Kinoshita School is a Title One public elementary school in San Juan Capistrano. It is part of the Capistrano Unified School District, the 9th largest district in California and the 77th largest in the U.S. The school is named for the Kinoshita family, who, from the time the family members were released from Heart Mountain Relocation Camp until the 1990s, farmed the land on which the school was built.

Kinoshita is located in south Orange County, which is generally considered to be a very affluent part of California. What most don't realize is that this prosperous region also contains significant pockets of poverty, and especially young families living in poverty. Local residents are surprised to learn that Kinoshita's student population is 99.4% Latino and 98.9% socioeconomically disadvantaged. English learners comprise 95.7% of the student body.

I started volunteering at Kinoshita five years ago when I learned that many of the volunteers at the school were from outside of our community. I thought, "Hey, our own city needs to be supporting our community's children!" After about a year and a half helping in classrooms I realized that the program could be much larger if someone were actually managing and helping it grow, so I volunteered to be the volunteer coordinator. It's an unpaid job, of course, which is what I want but some weeks I think I put in more time than some of the school's full time employees! Today there are 70 people from the community who volunteer in Kinoshita's classrooms each week.

In areas where poverty is well recognized by the surrounding communities, many support organizations generally come into existence. While San Juan Capistrano does have some such organizations, in general the low-income families of our community are not as well supported by private or public relief organizations as they would be in areas where their existence was more fully acknowledged.

Because students from non-English speaking families tend to lose literacy over the Summer, several years ago Kinoshita began a free Friday reading program in our library during the Summer. For Accelerated Reader Fridays, one community volunteer is paired with one Kinoshita student for an hour, and the student selects a library book to read aloud to their volunteer. We've found this program to be successful not only in helping retain students' literacy, but also in promoting a lifelong love of books and reading.

I am the (unpaid) volunteer coordinator for this K-5 school. I regularly get emails from volunteers who thank me profusely for providing this opportunity for them. What I do is not only helpful to the students and the teachers, but it's also a blessing to the volunteers themselves. Many of our volunteers have been at the school several years and have watched our students change, grow, and go on to be successful. It's simply a win-win for everyone concerned.

Most families do not have money for books for their children. The students, however, are eager readers and check out books from the library every week. In fact, the library use at Kinoshita is one of the highest in our area. Books are prized possessions for our students and we are always looking for ways to put more books in their hands!

Kinoshita would be honored and grateful to receive a donation of books from the PBS Books for Schools Program.

Gila J., Volunterr Coordinator, Kinosita Elementary School & PaperBackSwap Member

We hit our Book Credits goal!

Travis Elementary School has been promoting children's literacy in exciting ways. Travis uses a Balanced Literacy approach to teach students to read and write. We require our students to read in class daily and encourage them to read at home as well. Teachers send home library books as well as leveled books for students to read. We have been rewarding students who make their reading goals by taking them to various performances put on by our local high schools.

Reading Recovery has been implemented to assist students who struggle with reading in1st grade. Our Bilingual program works to make students bi-literate in both English and Spanish.

Travis is a located in Rosenberg, Texas which is a suburb of Houston. We currently have 683 students in grades K-5. We are a Title I school with around 75% of our students on the federal lunch program.

With your generous donation, we can help our teachers build their classroom libraries with bright and exciting new books. These books will help our teachers reach our goal of making all of our students passionate readers.
We appreciate your consideration,

Kevin Winter, Principal
Travis Elementary School
Home of the Roadrunners

We hit our Book Credits goal!

Shadow Oaks Elementary School serves k-2nd grade children PLUS all of the district's autistic Children (of these 3 grades). We are the largest school district in Mississippi, and of course all of the public schools are poor, their library budgets sparse. Our school is a Title 1 school with 85% of our students receiving free and or reduced lunch.

Since the budget no longer allows the librarian to have an assistant, I volunteer at this elementary school. Our librarian has a wonderful, positive attitude for teaching and for the books in her library,I've been helping her and I donated my paperbackswap credits to her, and I ordered books with my credits for their very needy library, and I listed more of my books onto my bookshelf to swap for them.

Thanks for considering Shadow Oaks Elementary School!
Kelly J., PaperBackSwap Member

At Shadow Oaks, we are all a TEAM!

Together

Everyone

Achieves 

Miracles 

We hit our Book Credits goal!

