Crossroads Community Outreach Foundation’s P.S. Science program is partnering with McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica to deliver weekly hands-on interactive science instruction to its students.
During the current school year, P.S. Science will serve all first grade students at McKinley and will expand each year adding the second grade in 2014-15 and third grade in 2015-16.
Crossroads Community Outreach Foundation was created by Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in 1984 to share its resources with the underserved in the greater Los Angeles community.
Crossroads School is an independent K-12 school located in Santa Monica.
P.S. Science was created in 2006 to fill a void in early science education by delivering hands-on interactive science instruction to students in grades 1-3 in underserved schools where science is rarely taught because under “No Child Left Behind” science is not tested until 5th grade.
The program is designed to enhance students’ science literacy with a focus on understanding content through process.
With the expansion of P.S. Science into McKinley Elementary School, P.S. Science will serve a total of 600 students in three Title I schools during the 2013-2014 school year.
Irene Gonzalez-Castillo, Principal of McKinley Elementary School, said the school was thrilled to have been invited to participate in the P.S. Science program.
“With this partnership, our 1st grade students will engage in inquiry-based science experiences on a weekly basis,” Gonzalez-Castillo. “Our 1st grade classroom teachers will build their content knowledge alongside a science master teacher in a ‘coaching’ model. During year two, 2nd grade will be added and 3rd grade the following year. P.S. Science adopted an effective professional development model that simultaneously builds teacher capacity and student learning.”
McKinley Elementary School is a Title I school in Santa Monica serving 500 students and the student population is 37 percent Hispanic, 31percent White, 12 percent Asian, 11 percent, African American, and 9 percent Multi-Racial.
Julie Olds, Director of P.S. Science, said McKinley Elementary School was a perfect partner school for the PS Science program.
“It is in the local community and the principal and parents have been working in recent years to develop a more thorough science instruction plan for their students,” Olds said. “With the involvement of P.S. Science in their first through third grade classes, the McKinley PTA is able to focus its resources on funding science instruction in the kindergarten, fourth and fifth grades, making it a win-win with all students receiving meaningful and exciting science experiences.”
