Washington Communication & Technology Magnet Elementary School
Rita Kimball, Principal
Paula Shoemaker, School Secretary
2300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
Phone: (510) 644-6310
Anne Marie Callegari & Flora Keilch, Coordinators
Berkeley LEARNS After School Program
Phone: (510) 644-6939
- Making It Real: Washington School Leading for Equity
- Washington PTA
- School Accountability Report Card - Spanish version is available.
- School Accountability Report Card 2006-07
- API Report
- STAR Results
- Facilities
- Library
- Garden and Nutrition Newsletter
School Information
Washington enjoys the advantages of being a small downtown school, close to the University of California, Bart transportation, and the YMCA.
The student body is drawn from the Central Zone, but many of Washington's students are from neighboring homes that are from 10 to 12 blocks from the school. The population is diverse and multi-ethnic, serving 17 different languages and 18 different cultures. One of the reasons for the varied cultures is that many of our parents from U.C. Berkeley choose to have their children close to the University by enrolling at Washington. These families from Germany, Israel, China, France, and the world over greatly enrich our school.
With the help of the California Nutrition Network grant and assistance from AmeriCorps, Washington created a school garden and nutrition/ecology program designed for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Washington now has a fulltime garden instructor and full-time cooking instructor. An Ecoliteracy grant has further enabled the staff to spend time with each other learning and planning whole-student learning through systems thinking.
All curriculum, including ecology/nutrition learning, is coordinated around Washington's Magnet theme of Communications and Technology. A well-planned effort has integrated the arts, math, literacy, social studies, and science into learning that is meaningful and hands-on. This year teachers linked grade-specific curriculum to the standards, then linked the curriculum and standards with enrichment areas. These mapping efforts guided the grade-level teams throughout the year. An example of grade-specific curriculum is as follows:
In Kindergarten students learn to read and understand math through kinesthetic methods of movement, singing, and exploration. Students explore learning through body and mind connections.
First graders learn about the world and oral tradition from storytellers from many cultures. One example of a lesson links "The Story that Julian Tells", to making lemon pudding with the cooking teacher, like the dad does in the story. Students make props, masks, and costumes with the art teacher for their own storytelling performances. Students use computers to write and illustrate stories, and the class explores the many story cultures and far-away lands.
Second graders write books of poetry and publish them. Each book is unique in various designs and formats learned from the art teacher. Each season brings new recipes the students cook, then write and illustrate for the final Cook Book, which went on sale in March. Students bind and publish many of their own stories throughout the year. Eager writers keep the computers busy!
Third grade students often partner with Berkeley High School dance students to learn movement and coordination. Their final grand performance is a hit. Students write plays and perform at assemblies throughout the year. In May third graders perform on stage for families and classmates.
Fourth grade students broadcast on the school's school-wide radio station, and present a live show on stage each year.
Fifth grade students planned field trips to farms and integrated technology through video while harvesting food and learning from farmers. Two classes visited Green Gulch Farm, where their students learned about a real working farm and interviewed Rosie the gardener for their 5th grade video-still photo project. The videos were edited with graphics and music and are presented on cable TV.
Teachers also worked in grade-level meetings to assess State and Federal testing reports and focus on the areas of literacy to better understand their own teaching and the needs of students. Assessment of math, reading, and writing is becoming a more focused planning activity for individualized teaching at Washington.
Washington envisions a school that addresses the needs of all children. It engages children in accelerated learning, and involves all of the children's intelligences and talents. At Washington the Magnet/Nutrition/Ecology programs are the foundation on which all other social and academic programs can be built. We have found that all students learn best through kinesthetic involvement in real life situations. This method of discovery lets students learn from their own questions, concerns, and passions.