Mars Estates Elementary school is located in Essex, MD. We are a Baltimore County Public School with Title 1 status. Our school population is about 437. We have students from preschool 3’s to 5th Grade.

Our school also houses students with special needs. Our school has a gifted and talented track along with special education classes. We have an ESOL teacher once a week to work with our students who are still learning English as their second language.  

Programs we offer include band, chorus, bully busters, safety patrol, fit Friday, after school math program, and announcement crew. We have an active PTA with many staff members on PTA. Most of our staff has been at the school for years. The staff truly cares about the students and wants what is best for them.

Most of our students walk to school as we are located within the neighborhood. We have a wellness center housed inside our building to help get our students be seen, if needed, by a medical professional. Our principal is very involved with the students and can be seen going around the classrooms and giving the students a message on the announcements daily. Our students get free breakfast every day and over 80% get free or reduced lunch.

We continue to work on getting our test scores up in reading. We are using a new reading curriculum this year while continuing to implement a modified 100 book challenge. All students have self-selected reading time with books at their level. The students also have library once a week to check out books. Our students love books. They are always looking for something new and exciting to read. They are expected to read daily at home with their parents filling out their reading log.

Our vision for our school is:  
Mars Estates Elementary School will create a culture of deliberate excellence in our school and community by developing 21st century lifelong learners who possess skills that are necessary to be productive global citizens.

Our purpose is:
Mars Estates Elementary School will provide for every student the highest quality, 21st century education in a safe, secure, and positive environment conducive to high levels of teaching, learning, and student engagement, resulting in globally competitive students prepared for their chosen college and/or career path.

Thank you,

Stephanie Cunningham, 3rd grade teacher

We hit our Book Credits goal!

This school is in a suburb of Oklahoma City and the surrounding neighborhood has very limited income.

Epperly Heights Elementary is part of the Mid-Del Public Schools and serves 675 students in grades prekindergarten through fifth grade. The student body is served by a principal, vice-principal, 26 classroom teachers, 17 special teachers, and 6½ aides.  Epperly Heights is located in Del City, Oklahoma which is a suburb of Oklahoma City. Epperly Heights’ student population consists of 89% on free and reduced meals, and the student diversity is 57% Caucasian, 31% black, and 11% American Indian/Alaskan.

Even though our school is in a low socioeconomic area, there is strong parental support that includes an active PTA. Parents volunteer for back-to-school activities, breakfast duty, book fairs, test monitoring, student store and distribute snacks on snack day. Parents also support student programs that include grade level plays and performances, and advanced learning programs. The parents at Epperly Heights help organize and distribute food baskets for the holidays, and participate in the district clothing room and the Mid-Del district PTA.

Epperly Heights Elementary is a large elementary school and they have a low to non-existent library budget. They could greatly use the assistance of PBS and the impact would be positive not only by providing books for the kids but in letting them know that people outside of their community care about them and their education.

We would appreciate any donations for our school and students. Thank you for your consideration and nomination.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Hymel, M. Ed.
Epperly  Heights, Library Media Specialist

When the young people of Mid-Del enter our halls, they will be safe.

When they enter our classrooms, they will be challenged.

When they leave our schools, they will be ready.

Epperly Heights School Creed

I am an Epperly Heights Mustang Student,

I have great expectations for myself.

I accept the challenge to be the best that I can be.

I can do ALL things I want to achieve.

I will believe in myself.

I will energize my learning.

I will stand up for myself.

I will take responsibility for my actions.

I will be the best that I can be. YES!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

Aurora Elementary School is located in South Los Angeles and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The student population at Aurora is predominantly Latino (92%) and African-American (8%).

Aurora is a Title I school with a high poverty rate of 97%.

At Aurora Elementary, students are supported by a dedicated staff who work tirelessly to instill in all students the love of learning and certainty of achieving success through high expecations and a rigorous curriculum.

At Aurora reading is an integral part of the instructional program and is regarded as a gateway to knowledge and learning. The students at Aurora would appreciate and benefit greatly from book donations to supplement the core program and expand learning opportunities through books.

Thank you, PaperBackSwap for allowing us to participate this year.

Eva Rodriguez-Chavez, Principal

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Laurel, MS is a small town in South Mississippi whose separate school district was on the verge of failure until a competent Superintendant was hired in 2009. The city's schools have students mostly from lower income families and about 90% are African American and qualify for healthy lunch programs.

