each spring. In elementary school only scores from 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are included in the school grade. There are seven “components” to the elementary school grade. Three of those components are the competency scores in: 1) English Language Arts, 2) Mathematics, 3) Science (5th Grade only). The other four components are an expression of learning gains. Two of these four are learning gains for all students, and two of them are learning gains in the bottom performing 25%. Each of these seven components are equally weighted in determining the school grade. It is important to note that all students are tested with no exceptions.

At North Shore, we are proud of our robust ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) program. We have approximately one unit (or class) per grade made up of students that qualify for ASD services. These students are all tested the same as the rest of the student body. Being a small school and having 12% of our student population qualifying as ASD students can and does impact our school grade. Additionally, at North Shore we are lucky to have a significant number of English Language Learners enriching our school community and house a full-time ESOL Specialist at our school. These students are also all tested in English and their scores included and equally weighted in our grade calculation.

A school like North Shore may have 25-40% of their students consistently make 4s or 5s on the state test (5 is the highest grade, 1 is the lowest), and 25% consistently make 1s or 2s due to factors outside of the teachers sphere of influence. This is a normal distribution of capability which vacillates depending on a school’s socio-economic diversity and inclusion of autistic or exceptional students.

If you would like to learn more about school grades, or look up any data from all schools, visit: http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/accountability-reporting/school-grades/

North Shore is also a uniquely diverse school and believes in the value that this diversity brings to all students. It has been proven that diversity in the classroom contributes to increased learning in all children ( Check out this article on the benefits of diverse learning environments) and we are proud of the diversity that we have at North Shore. As of the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year students at North Shore were: 58% White, 26% Black, 13% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 1% Native American. Additionally, 61% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch.