Roanoke has also been recognized by Title One as a Schoolwide Project since 1996 and an exemplary model to which the State Education Department has sent many school districts to visit. Through team building of staff and community, our shared vision for all students is based on high performance standards, a collaborative program design, ongoing staff development, parent and community involvement, cultural inclusiveness, and constant monitoring of student progress. Our curriculum is based on the premise that every child is capable of learning. Our unique reading program uses parallel block scheduling to reduce class size with two hours of concentrated, flexible group reading and writing each day. The emphasis is on writing and authentic assessment for all students.
Many students select their own work to be included in portfolios.
They are directly involved in developing rubrics, demonstrating their strengths, and designing goals for improvement during student led conferences with parents and teachers. Our student progress related directly to the high quality of communication among teachers. Grade level teams meet weekly to identify problems and solutions and develop new strategies. There is a cooperative, collegial relationship among children, teachers, and parents as they plan classroom and building theme units that integrate the disciplines. Our thematic units emphasize activities that help children solve problems through the use of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.