One elementary school in the district, Nora Davis Magnet School, has shown magnificent progress in improving reading levels and those in math and science. It is the only school in the City to have received a "Star" rating by the Mississippi State Dept of Education. Nora Davis Magnet School is a Title 1 schoolwide school with an enrollment of 390 students (grades range from 4k-5th grade).

Nora Davis Magnet School offers accelerated academics in grades first through fifth. Four year old kindergarten through fifth grade is taught on or above grade level. Students attend art, music, creative movement, technology and physical education classes thirty to forty-five minutes weekly. We offer an on-site media center for student and faculty use, as well as a Gifted Studies program. Students must sign an academic/behavioral contract before attending Nora Davis.

Nora Davis Magnet School was selected as the School of Excellence by the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education in 2004. We were a Level 5 Superior Performing School for 5 years. We were a Master School for Reading Renaissance for 5 years. We have won the PREPS Value Added Award for 9 years.

Nora Davis Magnet School was chosen as the 2007 recipient of the Governor's Award for Arts in Education.  We are also a Model School for the Mississippi Arts Commision Whole Schools Initiative. 

Nora Davis Magnet School is a Title I Distinguished School and a Citywide Art winner. The school is brightly decorated with teaching murals in the hallways and the cafeteria. We are open to all students residing in the Laurel School district.

Thank you for caring about People and their Reading.

Chris W., PaperBackSwap member

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Mott/Regent Public School is located in the southwestern part of North Dakota, right in the middle of pheasant country.  The school district is made up of the towns of Mott and Regent with approximately 16 miles between them and the district covers around 880 square miles. 

We currently have 260 students in grades Head Start-12 at Mott/Regent.  The elementary school includes students in Head Start-Grade 6 and has an enrollment of 148 students. 

Mott/Regent Elementary is a School-Wide Title 1 school with 44% of the students qualifying for free and reduced meals.

We are excited that Mott/Regent has been accepted as a participant in this year's Books for Schools donation campaign at PaperBackSwap!  What a great opportunity for our students. 

Thank you,
Deb Bohn,
Elementary Principal 

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

I am suggesting Washington Elementary School because it is in a very low income area. The school has a culturally diverse and wide range of socioeconomic levels with many students from single parent families. It includes over 73% of it's student body in income levels that qualify for free or reduced lunches. There is approximately 13% of the student body qualifying for special education. Washington Elementary opened its doors in 1920 and has worked to educate students in the area for over 90 years. They are a school-wide Title 1 school and the reports show all students making significant gains in learning.

This elementary school is one which I feel would benefit significantly from the shool donation program...many of the students who attend this school have never owned books and the ability to have books on hand in the library and classroom is their only option for a successful experience in learning to love reading and love books. Reading and a love of reading is essential in learning at any level. This program could make an incredible difference for these children in their education now and in the future...helping them to develop a love of reading...through the availability of a wider range of books.

I personally donate several books each year, but it is only a drop in the bucket when compared to the need of the student body.

Judi B., Member of PBS

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Standiford Elementary is a Title I elementary school, with over 500 students in grades K through 5. Over 60% of our students receive free or reduced lunch, and almost 60% of our student body is composed of minorities. Our school also houses the district's academically gifted and talented students, as well as three classes for students who need extra help in their studies. In addition, we have two of our district's classes for autism students, so needless to say, our student body is extremely diverse!

But our library is the heart of our school for ALL of our students. Many students are unable to visit the county libraries, and our school library is their only place to borrow books. Our school budget for new books is almost zero, with only a small amount from the district which usually goes towards required books. The library's circulation is so high that many books are being held together by packing tape, and any new books coming in are from used book donations.

Thank you, PaperBackSwap members, for your donations and making a positive difference in our students' lives! To borrow a phrase from Scholastic Books, "Read Every Day, Live a Better Life."

Carrie Munroe, Standiford PTSA

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Rowlesburg School is a small (150 students) PreK-8 school in Preston County, WV.  The school has the highest poverty rate in the county (72%), yet we have achieved AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) since 2007.  We have been a Title 1 school for many years and this has benefited the students greatly.

This school is in great need of any materials. 76% of our student population receives free or reduced lunch because of poverty. We are isolated from the county seat of Kingwood,because of that poverty. Many parents do not have working vehicles and Kingwood is the nearest town at 15 miles away.

