Montclair Elementary School
4920 Tallowwood Drive
Dumfries, VA 22025
Montclair Elementary School Web Site
Phone: 703.730.1072
Principal: Tawnya Stillson Soltis
Assistant Principal: Kathryn Forgas
Date Opened: September 1991
Number of Students: approximately 600
Number of teachers/staff members: 75
School Colors: Red and White
School Mascot: "Monty" the Cardinal
School Mottoes:
- Teaching and Learning "MI" Way (delivering instruction through the Multiple Intelligences)
- “We are responsible and response-able learners.”
- “Strut your stuff!”
- "We all have at least 8 SMARTS!"
- “We give our Personal Best and use our Lifeskills every day!”
- “It’s not how smart we are ~ it’s how we are smart!”
Students, staff, and parents constructed Montclair's vision and mission statements through a consensus process. We revisit our vision and mission yearly to reinforce meaning and to develop strategies to come nearer to our goals.
Montclair's Vision Statement
At Montclair Elementary, we all teach and learn the Multiple Intelligences (M.I.) Way and use our Quality Lifeskills every day!
Montclair’s Mission Statement
As a collaborative and inclusive learning community, we will meet the needs of our diverse learners through:
- integrating instruction
- making meaningful connections
- offering choices for learning
As lifelong learners, we will:
- lead by example
- set high expectations
- foster continuous improvement to become successful, global citizens
Staff
The school employs staff members who are life-long learners. Our staff
has compassion and a strong commitment to improve student performance.
The practices utilized by our staff are derived from our belief that
we are driven to make the right decisions for each child. All decisions
must be beneficial to children's well being. The school community knows,
by staff communication and modeling, that the children must come first.
The staff consists of four teachers per grade level (five teachers in first grade). Specialists include: art teacher, physical education teacher, music teacher, guidance counselor, librarian, instructional technologist, reading teachers (1 full-time and 1 half-time), and a half-time school nurse. Our special education staff includes: 1 teacher for students with moderate cognitive impairment, 3 teachers of students with learning disabilities (working in the inclusion model), 1 primary and 2 intermediate teachers for students with autism spectrum disorder, 3 ESOL (English as a Second Language) teachers, and 3 part-time speech and language specialists.
Montclair's boundaries extend from the back portion of Montclair (near the fire station), to Cardinal Station, to Forest Hills/Wexford, to the Evansdale section of Dale City, to Minnieville Road neighborhoods, Courtlandt Manor, and the back part of Lake Terrapin.
Montclair has been fully accredited by the state of Virginia for the last five years. In 2000, Montclair received the "International Reading Award". For five years we have been recognized by the school board as a "School of Excellence" for academic performance and meeting target goals. The School Board has designated Montclair as a "Multiple Intelligences Learning Community" to reflect the manner in which the PWCS curriculum is delivered to students. Beginning in fall 2006, the entire staff is training in the Baldrige Quality Framework in Education for continuous school improvement. Each class has written its own vision and mission statements. Using performance data, teachers and students choose academic goals. We constantly monitor progress and celebrate our success with focus on learning for every student.
- Full-day kindergarten - All 4 kindergarten classes get a jumpstart on learning.
- Reading Recovery - intense reading remediation for rapid maximum growth of 8 first-graders
- Lifeskill Tickets - positive discipline/reinforcement program
- Popcorn Sales - prepared by our students with special needs and mainstream class buddies
- Monty's Red Wing Press - school publishing center, publishes students’ original work in books
- Monty Mart - school store, operated by our students with special needs
- Block Scheduling - to allow uninterrupted blocks of time for student instruction
- Encore - daily special (art, music, physical education, computer lab, guidance, or library)
- Monty's News - student run in-house TV program
- Library and Library/Computer Lab Nights - for families to enjoy together
- Quill & Scroll - monthly evening forum for young authors
- Strings- fifth grade students
- Safety Patrol - fifth grade students
- SCA - student council association
- Library Aides - fifth grade student assistants
- Individual Buddies - mainstream classroom buddies for students with special needs
- Classroom Buddies - primary/intermediate class pairing for reading and activities
- Open Library Schedule - Students may come to the library daily for research and check-out.
- Read with Monty - All students read silently for at least 20 minutes daily.
- Computer Lab- 30 networked student stations
- Multicultural Week - includes international fashion show and tasting
- Field Trips - Each grade level enjoys at least two field trips yearly.
- Student Performances - Each grade level performs at least once yearly.
- Talent Show - student-arranged performances
- Integrated Curriculum - Teachers implement the PWCS curriculum through units of study.
- Personal Best - All students are expected to put forth their personal best daily.
- Mentoring Program - staff providing for students needing extra encouragement
- Start/Signet - gifted and talented programs
- Student Artist of the Month - recognition for budding artists
- Recorder Karate - Fourth grade students perform at various levels.
- Chorus (for gr.3-5), Guitar Club, and Chess Club - offered weekly
- 6 Weeks Enrichment Clubs - offered Feb. - Apr., sponsored by our volunteer “SMART” staff
- PTCO Sponsored Events - student dances, family dine-out evenings, spring carnival, spiritwear
The
Principal’s Advisory Council advises the principal on a monthly
basis. This council meets the last Thursday of every month from
6:30-8:00 pm. It is comprised of school staff representatives (K-2,
3-5, specialists, and classified) as well as parent neighborhood
representatives from: Montclair, Cardinal Station, Forest Hills/Wexford,
Lake Terrapin, Courtlandt Manor, and Evansdale areas. Everyone
is welcome to attend our Open Chair held from 6:30-6:45 pm.
Parents are invited to participate in PTCO and to become room parents. The "Red and White Times" (school newsletter) is distributed the last Wednesday of each month. "Monty Folders" containing school news are sent home every Wednesday. The school maintains a web page http://www.pwcs.edu/Montclair/
Ms. Tawnya Soltis hosts “Principal's Coffees”. The school lobby features “Personal Best”, “Advisory Council,” and “Community” bulletin boards as well as a suggestion box.
Montclair's Philosophy Statement
The goal of our school is to provide an educational setting meeting the needs of all students, regardless of gender, race, disability, ethnicity or religious point of view. This environment must also be safe and inviting. The staff will have academic, social, and emotional goals for each student that will enhance student self-image. We embrace the philosophy that: "All children will learn to their fullest capacity" while incorporating research on how the brain learns and the science of learning meshed with the art of teaching.
We will deliver instruction through the multiple intelligences with an integrated curriculum that makes connections through themes/units to enhance real life experiences. We will incorporate Multiple Intelligences Theory (Gardner 1993) and Integrated Thematic Approach (Kovalik 1992) to the delivery of instruction, life-skills, school wide agreements, a constructivist math, and a balanced literacy program.
We recognize that there are many forms of intelligence and will never underestimate the brain’s potential. Through professional knowledge we will know, understand, and better every student's experiences in learning about our world. It is by modeling high expectations that our students will learn to achieve their own high expectations. It is our responsibility as educators to hold only the highest expectations for our students and for ourselves. Our purpose is to articulate many ways by which we know, understand, and learn about our world.
Teachers are mandated to teach the objectives as outlined by the Prince William County School Board and Virginia Department of Education. They have a great deal of autonomy in instructional strategies, but must remain current in their practices as they relate to educational soundness and academic growth. As a staff we are committed to life-long learning. We have a unique, dedicated, educated staff, terrific students and wonderful, supportive parents.
Posted: 9/9/08
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