Butterfield Elementary School (Lake Elsinore, California)

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Butterfield Elementary School
Address
16275 Grand Ave. Riverside County, California Lake Elsinore, California, 92530 USA
Information
School district	Lake Elsinore Unified School District
Specialist	Visual and Performing Arts Magnet
Principal	Dorri Neal
Vice principal	Bruce Quimby
Students	950
Type	Public
Grades	Kindergarten – Fifth Grade
Nickname	Bobcats
School Color(s)	Black/Turquoise
Opened	1982
Feeder to	Lakeland Village Middle School
High School	Lakeside High School
District website	http://www.leusd.k12.ca.us
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.

Contents 1 History 2 Mission and vision statements 3 Facilities and amenities 4 School climate and educational programs 5 Visual and performing arts program 6 Honors, awards, and grants 7 Student ethnicity 8 Principals over the years 9 References

[edit] History

On October 7, 1858, the first westbound Butterfield Overland Stage arrived at the new outpost at the Machado Ranch House (Rancho La Laguna)^[1] located near "Laguna Grande", the future Lake Elsinore.^[2] The Butterfield Overland Trail route through the Elsinore valley (now known as Grand Ave.)^[3] was used as a mail route until 1862^[4][5]. Butterfield Elementary School, which opened with a K-6 population of 482 students in the fall of 1982 with Frank Evans as principal, 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 26th year of existence (2007/08).

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.^[6]

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)^[7]. Being a magnet school Butterfield has students who live throughout the district, but most of the school’s students continue their education at Lakeland Village Middle School and 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^[8].

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District implemented an elementary Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) magnet program, starting in the 1989/90 school year. 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 13 (2007/08) 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 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 10 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.

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] Facilities and amenities

The school currently has 45 classrooms with grades kindergarten through fifth grades, and 950 students. It also houses one class of 'First 5 California' state preschool students, the Ortega Trail RPD ( Recreation & Park District) Children's Center (with before, during, and after school on-site daycare), and a no-cost on-site Boys and Girls Club after-school program.

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. Every classroom has Internet capability and a telephone for communications.

[edit] School climate and educational programs

Butterfield has an accepting and inviting school climate. The recently adopted 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, SRA intervention programs, the Fast Track Reading Intervention program, an Accelerated Reader incentive program, Barton Dyslexia tutors, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing (LiPS) groups, | Sea Stars, STAR (Stop, Think and Read) Literacy groups for second grade, STAR assessments, Transitional/Developmental-First grade classrooms as needed, Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and Intervention after-school programs and specialized combination classes. The school has two Resource Specialist Program (RSP) classrooms and a Special Education classroom. Butterfield uses the Hampton-Brown Avenues program (adopted 2007) for English Language Learners, the Houghton-Mifflin Reading series, and Saxon Math 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.

[edit] 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 (07/08) in its 13th 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 11 major theater productions over the years including the full-length shows of Peter Pan, Oliver!, and The Wizard of Oz, with Annie planned for 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 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.

[edit] 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 California School Boards Association. Butterfield was a Los Angeles Music Center "BRAVO" Award school finalist, and "BRAVO" teacher finalist honors have gone to second grade teacher Monique Poldberg and fifth grade teacher Barbara Egbert. A 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 California State legislator, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Butterfield has been honored to be the "treatment" school for the "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.

[edit] Student ethnicity

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

Response	School Percentage [9]	District Percentage [10]	State Average [11]
Hispanic:	59%	48%	48%
White:	31%	41%	29%
African American:	4%	5%	8%
Asian:	1%	2%	8%
Filipino:	1%	2%	3%
Multiple/no response:	2%	2%	3%
Pacific Islander:	<1%	<1%	<1%
American Indian:	<1%	<1%	<1%

- - -

[edit] Principals over the years

The historical record is as follows:

Dates	Principal	Length of tenure
1982 to 1985	Frank Evans	3 years
1985 to 1988	Colleen Andersen	3 years
1988 to 1992	Cheryl Eining	4 years
1992 to present	Dorri Neal	16th year (2007-08)

[edit] References

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

Coordinates: 33°39′02″N 117°21′58″W / 33.6506, -117.366