About Us

The picture that is drawn of Chaparral Elementary School seems lifted from a Norman Rockwell painting. Our school is an award winning National Blue Ribbon, National School of Character, and California Distinguished School perched on a sunny hillside in Poway, California, amid a residential neighborhood overlooking the San Diego suburb of Rancho Bernardo.

 

Chaparral Elementary School is a highly industrious gathering place! Each week, our campus is alive with legions of volunteers, committed professionals, hardworking support staff, and enthusiastic students. Our school boasts one of PUSD's largest forces of parent and community volunteers. Our site annually logs an average of 13,500 volunteer hours per year, according to PTA data collected over the past five years. Chaparral's 870 students, preschool, critical skills classrooms, and kindergarten through fifth grade, walk or ride buses from the neighboring areas of Rancho Bernardo and Poway.

 

During the week, our Extended Student Services program opens at 6:30 a.m. and closes at 6:00 p.m. each evening and supervises the District's largest ESS program with over 200 students enrolled. Our preschool classes meet each

day to instruct more than thirty-six children in a parent cooperative program aimed at preparing your children for success in kindergarten and beyond. Chaparral is a nationally recognized and award winning institution meeting the diverse needs of a large and motivated student body. As envisioned, these predicted accomplishments are guided annually through the shared leadership of Chaparral's dedicated teachers, staff, principal, and community. Together, we work hand-in-hand to foster in each child a passion to learn using enriched curriculum, researched best practices, and technological advances.

 

Our school goals are to increase student responsibility for individual behavior and to promote academic excellence for all students. Chaparral is a district leader in integrating character education throughout our academic curriculum. In 2000-2001, our school embarked on a journey to address student behavior concerns. A Character Education Committee was formed to research best practices in character development. This group met monthly for one year and rewrote our mission statement to say, "The students, parents, and staff of Chaparral Elementary School create a positive and productive environment that instills in each child, strength of character, a sense of community, and love of learning." Teachers teams have been trained in Responsive Classroom, a program highlighted on the federal list of best practices for character education. Chaparral Elementary is mentioned in the nationally published Responsive Classroom brochure as a "success story" in the implementation of the model. In our classrooms, one can observe strategies such as morning meetings, academic choice, and cooperative structures to teach and support appropriate social development and academic achievement.

 

A wide range of programs and support services have been developed to enhance student achievement and character development at Chaparral. Examples of these support service groups include the following: - PIP (Primary Interaction Program) - Art Corps - Character Counts! - Fifth Grade Band - Chaparral Foundation - Physical Education Program - Technology - Mentors - Fitness Club - Student Council - Melody Makers Choral Program - Counseling Services - Academic Mentor Program - Positive Discipline Plan - Preschool - SOAR/SHOK/OASIS (Adult Volunteer Programs) - SST (Student Success Team) - Kids Korp - ELL and GATE Programs - Community Gathering - RTI .

 

Mission Statement: "The students, parents, and staff of Chaparral Elementary School create a positive and productive environment that instills in each child, strength of character, a sense of community, and love of learning."