We have a library, but county/state funding does not allow us to have a librarian.  Any materials that we can receive will be put to immediate use in either our Accelerated Reader program or in the classroom.

I thank you for your time and consideration.

Michelle Liga, Teacher, Rowlesburg School

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

At Broadwater School, currently we have approximately 66% of our 400 students qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunches.

Broadwater School was completed and opened in 1909, and since that time has served thousands of students in the central Billings area. Our school was one of the first established in Billings, and is currently the second oldest school still being used by students, staff members and families in our community. We are proud of our students, staff, parents and surrounding community. At broadwater School, we strive to ensure that "every student learns, every single day - no shortcuts, no excuses."

We are always looking for ways to get our students excited about reading and keeping them reading. Many of our students come from homes where they are lacking opportunities to receive new books.

The students at Broadwater would be very appreciative of their new books. New books for each student will help them be excited about reading and put a smile on all their faces.

Stacee Barker, Teacher

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Marion Academy is a Christian, rural private school in Marion, Alabama. We have approximately 110 students from infants to seniors in high school, of which 55 are elementary students. Perry County, which Marion is the county seat, has approximately 10,000 people. Based on its per capita household income, Perry County is considered the poorest in Alabama. 33.4 % of its population is under the poverty level. While the demographic of students is broad, the selection of materials in the library is not.

Our school library serves students in ALL grades. Most of our books and materials were received through donations from community members or schools or other institutions closing. These books, while generous, were disorganized and somewhat antiquated.

The school was able to hire a librarian, Mrs. Mary Buntin, 2 years ago and she has been reorganizing the collection and trying to update it with zero budget. Through the help of fundraising, grant writing, and PaperbackSwap (Mrs. Buntin's mother is a member), the school in the process of automating its collection and has updated many of the books in its collection. Check outs and library visitation has increased tenfold! Her goal is to update the library to make sure it is not a storage room, but the heart of the school.

There is a long way to go though! With the help of the School Donation Program, Mrs. Buntin hopes to continue to get titles that students want to read and to make the school library the heart of Marion Academy's educational program and the center of its student and faculty community.

Janet W., PaperBackSwap Member

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

We are a small rural public elementary school in VT. We currently have 93 students in grades PreK -6. We are a school that receives some Title I funding, as 67% of our students are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program. In addition to all the academic core content areas, we teach all of our children about Mindfulness, and increasing their empathy skills. We host afterschool clubs for children that are free of charge, and provide free bus service home afterwards so that ALL children have equal access to these exploratory whole child activities. We partner with the "Page One Literacy" project from Middlebury College, and have just this year been selected as an "Everybody Wins!" Reading Mentoring site in VT.

Bridport is a small town that has been unable to increase its school budget in the last couple of years. To make of for the lack of money and yet still have all the educational tools need the library budget has been cut. Our librarian is only part time and there isn't much money left for books. we are at least 20 min. (12 miles) from a town with a good sized library and most children don't have a chance to get there.

We appreciate Jessy's nomination for this special opportunities for our children.

Kathleen Kilbourne, Principal

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Lore Elementary School is a K-5 school with 540 students as of October 16, 2013. There are 99 kindergarten students, 82 first grade students, 111 second grade students, 77 third grade students, 76 fourth grade students, and 85 fifth grade students. The student population is 5.4% Asian, 36.7% Black or African American, 7.0% Hispanic, 5.7% multi-racial, and 45.2% White. Sixteen students receive ESL/LEP services, and 72 students or 13.3% of the student population receives special education services. Lore School was honored as a National School of Character in October 2010.

I began as principal for the 2013-14 school year. I have noticed that our school is lacking in books both in classroom libraries and our school library. My focus this year is to improve our reading scores and bring to grade level student who are reading below grade level. This cannot be accomplished without an adequate supply of books, especially non-fiction books which we desperately lack.
Thank you for considering our request.

Sincerely,

Edward Chmiel
Principal

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

From the Language Arts Specialist at Eickenroht Elemetary:

Eickenroht Elementary is a Title 1 school in a low income/underprivileged area of Houston. We currently have about 600 Pre-K through 5th grade students, of which 89% are economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunch. 

We strive to be a literacy rich campus, as many of our students do not have access to books at home. We have already established a school library for children to check out books, a guided reading library for teachers to pull sets of leveled books, and each Language Arts teacher has a classroom library. However, all of these libraries need additional books, and we are constantly in the process of trying to increase our supplies. We believe in providing students with extensive reading experiences in a variety of genres, and any assistance we can get to help us achieve our vision is tremendously appreciated by our staff, students, and parents.


