Programs
Birth to Five Initiative
We are excited to continue our support of the district's Birth to Five initiative by funding the new ESF Community Room at the Birth to Five Center. This year the funds went to help set up the room as a place for resources for parents in our community, as well as a location to offer parenting classes.
District Initiatives supported by ESF
Ozobots
The Ozobots are amazing little robots that introduce students to coding. These little guys can be coded using paper and pens and special coding patterns, OR they can be coded on a chromebook using block coding. They really get the students to problem solve and work together. Ozobots support learning and integrate content in many ways:
Math: learning with measurement, geometry, fractions, telling time and building.
ELA: Retelling, writing procedures, connecting parts of a story, learning parts of speech, practicing spelling and sentence writing.
Science/Social Studies: Recycling, oceans, motion, life cycles, communities and habitats.
Art: Code a snowflake, building a snowman, parade floats and light path.
USB Microscopes
Microscopes can be used:
Individually - let students explore independently and create ways to share their learning.
Small Group - small group of students can investigate and see what they are exploring. Members can take turns capturing images and putting on a shared slide or document.
Whole Class - attach to teacher laptop and project into your board for whole class learning and discussion.
Math - identify patterns, shapes and measurement
Science - investigate various objects, find details and compare and contrast.
ELA - scientific or nonfiction writing, writing clues, descriptive sentences and step by step directions
SquidBooks for EMS & TMMS
SquidBooks is a personalized learning platform with a library of differentiated, self-grading, digital resource with many benefits:
- reading level can be adjusted
- it can be read aloud to students
- the language can be changed to Spanish
- there's vocab resources, graphic organizers, and lesson assessments
- a great support for our ELL and SPED students
Squidbook lesson include over 1000+ differentiated lessons including interactive diagrams, graphic organizers, vocabulary exercises, games, articles and quizzes in the areas of Earth Science, Space Science, Life Science and Physical Science.
Theater for Elementary Students
Every elementary student in each of our five elementary schools is given the experience of a live performance by our EHS Drama department. All 2nd-5th Graders will have the opportunity to travel to the EHS auditorium to get the full theater experience as they watch a special performance of EHS Drama's fall play, and all Kindergarten-1st Graders will have their own special assembly just for them in the spring when EHS Drama travels to each of the elementary schools to put on a new play.
Career Ready Day
All ESD 8th graders are provided an amazing opportunity to hear from industry professionals from our community and discuss careers and education.
Dancing Classrooms - Colors of the Rainbow Competition
This program started as a grant request and has proven to be a very popular and well loved experience for our 5th graders. A few years back ESF decided to turn it into an initiative offered to our elementary schools if they want to participate. Sunrise and Black Diamond have enthusiastically accepted the offer every year.
Deryl Sleigh, former principal of Westwood Elementary who passed away last spring, and his wife Dorothy, a longtime community leader and first woman president of the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce, loved to dance. In recent years, it was common to see them dancing at both the Black Diamond Community Center and the Enumclaw Senior Center during lunch. After Mr. Sleigh's passing, the Sleigh family designated Enumclaw Schools Foundation as a place for family and friends to make a contribution in memory of Mr. Sleigh. Since they are dancers, they requested the funds be used to support Dancing Classrooms. Their friends and families were very generous and donations paid for much of the cost of Dancing Classrooms this year.
On February 1st, both Black Diamond Elementary and Sunrise Elementary performed in the Colors of the Rainbow Ballroom Dance Competition at Todd Beamer High School, and Superintendent Mike Nelson and his wife Britt brought along Mrs. Sleigh as their guest. In a recent email to district staff, Mr. Nelson had this to say about the Sleighs:
"During their work years, they both gave so much time, talent, treasure and leadership to make our community better for future generations. Mrs. Sleigh continues to model and live by thinking beyond herself. I am humbled by her tenacity....her love....her selfless actions of giving to others (particularly children....our students) so they may experience the joy of learning....the joy of life."
Above is a photo of Mrs. Sleigh surrounded by "her" dancers. She enjoyed her afternoon watching our students do what she and her husband Deryl loved to do.