Trinity County schools continue to make efforts at on-going improvements in raising student achievement levels, addressing individual student needs, and creating safe and nurturing learning environments in a variety of ways.  All schools undergo the required state planning process in examination of student assessment data, the setting of curriculum goals, and planning to improve instruction.  Teachers use this process to develop lessons that meet the needs of each student in the classroom.  Some schools have gone beyond the required school planning and improvement process to begin a more comprehensive approach. 

         In June, Lewiston Elementary School committed staff and time to undertake new efforts in school improvement.  Lewiston Elementary School was selected to become a pilot school in the northern California Rural Schools project with the unforgettable name, Accessing Professional Learning – Connecting Our Rural Educators (APL-CORE).  This project is sponsored by WestEd, a regional educational research facility that is federally funded to assist in school improvement, and by California State University, Chico.  The project is administered by a regional committee of curriculum and instruction specialists from the nine counties of northeastern California.  The Lewiston school team will be led by Duncan Hobbs, Superintendent, and Louise Bigham, Reading Specialist.  Cricket Kidwell, Director of Curriculum at the Trinity County Office of Education, will be the liaison to the state and regional advisory committees. 

        The APL project was developed to address the needs of small, rural schools.  Educational experts at WestEd had determined that there was a lack of research in effective school improvement in rural education and very little information had been published on how to better serve the students in small communities.  To address this need, WestEd offered to sponsor this project with seven pilot sites in northern California. 

        Nine northern counties were given the opportunity to nominate a school to participate and Lewiston Elementary indicated an interest.  As a pilot site, Lewiston School will receive funding and personnel support to develop an on-site professional planning group that will look at student achievement data, discuss student academic needs, examine curriculum and professional development resources, and develop a plan to improve curriculum and instruction at all levels.  Materials, consultants, and resources will be provided to the school.  This is a two-year project with the first year designated as a planning year with some implementation.  Full implementation of the school plan will begin in 2009-2010.  Because this program is a pilot project, there will be a maximum amount of flexibility for the schools to determine their needs and a minimal amount of required paperwork.  The project is looking for creative ideas, new resources, and teacher input as to what works in rural schools. 

        Lewiston Elementary School will work on this project in conjunction with a recent Special Education-Reading First grant of $19,500 that they received to develop reading support programs and English-Language Arts supplemental curriculum.  Louise Bigham, the coordinator of both projects, will be providing individual teacher support, training, and mentoring.