Setting and Context

The culture of Shepardson Elementary is inclusive, empowering, and innovative.

Shepardson is a STEM school which mean it highlights science, technology, engineering, and

math. It is also a problem-based learning school. The school provides many opportunities for the

students to build their own learning and explore new solutions to problems. Shepardson is

located in a nice neighbor in the eastern part of Fort Collins. The school has extensive grounds

that can be used for many different age groups and community activities.

The community of Shepardson is very involved and supportive. There are many parent

volunteers throughout the school. In my classroom, we have parents that volunteer during

reading workshop, math, and end of day folder making. Parents have also been in the classroom

many times to support their students at special events such as awards ceremonies and events like

writing tea parties. The PTO for the school is very active in creating events that bring together

the community to support the school and the students. They also raise money to provide the

funds for field trips, classroom materials, and many other things.

Shepardson is a school of moderate diversity. 57 out of 385 students are of another

ethnicity than white European. There are 10 students who are in the ELD (English Language

Development) program. The school has a number of other factors that increase the diversity.

Shepardson is a school for students with autism as well as many other identified learning

disabilities. There is also some diversity in how home life looks. Each family has their own

traditions and make up.

The 2nd grade classroom is a safe environment for the students to be able to explore and

learn. Students often carry hard burdens into the classroom and we do our best to ease their
worry and troubles. We have talked extensively about what it means to be a good friend and how

to support and care for one another.

Sn This student is highly advanced in math and

reading. Mom is a teacher.
Kn This student is highly advanced in math and
reading. He needs to be moving around when
learning.
Az This student has a MCAT IEP for delays in
reading and writing. He has OT support. He
has an incredibly vast vocabulary and
knowledge base especially around animals.
There has a bit of home life change.
Fr This is student is an English language learner.
Her home language is Spanish from her mom
and English from her dad. She has significant
struggles with math, but is good at reading.
Nrh This student is good at math and reading.
Nh This student has had a lot of home life change
and is frequently late to school to where it is
impacting academics. He does well in math
and reading most of the time.
Bn This student does well in math, but has
significant struggles in reading. He is on a
READ plan and receives daily intervention.
Bhn This student was on a READ plan, but came
off during the year. He stills receives some
extra support in reading. He does well in
math.
Ca This student does well in math and reading
and has a stable home life. She is very shy
and needs different ways to contribute her
opinions to whole group than speaking in
front of everyone.
Sy This student does well in reading and math.
Her parents are divorced, but it is stable and
does not impact her academics or friendships.
Kln This student is advanced in reading and does
well in math. Mom is a substitute teacher.
La This student has autism. She is in the
classroom most of the day except for social
skills. Her IEP goal is around reading retell.
 She interacts well with other students. She has
a special behavior checksheet.
Ih This student has autism. He is only in the
classroom in the afternoon. He has a one on
one paraprofessional some of that time. He is
verbal and loves to read.
Tn This student has ASD. She is only in the
classroom for 15 minutes during reading
block and at recess. She always has a
paraprofessional with her.
Hr This student has autism. He is in our
classroom for morning workstations, 15
minutes during reading, recess/lunch, and the
end of the day block. He is partially verbal
and always has a paraprofessional with him.
Cy This student does well in math and is on a
READ plan. He receives daily intervention in
reading.
Ea This student does well in math and reading
and other subjects. There have been some
friendship issues around her during the year.
Ki This student is from a single parent home.
She does well in math and reading and other
subjects, but at times, she can be hard to keep
on task.
Er This student has significant home changes.
She has a hard time making friends. She
struggles in math and reading, but we believe
this stems from her chaotic home life and
emotional distress. She receives services by
our school psychologist.
Me This student does well in reading and fairly
well in math. Her parents are concerned about
her distractibility.
Do This student struggles with reading and
receives daily reading intervention. He does
fairly well in math. He does have a problem
with cheating and often struggles with
keeping friendships.
An This student has an MCAT IEP. He struggles
in reading and writing and receives support
from a MCAT SPED teacher in and out of the
classroom. The student also struggles with
math and behavioral/emotional issues, but
 these we believe stem from his disruptive
home life. Parents have no contact as there is
a restraining order. One parent recently came
back into his life around December.

The school has two overall policies for management. The first is the code to have respect

for yourself, respect for others, and respect for our world. These are the most frequent reminders

as they encompass all of the possible problems in a classroom and school. For behavior

reinforcement, there are Stop and Think forms which students fill out to reflect on their actions

and are given based on a teachers judgement. There are also star awards which are given to

students when they do an exceptionally nice act in one of the three areas listed above. There is an

awards ceremony once a month to recognize students for their accomplishments in one of the

respect areas.

When a student is disruptive in the classroom, the teacher will ask questions to help guide

conflict resolution. We have a poster that we direct students to which has ideas of how to de-

escalate conflict. If they cannot solve it and it is getting bigger, we may give a Stop and Think

form. If it continues to escalate, we may send them to the principals office for additional

resources. If there is a student who has consistent behavioral issues, they could be placed on a

check in/check out sheet to monitor behavior and provide rewards for good behavior.

Shepardson Elementary is a district home for students with autism. The school has two

autism classrooms; one is for more extensive needs and one is for less extensive needs. The

students are integrated into the general education classrooms as much as their IEP allows. The

students with autism have specialized behavior measures. An example is a behavior points sheet
where the student gives themselves points for behavior in a lesson based on specific criteria and

then the teacher also gives them points based on what they observed.