Butterfield Elementary School (Lake Elsinore, California)

Infobox School

caption = Front of Butterfield Elementary School
name = Butterfield Elementary School
streetaddress =16275 Grand Ave.
city = Lake Elsinore, California
district = Lake Elsinore Unified School District
free_label2 = District website
free_text2 = http://www.leusd.k12.ca.us
zipcode = 92530
country = USA
location = Riverside County, California
type = Public
free_label1 = High School
free_text1 = Lakeside High School
nickname = Bobcats
schoolcolors = Black/Turquoise
opened = 1982
grades = Kindergarten – Fifth Grade
students = 850
specialist = Visual and Performing Arts Magnet
principal = Dorri Neal
viceprincipal = Michael Hoffman
main feeder school for = [http://leusd.info/lvm/ Lakeland Village Middle School]
homepage = http://www.ButterfieldElementary.org

Butterfield Elementary School is a publicly funded grade school in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District, California. It is named after the old Butterfield Overland Stage route which runs in front of the school. It provides many innovative programs to its students. Butterfield is home of the first Elementary Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Magnet School Program in Riverside County. It has received many grants and awards, especially in the performing arts field. Students from Butterfield have performed with well-known groups and celebrities, such as The Young Americans and Mark Walberg.

History

On October 7, 1858, the first westbound Butterfield Overland Stage arrived at the new outpost at the Machado Ranch House (Rancho La Laguna) [Pray, Bonnie Irene, editor. "Lake Elsinore". Published by Bicentennial Committee and Elsinore Union High School District (1976) ] located near "Laguna Grande", the future Lake Elsinore. [Hudson, Tom. "Lake Elsinore Valley, it's story 1776-1977" pp. 9-10. Published for Lake Elsinore Valley Bicentennial Commission by Laguna House (1978) ISBN-10: 0931700019] This year (2008) is the 150th anniversary of that arrival. The [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/community/12_04_552_26_05.txt Butterfield Overland Trail] route through the Elsinore valley (now known as Grand Ave.) [Pray, Bonnie Irene, editor. "Lake Elsinore". Published by Bicentennial Committee and Elsinore Union High School District (1976) ] was used as a mail route until 1862 [ [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/community/12_04_552_26_05.txt Butterfield stagecoaches helped build local towns : North County Times - Californian ] ] [ [http://www.oldtemecula.com/history/history1.htm Temecula History ] ] . Butterfield Elementary School, named in commemoration of this famous trail, opened with a K-6 population of 482 students in the fall of 1982 with Frank Evans as principal. It is located slightly over a mile southeast of the original Butterfield Stage outpost. The Butterfield Overland Trail route runs directly in front of the school. This is Butterfield’s 27th year of existence (2008/09).

Butterfield Elementary is also located one mile southeast of the site of Grand School, one of Elsinore's two original schools which were both built in 1884. Grand School was located near the corner of Macy Street and Grand Avenue. [Hudson, Tom. "Lake Elsinore Valley, it's story 1776-1977" pp. 27, 164. Published for Lake Elsinore Valley Bicentennial Commission by Laguna House (1978) ISBN-10: 0931700019]

Butterfield Elementary School was built as the fourth currently used elementary school in Lake Elsinore, California. Existing elementary schools in Lake Elsinore at the time of Butterfield’s construction were Elsinore Elementary(1), Wildomar Elementary(2), and Machado Elementary(3) schools. There are now 15 elementary schools in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District (one school, Jean Hayman Elementary will be closed for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years due to budget cuts) [ [http://www.pe.com/localnews/southwestarea/schools/stories/PE_News_Local_C_cuts23.42b7fd4.html Lake Elsinore school board votes to close Hayman Elementary | Southwest Area | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California ] ] . Being a magnet school Butterfield has students who live throughout the district, but most of the school’s students continue their education at [http://leusd.info/lvm/ Lakeland Village Middle School] and [http://www.lancerweb.com/ Lakeside High School] .

Due to enrollment impaction within the district Butterfield was on double sessions for primary grades, with two teachers and classes sharing the same rooms, during the years 1985/86 -1987/88. During these three years Colleen Andersen was the school's principal. With the opening of Jean Hayman Elementary(5) in 1985/86 and Railroad Canyon Elementary(6) in 1988/89, classes returned to a traditional setting. Cheryl Eining was principal of the school for four years, starting with the 1988/89 school year.

