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The dedicated faculty of Heart River Elementary consists of fourteen classroom teachers: two kindergarten teacher, two first grade teachers, two second grade teachers, two third grade teachers, two fourth grade teachers, two fifth grade teachers, and two special education teachers. Also on staff are: three Title I teachers, one music teacher, one physical education teachers, one full-time pathologist, one learning disabilities teacher, and one counselor. Dickinson Public Schools also employs district-wide: a librarian, an art teacher, and a gifted and talented teacher who provide instruction for the five elementary schools.
The support staff includes twenty-three paraprofessional, one custodians, four food service workers, four playground supervisors, one full-time secretary, and one principal.
Heart River Elementary has fourteen self-contained classrooms in grades K-5. Heart River's educational team, which includes: parents, classroom teachers and specialists, determine the least restrictive learning environment for special needs students. Students participate in our regular education classes and activities and/or receive support from specialists, individually or in small group settings. Some students benefit from a combination of in-class and pull-out programs. Students also have access to the computer lab after school Tuesday through Thursday from 3:15 until 3:45.
Our school uses Scott Foresman for our reading curriculum along with a variety of novels. Grades 1 and 5 utilize the Accelerated Reading Program from Advantage Learning Systems. Language curriculum includes Daily Oral Language and is supplemented with Write Source and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich materials. Grades 5 utilize Perfect Copy from Advantage Learning Systems. Our spelling program is from SRA McGraw Hill. In math we are using Scott Foresman . Some teachers supplement their math curriculum with Math Their Way and Thinking Strategies Mastery. Grades 3-5 also utilize the Accelerated Math Program from Advantage Learning Systems. Heart River uses the Harcourt Brace Jovanovich for our science curriculum. In social studies we use the McGraw Hill-National Geographic Society series.
In kindergarten through third grade, we teach our children to write using D'Nealian. In second grade we introduce cursive handwriting.
The gifted and talented program consist of enriching the education of students by having them do projects or activities that expand their understanding of a topic they are currently studying in the classroom or by reading literature (usually a historical fiction) that gives students the opportunity to gain a better understanding of a culture or time period they are studying or have studied. Students also have the opportunity to be involved in competitions such as the National Geographic Bee or the Math Olympiad.
Heart River Elementary has a computer lab equipped with 26 PC computers for staff and student usage. The lab has 5 digital cameras, a digital video camera, a scanner, a color laser printer, a CD burner. Heart River School has been active in the Scholastic Software program and has an extensive CD library for lab usage and classroom check out.
Each classroom at Heart River Elementary has 2-6 MAC networked computers, access to several networked printers and a complete library of educational software to check out from.
Our school was also honored as the "Area 12 School of the Year" by Special Olympics for its involvement in ink toner cartridge collection and recycling.
100% of Heart River Elementary staff have completed Phase 1 of North Dakota's Teaching with Technology. 60% of the certified staff completed Phase II and 15% completed Phase III of TWT. The staff stays knowledgeable of current trends and practices in education by attending workshops and conferences throughout the year. We are currently emphasizing the various learning styles of both students and teachers. We try to meet the needs of all of the children by making adaptations in each classroom to accommodate students with different learning styles.
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