Principal's Message
Dear Garfield Students, Parents & Community,
We are looking forward to a wonderful 2021-2022 school year at Garfield Elementary. We are looking forward to welcoming back all of our students for in-person instruction. We have missed all of your smiling faces and we look forward to reconnecting with all of our students and welcoming new students to our campus.
We continue to part of the prestigious Turnaround Arts program. We are one of 27 schools in the state of California selected to participate in this wonderful opportunity. The goal of this program is to provide an array of arts education services and resources designed to increase opportunities for success, build an extended community and raise the visibility of achievements of all of our students. Every Garfield student (K-8) will participate in weekly music instruction from a certificated music teacher. Additionally, our teachers will be participating in professional development focused upon the integration of arts across the curriculum. Every student will have the opportunity to develop his/her artistic talents through visual arts, music, theater or dance.
In addition to our focus on the arts, we will continue to develop our focus on Balanced Literacy. Our K-5th grade students use Orton-Gillingham Phonics to develop their foundational reading and vocabulary skills. During Writer's Workshop, students will develop their skills in the craft of writing as they create individual pieces in the genres of narrative, opinion and expository. During Reader's Workshop, students will have the opportunity to improve their reading skills with the use of leveled libraries and reading of texts at their individual levels.
We have also expanded our autism program and have nine autism classes located on our campus. We have a variety of support staff to assist with the program. Additionally, our students have many opportunities for mainstreaming and reverse mainstreaming with their general education peers.
We are excited for the new year, and we look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, August 11th!
Dr. Richardson