From Richard G., the recommending member:

I have been a Houstonian for 40+ years. My education was by our schools (Houston ISD, Univ. of Houston), and I have experienced both the struggle to have access to books as a child and the joy and success that reading has provided me over the years. Nothing lifts a young man or woman to move beyond thier current environment more powerfully than hope. Books provide a window of hope and relief for those in difficult circumstances; a glimse of how it can be instead of how it now is.

Since I joined PaperBackSwap three years ago and discovered the school donation program, I have been accumulating credits for the day when I could benefit one of these worthy schools. I can personally advance this candidate school 250+ credits to move them toward thier goals. I hope they are selected for this wonderful program.
 

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

We are so excited about our nomination!  Lewis-Arriola is a small, rural, farming community that is home to our elementary school.  We have 122 students in our one-track, Kindergarten-5th grade school.  It is a warm and welcoming school where our parents and neighbors are a huge support system for our children and staff.  We have 8 teachers including our Resource and Reading facilitator, 2 support staff who are also our computer teacher and librarian, a wonderful secretary, a cook, a custodian and a part-time principal. 

Lewis-Arriola Elementary has Title 1 designation as close to 50% of our students are on the free and reduced lunch program. In the last 7-10 years, our school budget has dropped tremendously and our library has not been funded.  With that, most of our books are very dated.  Our PE and music departments have been dwindled down to one time per week, so our library is really the only saving grace for teacher planning time and also for our children to be able to read something of their choice.  Our PTO program is a wonderful resource and they do their best to provide extra funds to our classroom teachers and staff, but those monies go directly to supplies needed.  Two years ago our RIF program was lost because there was no grant writer in the district to help with that, therefore,  the children getting books for their home libraries has ceased.  It would be wonderful for each child to get a new book for themselves for home, our classroom libraries and for our school library.  Any help is so much appreciated. 

We are very honored by our nomination and would love to be considered as a school to be adopted.  Thank you so much for this wonderful project!

Angela Yates
Lewis-Arriola Elementary School
Librarian
 

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

I am writing to encourage you to consider our Title I school. We have a highly diverse population of students in grades PreK-Grade 5.

We are a Title I School with 617 students in PreK- Grade 5. Our school population is diverse with 27% English Language Learners.

As the sole elementary librarian, I work tirelessly to give students the books that hold their interest. Our budgets are tight during this slow economic time. We are working at adding more multiple copies to our Book Room so classroom teachers can use them for reading groups.

 Let me share with you about how we gave each of our 617 PreK-Gd. 5 students a free book to kick off our summer reading program last June. Later in August, I visited two of our trailer park communities to get pictures of our students with their favorite book.  When our students ran into their modest homes and came out for the photo shoot,  it was obvious that their book was the one we had given them.   Any books that are donated by the paperback swap community will be given to our students to kick of our new summer reading program for 2014.  

Thank you for considering our students in your amazing act of generosity.

Gratefully,
Margo Jantzi
Cub Run Elementary School Librarian
 

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

I teach in Jefferson Elementary School,  a high poverty school on the Navajo Reservation. We are a Title 1 school, where because of the poverty level the entire school receives free meals.

The school I work in is made up of Native Americans and Hispanic students who come from very low income homes.  The majority of our student's families do not even have a car, much less books in their homes.  I moved to this area about 25 years ago, and just love the small town feel of knowing many of the people who live here.  Sometimes it does get depressing seeing how many of our students live (some without running water, in ran down motels, alcoholism is a major problem in our community), but I love the children and hope to help them have a better future. 

Recently, during my lunch time, I started a writing club for grades 3-5. I expected maybe 25 kids to enroll; however I was highly mistaken as 60 students elected to spend their lunch time writing in my classroom. In January, I am going to switch from the Writing Club to the Reading Club and am in need of books for my classroom.

Thank you PaperBackSwap for helping our school!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Academy of the City Charter School is a Title I elementary school that currently has Kindergarten through Second grades.  Our student body is 150 students and we will add additional grades each year until Fifth grade.  Our student population is 78% free and reduced lunch, 28% English Language Learners and 15% Special Education students.  We have a diverse population that includes families from over 15 countries and speaking over 9 languages at home.

