Lucille Smith Elementary highlights student growth, dual‑immersion TK and community supports

Lucille Smith Elementary Principal Crystal Moore and a team of teachers and staff presented the school’s year‑start priorities and programs to the Lawndale Elementary School District Board, describing initiatives they say are boosting student achievement and engagement.

Why it matters: Smith's presentation emphasized early‑education access, measurable student growth and family engagement strategies the school says help students qualify for middle‑school opportunities and strengthen school attendance and belonging.

Smith staff told the board the campus added an additional transitional‑kindergarten (TK) class this year and that the new section is dual‑immersion. Kathy Wynne, the school’s math TOSA, said evidence from the site and research shows TK students enter kindergarten with “significantly more skills” than peers who do not attend TK. The board later clarified that the dual‑immersion TK at Smith is intended to feed into the Mitchell dual‑language kindergarten program.

Moore described a shift at Smith toward celebrating growth as well as attainment. She said teachers now recognize students who show substantial gains between diagnostics even if a student’s overall performance remains below standard. “They do deserve to be recognized,” Wynne said, describing a student who stayed in the “below standard” band yet “grew over 100 points in their scale score.”

Fourth‑grader Camila Gomez told the board how one‑on‑one data chats and goal setting affected her: “When I took my I‑Ready test last year, I posted my goal to help me stay focused. I ended up passing my goal by 200%.”

School staff described programs tied to the district’s four goals: academic achievement, access and equity, engagement and 21st‑century learning. Examples included: - Targeted English‑learner supports and newcomer groups, including an “around the world” classroom project and an LPAC club aimed at helping students reclassify from English‑learner status. - Jumpstart, a pre‑school/early‑grades program run shortly before school begins that staff say helps students and families ease into the school year; staff and some outside employees volunteer or receive additional hours to run the program. - Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) activity and attendance campaigns; the social worker Wandi Chu said Smith was awarded the California PBIS Silver Implementation Award and is pursuing gold next year. - Library programs, makerspace access and author/reading activities described by library media clerk Maria Acosta. - Community‑school work, led by community school site coordinator Desiree Austria, including a Million Male Figures March scheduled the following day and asset‑mapping and needs assessments to guide partnerships.

Moore also shared assessment results the school presented to the board, saying Smith’s SBAC growth had averaged 10–15 percentage points in English language arts and math over two years compared with state growth of about 1 percentage point — a figure the presenter used to illustrate relative gains, and which she contrasted with the school’s goal of further improvement.

Moore announced that Smith had been nominated by the state for the National Blue Ribbon School Award; Superintendent Castro confirmed the district had been notified but said a federal/state administrative decision ended the award program’s final public recognition before the official presentation. Castro asked the board and audience to recognize the nomination and the school’s work.

Board members praised Smith’s focus on celebrating growth, supporting newcomers and involving families. Trustee Adi Morales said the school’s equity emphasis — ensuring newcomers keep their culture while learning English — was “very important.” Trustee Anne Phillips highlighted the student data conversations as a life skill.

The school presentation included multiple examples of programs and specific practices; there were no board actions tied to the presentation itself.

Ending: The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said they will continue school‑level implementation and monitoring and will return to the board with formal data updates as scheduled.