Madison Elementary is a kindergarten through 6th grade school located in North Highlands at 5241 Harrison Street. Jana Fields is the principal of the Rio Linda Union School District school that serves about 570 students. The mission of Madison Elementary School is to provide each student with meaningful learning activities that promote self-esteem, responsible behavior, and academic success. According to Fields and the school’s Accountability Report Card, Madison will "consider ourselves successful as indicated by the friendly, welcoming atmosphere created in the office and classrooms, the physical appearance of the grounds, the time commitment to learning, the financial commitment to materials and staff, the personal commitment to one another as team members, and the support systems for special needs."
The pictures in this issue of the North Highlands News are taken from a couple of innovative programs at Madison. The first is a homework assistance program. Due to the location of Madison and the boundaries, there is a significant percent of the student population that takes a bus to school and home, which prevents them from staying after school for help with homework. So, several teachers at Madison decided to go to the students where they live. Approximately 90 Madison students live at the Siena Vista Apartment Complex about three miles from campus and the teachers spend an hour each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with students who would like help or just to spend time participating in educational activities.
The second innovative program is Madison’s "Buddy Program." Madison teachers Jeff Howell and Debra Beck bring together second and fifth grade students once a week for 30 minutes with the idea that cross-age tutoring builds relationships as well as learning. "The students look forward to their time together every week," said Beck. For the most part, the teachers use our buddy time to teach science. The photos in this issue are from a recent trip to the Explorit Science Center.
"Buddy class gives me the opportunity to get to know the second graders and establish a relationship with them long before they reach the 5th grade," said Howell. "My students always look forward to Tuesday afternoon when they get together with their second grade buddies."
The accompianing articles from some of the Madison Elementary students participating in the Buddy Program attest to it’s success.
Buddies are the best. The fifth graders are really smart. It is easier to do science with them. I really like them because we get to do projects together and learn new things each week. It is truly fun. – Angelica, 2nd grade
I like buddies because they are fun and we get to do science and field trips. We have buddies every Tuesday and I look forward to it. My teacher gives us lots of good lessons and hard work and then we work with our 5th grade buddies to get them done. My buddy’s name is Logan. He is very nice to me and helps me. Sometimes I get to help him find the answers that he can’t find. If you have never had buddies you should ask your teacher because it is a lot of fun and we learn a lot.
– Anthony. 2nd grade
Buddies are fun and exciting because I get to go on field trips and do science work. My brother is in my buddy class, but he is not my buddy. My teacher gives us fun lessons. Right now we are working on digestion and where food goes after we eat it. My buddy helps me find the words I don’t know and helps me write the words. I like to fifth graders because they help us so much. They are smart at science and other stuff. I am lucky to be in second grade and have a nice buddy class. They are awesome and amazing. My teacher is so nice that she picked this cool buddy class.