About Us

Located on the beautiful central coast of California, Dana Elementary School currently serves approximately 615 students in grades TK-6. We have three Special Day Classrooms as well as a Resource Specialist Program. At Dana, we believe that a strong vision statement can help us to focus on our school community and guide curricular decisions. Our vision statement should be specific, measurable, and include not only a curricular focus but also a school climate focus.

 

The Dana School Vision Statement:

At Dana Elementary, we will be effective communicators in speaking, listening, and writing. We will take responsibility for our words, actions, attitudes, and learning. We will show respect, empathy, and kindness towards others.

Dana students experience quality writing, listening, and speaking instruction so that they can become confident and able communicators. Students are exposed to a variety of writing strategies, such as the Step Up to Writing and Thinking Maps Writing curricula. They engage in many opportunities to speak, both informally through group and partner work or individual answers to questions, as well as formally through short speeches. Students learn to use rubrics to analyze their own speaking abilities as well as those of their peers. They work together to assist each other in becoming more articulate speakers. Our teachers collaborate regularly to develop lessons, plan strategies, create assessments, analyze student assessment data, and formulate plans to meet the varying needs of our student population. We value this collaboration; it represents a vital component of our school culture.

Dana is a tight-knit community. Many of our parents work in various jobs at our school. Visitors and substitutes often comment on our friendly atmosphere. Our staff, parents, and students appreciate our positive school culture and our firm, but fair, approach to student behavior expectations.