As we are in our second year of operation, our emphasis is developing classroom libraries that can be used to send books home for additional reading time.  We have an emphasis on students becoming independent thinkers, lifelong learners, and responsible members of their communities.

Academy of the City Charter School principles:

Community involvement
Workplace democracy
Reflective practices in pedagogy, management and governance
Professional development
Accountability
Transparency
Entrepreneurialism

Our students will become independent thinkers, lifelong learners, and responsible members of their communities. We are committed to an educational philosophy rooted in social justice, inquiry, experiential and collaborative learning, and supported by continual professional development and reflective practice. Through a literacy-based, integrated curriculum that encourages community and honors diversity, our students receive the education they will need to meet the academic and social challenges of the best high schools, to be prepared for our best colleges and universities, and to thrive in today’s world.

We appreciate your considering to donate books to our school to enhance children’s reading!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Community School of Excellence is a charter school in St. Paul, MN. Our enrolled students are 95% ELL, with 98% of the students receiving free and reduced lunches.  The school seeks to serve one of the most underserved minority populations in the Twin Cities, the Hmong.

The Hmong people, who were mostly farmers, were forced to help the U.S. when the U.S. went into Vietnam in 1969. When the U.S. left Vietnam, they left the Hmong people behind, without any structure or benefits. Eventually, the Hmong started to flee to Thailand and other refugee camps. They were a displaced group of people for many years.

Since the Hmong did not have a written language until the last 60 years, the Hmong people have been a group of oral storytellers. Their stories and learning has come orally, with few families have books or libraries.

I have many students in my sixth grade classes who do not have books in their homes, nor do they have access to books at the library because their families might not own transportation. The students only access to books is from classes or the CSE Media Center. The Media Center is a great opportunity for the students, but the selection is limited. Books are always needed.

Based on research, students' reading skills improve with the more reading they do. I think the students would read better if they all had at least one book of their own. I would love to provide at least one book to each student, and with the loss of other programs, like Reading is Fundamental; PBS's Adopt-a-School Program becomes even more crucial.

Thank you for your time and effort! Please Adopt Our School!

Sincerely,

Tracie Bowman
Language Arts Teacher

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

At John Muir we want students to understand that they can and do make choices and that their choices make a difference. Their choices are their power; they matter…to them, to their classmates, to our community, and to the world. All people make choices. We teach our students about choices that are healthy for bodies and minds; about choices that can help our community and our world. We want John Muir students to understand their power to make choices and to make an impact. Our goal is for all students to find their power and use it well.

We currently have 640 students, 64% are low income and receive free or reduced lunch.

Thank you PaperBackSwap for your gift of reading for our students!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Centennial Place Elementary School is a child-centered, community-based themed school that focuses on Science, Mathematics, and Technology. The school draws its student population from the Centennial Place neighborhood and surrounding communities including two shelters. The students bring a multiplicity of diversities in cultures, languages, socioeconomic status and customs. Centennial is designed with open classroom space configurations that provide technology rich learning environments. This configuration encourages cooperative, collaborative instructional teams to create and produce interdisciplinary work. We have 530 students enrolled, of which 70% are entitled to free or reduced lunches, making us a Title 1 school.

The Centennial Place vision is for families, schools, and the community to be unified as a Learning Village with focused strategies to change underlying attitudes toward education.

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Grove J. Tuttle School is a school family that cares for each other and learns together.  We have 200 students, 60% are low income and qualify for free or reduced lunches.

Staff, parents and community friends are committed to provide our children with the confidence to question and the skills to find the answers within themselves and in the world.  Our staff and children are lifelong learners who will inspire the world.

Thank you PaperBackSwap members for helping our children!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Greetings Mr. Pickering and Paper Back Swap Team,

I am so excited to hear about our nomination!

Clinton Grove Elementary School began life in 1868 as the Robeystown School No. 1, District 9.  It was the first school established for the African-American community in the Surrattsville-Clinton area. It was established to provide education to the children of freed slaves by the Freedmen's Bureau.  This was done at a time when there was not strong support for the education of these children.

Clinton Grove is a school with 3 specialized programs, General Education, Special Education Resource and Comprehensive Special Education Program (CSEP).