On July 1, 1989 the Elsinore Union High School District merged with the Lake Elsinore School District (elementary) to form the Lake Elsinore Unified School District [ [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/28/news/columnists/john_hunneman/16_31_544_27_07.txt That Saturday column : North County Times - Californian ] ] .

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District implemented an elementary Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) magnet program, starting in the 1989/90 school year. This is the VAPA program's 20th year (2008/09) of existence. The initial six years of the elementary level magnet program were at Elsinore Elementary School under the direction and guidance of Principal Craig Richter and magnet program coordinator Fran Robinson. In the 1995/96 school year the magnet program moved to Butterfield Elementary School where it has now been located for 14 (2008/09) additional years under the guidance of Principal Dorri Neal, who had become principal of Butterfield starting with the 1992/93 school year. Also in 1995/96 all Grade 6 classes were moved from district elementary schools to create Grades 6 through 8 middle schools.

In 1996/97 Butterfield implemented [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/cs/ California's Class Size Reduction (CSR)] program by placing only 20 students in Grade 1, then added Grade 2 to the program in 1997/98, and Kindergarten and Grade 3 in 1998/99.

For 11 years, 1991/92 through 2001/02, Butterfield was on a single-track, Year-round school schedule with classes held year round except for August, December and April. Some district schools had multiple-track, year-round schedules. In 2002/03 the district moved back to a traditional school calendar schedule with all schools starting in August and finishing in June.

Butterfield underwent a modernization program in the summer of 2005 which replaced hardware, replaced air conditioning/heating units and ductwork, upgraded electrical and computer services, and replaced carpeting. All buildings and classrooms were repainted and all new furnishings were purchased for the school at that time. During the summer of 2007 the front of the school received a new look with the removal of a grassy area and the installation of a large new planter.

Mission and vision statements

Butterfield Elementary School's Mission is to provide a safe, positive, and challenging learning environment which maximizes opportunities for its diverse student population to develop academically, socially, emotionally, and physically into responsible citizens through a comprehensive, sequential curriculum provided by an NCLB Highly Qualified professional staff.

Butterfield Elementary School's Vision is to maintain an NCLB Highly Qualified staff which is guided by a shared commitment to educate all of its students to reach their fullest potential in academics, as measured by the [http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/ California State Standards.] Equally important are students' positive attitudes, participation in athletics and the arts, within a well-defined, cohesive, comprehensive, and standards-based instructional program. Butterfield is dedicated to the recognition of the unique contribution of each person in the school community and value opportunities for collaboration. The school community will inspire each student to give his/her personal best effort to achieve individual success at school.

Facilities and amenities

after-school program. There are also several local daycare programs available with before and after school child care, most of which offer transportation to and from school.

The Butterfield Library has over 15,000 volumes and a computer mini-lab with 10 Macintosh eMacs for research. The school’s Theatre/MPR is equipped with full sound / lighting capabilities for classroom performances, as well as schoolwide productions. BESTv is a complete green-screen Video Production Lab which is used for filming not only classroom plays but also schoolwide plays, Reader's Theatre, and other various educational activities.

Butterfield has a modern computer lab with 33 Thin-client PCs computers, and a portable laptop lab with 16 Apple Macintosh iBooks. The Title I class/lab has 6 PC computers for individualized student instruction under teacher supervision. Each classroom has a portable video projector available and a PC laptop for teacher use, as well as at least one eMac Apple computer for teacher and student use. Most classes have document cameras (ELMO-type) for use in conjunction with the classroom video projector. Every classroom has Internet capability and a telephone for communications.

School climate and educational programs

Butterfield has an accepting and inviting school climate. The recently adopted [http://www.leusd.k12.ca.us/artman2/publish/distinfo/strategicplan.shtml Lake Elsinore Unified School District Strategic Plan] states that students are the top priority in all that the district does: a belief that is firmly held by the Butterfield community. Staff, parents, and students are encouraged to fully participate in the development of the school's programs and activities. Staff members take active leadership roles in defining the school's direction.

