About Oriole Park
Oriole Park Elementary is a K-4 school in Wyoming, Michigan. Click here to see where Oriole Park is located. Our school consists of about 300 students, 13 teachers, a full-time social worker/counselor, 2 full-time & 4 part-time paraeducators, 2 food service employees, 1.5 custodian/maintenance employees, 1 secretary, and a principal. To see a complete list of our staff click here. We are a multiage building with the following configurations: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade multi-age classrooms, and 3rd and 4th grade multi-age classrooms.

Our mission is:  Guided by masterful teachers, supported by relevant curriculum, and nurtured by dedicated families, Oriole Park students will lead the way!

Vision:
At Oriole Park Elementary School, teachers and support staff, students and parents experience a satisfying sense of belonging to each other and to the school.   All are committed to continuously growing strong, positive relationships with one another.  In partnership, they pursue the mission of the school.  Together students, parents and teachers connect in real and relevant ways to the world around them.  

Each student is unique, strong and capable with potential for greatness.   Their love for learning can be heard and seen in the classrooms, hallways, and community.    Specific habits for highly effective living are taught and implemented daily by teachers, students, and parents in school, at home, and in the world around them. 

Self direction, internal motivation, differentiation, and collaboration are promoted through multiage groupings.  Students and teachers rigorously co-construct knowledge to exceed state and district curriculum standards and benchmarks in all core areas.   Teaching the way the brain learns engages students, builds on their interests, and creates memories that will last a lifetime. 

Parents and guardians join with teachers and students to further the mission of the school. They invest   talents and resources to produce an exceptional learning experience for all children. They joyfully celebrate the uniqueness of each child and work together to develop the leader in each one.  All who work with children passionately advocate for their rights.   

Oriole Park teachers genuinely care about their work and about each other.  They learn together through reflection and dialogue embracing diverse perspectives and individual strengths.   They rely on current research as well as authentic assessments to guide their theories and practices.  Teachers rigorously demonstrate high expectations for themselves and each other.  A collective energy is present among teachers because together they are doing something great with and for children. 

 At Oriole Park all look for the good, are positive, create solutions, innovate, and ideate.  They believe so strongly that they will not be stopped.  When they grow weary, they press on because their work is precious.  Their work is “the children”.

Guiding Principles of Oriole Park Elementary School                                                                                                  
The Whole Child:  Children come to the learning situation as curious, compassionate, unique individuals with experiences that already shape their world view.  They are creative, innovative, intellectual, and full of knowledge with theories about everything.   The whole child, which includes cognitive, social-emotional and physical development, is full of potential and capable of impacting and connecting to the global world.

The Role of Parents:   Parents and guardians are an essential component of the school.  They have a right to participate in their child’s learning experiences and a responsibility to advocate for all children.  They have a right to participate in the knowledge work of the school and a responsibility to live out the mission of the school through active participation in the system. 

Role of the Teacher:  Based on understandings of the whole child, teachers apply current research on learning in all interactions.  The learning process by its very nature is one of relationship:  relationship among individuals, within community, cultures, curriculum, daily life, and the world.  To that end, teachers are researchers, facilitators, negotiators, learners, and models.  As professionals, teachers continuously advocate for the rights of children. 

Brain Based Learning:  Learning at Oriole Park is designed around current research on learning which has significant implications for classroom practices.   Brain based learning concepts include:  absence of threat, meaningful content, choice, time, feedback, challenge, intrinsic rewards, goal setting, and mastery.  Educators at Oriole Park continuously utilize brain based research to drive their practice. 

Collaboration and Integration:  Because the learning process by its very nature is one of relationship, collaboration is paramount on every level.  Differing points of view as well as spirited disagreement provide the foundation for a rich consensus decision making process at Oriole Park.   Integrated instruction involving a central yearlong concept, monthly components, weekly topics, key points, inquiries, and social/political action provides the framework for learning at Oriole Park. 

Research:  Because Oriole Park educators and parents are committed to teaching and learning the way the brain learns best, it is imperative that all stay apprised of the current research on learning.  Any and all decisions from curriculum to professional development to daily life in the school will involve a cycle of inquiry which begins with the research. 

Curriculum:  Based on how the brain learns best, curriculum will consist of meaningful content, which is taken from real life, built on prior experience, involves learning groups, is age appropriate, rich with patterns, useful, and self-congratulating.   Learning and teaching continuously interact involving the co- construction of knowledge between teacher and learner. 

Groupings:  Multi-age education, the practice of teaching and learning with children of different ages and abilities together in the same classroom, supports how students learn best.  Multi-age groupings afford students the opportunity to lead and learn from each other as positive long term relationships are developed. Multi-age education deeply respects each child as a learner fitting the curriculum to the child emphasizing continuous progress rather than grade to grade promotion.   

Role of the Environment:  The cognitive, social, emotional, and physical environments play a critical role in student learning.  A holistic environment is one that engages children, promotes complex thinking and quality work, is emotionally and socially safe, and provides opportunities to collaborate.   Students have authentic experiences and real world artifacts to enrich their learning, and by which to make connections.  The environment is organized in such a way that activates the brain by being free of clutter, distraction, and over-stimulation.  It is organized and clean, allowing for self management.  Displays reflect student work and are enhanced by other appropriate and timely resources.  Public displays are attractive, error-free, and serve as celebrations and models for quality learning, giving students an opportunity to shine. 

Leadership:  “Leadership is communicating people’s worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.”  Says Stephen Covey whose book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is used to improve personal and professional effectiveness.  Because children, too, are capable of self leadership, the principles and 7 habits are woven throughout the curriculum at Oriole Park and built into the daily life of the school.