Cultivating a welcoming culture at Kootenai Elementary

SANDPOINT — The mission of Kootenai Elementary is to inspire deep learning, awaken creativity and develop leaders.

“I think the most important part of our mission is that we do it every day, in every classroom, for every child,” said Kootenai Elementary Principal Kelli Knowles. “It is really important to me, and I think also to our staff ... that we build a positive climate and that you, whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever you are going through, you are welcome at Kootenai Elementary.”

Throughout the school year, principals from each school in the district have presented to the board, answering two main questions: What is unique or special about your school? And what strategies are taking place this year that are different that the school is instituting to get more students learning more?” Knowles answered these questions during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Kootenai is a trauma informed and trauma practicing school, she said, meaning that staff approaches kids with “mindfulness.”

“We support that kids are going through some crazy stuff, or they have experienced some things in their lives that impact their education,” Knowles said.

Kootenai is about cultivating a culture that is fun and welcoming, she said, creating a safe space for many of the students who go there.

“If you get kids to buy into what you are doing and have fun, you can teach them anything,” Knowles said. “I feel like that is the culture that we have worked really hard to build over the past three years and that, in turn, has affected our growth academically.”

As a positive behavior support school, Knowles said they try to do different things each month to support the positive environment. In February, for example, they did a kindness challenge where, through the national King Arthur “Bake for Good” program, students learned how to bake bread, then donated loaves they baked with their families to local soup kitchens.

“It was such a cool experience because it gave the kids an opportunity to connect at home and to teach their family how to bake, and to be able to provide food for their family and the community,” she said.

Academically, Knowles said, Kootenai is in its second year of a 30-minute reading intervention program, tacked on to the end of core instruction. Every student is on-level instruction in their classroom for at least 90 minutes, she said, and then they break into “What I Need” time. That WIN time provides 30 minutes of small group intervention, as well as extension activities for students who are above grade level.

WIN time is implemented four times a week, and Knowles said she believes it relates to why student scores are improving across the board. And the students and staff all enjoy it as well, she said.

Kootenai Elementary is also taking learning outdoors. The school is adjacent to 10 acres owned by the school district, so Kootenai partnered with Kaniksu Land Trust to develop the area into an outdoor classroom.

To start the project, a local resident donated a wood chipper to the school, so they took brush that had been piled up by the district’s maintenance crew and chipped it up. Then the students took turns going out with buckets to spread the chips and build a trail around the entire property. Some of the students designed the sign that will go in at the beginning of the trail as well.

The school also got two cement benches through a Fuel Up to Play 60 grant, which are situated along the trail with “beautiful” views of Schweitzer Mountain, she said. Knowles said she wrote a grant to Panhandle Alliance for Education, with the goal of adding some long benches for a teaching area, as well as a butterfly garden and natural plants that will attract bugs, which the students can then study. Local experts have agreed to donate time to teach students and staff how to identify the trees and other life on the property.

“It has just been an awesome opportunity and I think the possibilities are endless with all of the science and nature activities that we can offer just with this space,” Knowles said.

For each presentation to the board, students from the respective school have been recognized for various achievements. Kootenai Elementary students recognized on Tuesday are Jack Baker, Brayden Burke, Dylan Day, Lane Harris, Joshua Holub, Victor Peters and Kamren Ziarnick.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.