Innovative programs include an artist-in-residency program, art and music labs, a green-screen video production studio, [http://www.sraonline.com/ SRA] intervention programs, the [http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/programsummary?isbn=0076034240 Fast Track Reading Intervention] program, an Accelerated Reader incentive program, [http://www.bartonreading.com/ Barton] Dyslexia tutors, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing (LiPS) groups, [http://leusd.info/bes/SeaStars/SeaStars.htm | Sea Stars] , STAR (Stop, Think and Read) Literacy groups for second grade, STAR assessments, Transitional/Developmental-First grade classrooms as needed, [http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/gt/gt/ Gifted and Talented Education (GATE)] and Intervention after-school programs and specialized combination classes. The school has two [http://www.wisegeek.com/in-education-what-is-rsp.htm Resource Specialist Program (RSP)] classrooms and a Special Education classroom. Butterfield uses the [http://hbavenues.com/ Hampton-Brown Avenues] program (adopted 2007) for English Language Learners, the Houghton-Mifflin Reading series, and [http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ16u&PMDbSiteID=2781&PMDbSolutionID=6724&PMDbProgramId=34350&level=4&prognav=po|Foresman Scott Foresman Addison Wesley enVision Math] ( adopted 2008-09) for all grades. Butterfield's administrators truly believe in shared leadership and support the staff in making professional choices regarding curriculum, within the State and District guidelines.

Visual and performing arts program

Butterfield became a Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) magnet school in 1995 when the program was moved from Elsinore Elementary to Butterfield. It is now (08/09) in its 14th year as a VAPA magnet. One of the unique features of the Butterfield Visual and Performing Arts Program is that instruction is offered to all students regardless of grade level. Until 2007 it was the only existing elementary arts magnet school in all of Riverside County, and is still the only program to offer Kindergarten through 5th grade VAPA content.

Butterfield has a music and drama artist-in-residence (Ilene Moore, former "Young American") as well as a part-time art teacher and a shared band teacher. Butterfield has produced 12 major theater productions over the years including the full-length shows of "Peter Pan", "Oliver!", and "The Wizard of Oz", as well as "Annie, Jr." which was produced in the Spring of 2008. Butterfield's theatre productions are produced by Barbara Egbert and/ or Kim Rosales and directed by Ilene Moore. Students from across the district's boundaries, as well as those from neighboring school districts, attend Butterfield to participate in the magnet program. Many families choose to enroll their children in Kindergarten and continue throughout their elementary years at BES. There is always an active waiting list for families desiring enrollment.

Butterfield students have performed with the world famous group, "The Young Americans" in several stage, recording, and television productions. Butterfield has hosted several [http://www.youngamericans.org/OutreachTours.htm Young American Outreach Tours] and workshops. Several Butterfield Alumni have become members of "The Young Americans" including Auriol Steel and Cynthia Pulley. Butterfield Alumni are consistently considered to be among the top performers in local high school and community theatre ensembles.

Honors, awards, and grants

There have been numerous honors and grants for the school over the years, including, most recently, the prestigious "Golden Bell" award for distinctive arts programs awarded by the [http://www.csba.org/ California School Boards Association] . Butterfield was a Los Angeles Music Center [http://www.musiccenter.org/education/bravo.html"BRAVO" Award] school finalist, and "BRAVO" teacher finalist honors have gone to second grade teacher Monique Poldberg and fifth grade teacher Barbara Egbert. A [http://www.nsta.org/pd/tapestry/ Toyota Tapestry Grant] was awarded to the school's second grade team, and has provided numerous extensions into the arts, science and literacy. A federal art grant, ArtsLINC, was recently funded providing the Butterfield K-2 staff the opportunity to participate in staff development focused on literacy and the arts. SEISMIC, a math grant in association with California State University, San Marcos, is in its second year with the focus for fifth grade teachers on math content standards and lesson delivery. Butterfield has received a five-year Healthy Start Grant, a California state Technology Grant to create its BESTv Video Lab, a CTAAP Grant, a Teaching American History Grant, has received recognition from a [http://leusd.info/bes/BRAVO/StateCert.htm California State legislator] , and the [http://leusd.info/bes/BRAVO/LACert.htm Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.]

Butterfield has been honored to be the "treatment" school for the [http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/innovator/2004/0830.html "RAISE (Reading and Arts Integrated for Student Excellence)"] federal art grant, of nearly one million dollars. Butterfield staff has had numerous opportunities for staff development in the "VIEW: Visual Integration to Enhance Writing" process, as well as Reader's Theatre to enhance reading comprehension. Over the 13 years as a magnet school Butterfield has participated in close to three million dollars in grant funded activities, largely through the efforts of our teachers and district grant writers.

Student ethnicity

Butterfield's ethnicity, and comparisons to the District and State Averages, is as follows:

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Principals over the years

The historical record is as follows:

External links

[http://leusd.info/bes/ Official website]

References

*"The original version of this article contained text copied from http://leusd.info/bes/BESHistory/History.htm, a GFDL source.