Our Special Education Resource and CSEP Programs comprise of students with emotional and severe learning disabilities, Down Syndrome, Autism, Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental delays.  Over the years the school has lost funding and our Library Media Center has suffered.  Receiving a book donation to our school would mean we would be able to implement a Backpack-n-Books program; which would provide our students that are most in need of an additional literacy intervention, outlined in our school improvement plan, under both Reading/Language Arts achievement and Parental Engagement & Involvement.  Your books, partnered with a generous backpack donation provided to our school by one of our local business partners, will launch this program into full implementation.

In addition, our African-American boys, many of which have been identified as, Free And Reduce Meals (FARMS) and Students with a disability (SWD) impact our school-wide achievement data as “double-dippers” are reading 2 grade levels behind.  Having more current and child-friendly books available to them in both their classrooms, the Media Library Center and at home, via the Backpack-n-Books initiative is yet another way we can provide them with a “double-dose” of literacy.

I look forward to hearing from the Paper Back Swap Team! We at Clinton Grove ES are super excited about being a contender!

With P.A.N.D.A (Postive.Academic.Nurturing.Defines.Achievement) Pride,

Jamila Mannie, M. Ed., Principal

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Antheil is a great place to learn! This slogan can be seen around town on many of our PTO notices and hand-outs. Antheil Elementary School is the great school it is because of our involved families, devoted teachers and the strong academic, social and emotional support we give to all of our nearly 700 students.

Our thorough guidance program teaches children how to interact with their peers, how to be good friends, and how to work through social situations in which they may initially be uncomfortable. Children can attend Lunch Bunches where these very important social skills are practiced and enhanced.

Antheil School’s total population of 684 students consists, demographically, of 36.14% African American, 21% other minorities (Asian, Hispanic and multiracial) and 42.86% Caucasian. 36.26% of the student population receives free or reduced lunch and Antheil has been designated as a Title 1 school.

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

At Parkway Elementary School, home to 439 students and 65 staff members, we work as a team with our parents/guardians to instill a positive outlook in our students and to build a sense of respect, readiness, responsibility and resourcefulness that will allow them to be productive citizens in today’s society. We take pride in striving for excellence and engaging our students in active learning. At Parkway, dedicated staff members work with a sense of commitment and enthusiasm to promote the success of every child.

ParkwaySchool’s total population of 439 students consists, demographically, of 54.67% African American, 25.51% other minorities (Asian, Hispanic and multiracial) and 19.82% Caucasian. 58.54% of the student population receives free or reduced lunch and Parkway has been designated as a Title 1 school.

As our school bumper sticker proudly celebrates, Parkway School is truly a place where "Everyone Is Someone Special".

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Montebello Elementary is a Title I Pre-K through 8th grade school in Baltimore City with a total enrollment of 830 children. 550 are enrolled in PreK through 5th grade. About 3/4 of our students receive Free or Reduced Lunch, and about 1 in 6 of our students receive Special Education services. We have put an extra emphasis on improving literacy this year - our schoolwide theme is "Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader." We encourage our students to read daily during Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) time and to log their independent reading nightly, but many of our students do not have access to high-quality, age-appropriate reading materials at home. Our parents are extremely supportive of the school and take their children's education seriously, but, due to their working hours, they aren't able to take their children to the library, and our school library is very out-of-date. We would love to give every child a book on their reading level to take home to start their own personal libraries. Any extra books would supplement our classroom libraries so that students have more reading options during daily DEAR time. Thank you so much in advance for your support!!!

- Julien Colvin, PBS member and  teacher at Montebello Elementary

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Even though 71% of our students come from very low income homes and qualify for free lunch, Palo Christi is an "A" (Excelling) School! This means that our students are above the National Average on Stanford 10, AIMS and other testing. We raised our standard from Performing Plus. We have great teachers and students.

Palo Christi is also a 2011 Higher Performing School. We are with the top 13% of Arizona schools who receive this honor.

We are a kindergarten through 5th grade school. We build our community using the LifeSkills and Lifelong Guidelines.

Our Mission Statement: To provide students with an educational foundation for life-long success.

Your book donations will be very appreciated to help our children retain their high academic achievements.

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

J.J. Flynn School is one of the largest elementary schools in Burlington, Vermont. We are a Title One School and currently have 326 students enrolled. We are at 45% free and reduced lunch and have a growing English Language Learner population with families from Vietnam, Bosnia, Somalia and Nepal.

Thanks very much for considering a donation to our school!

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Public School 130 is a community school serving a culturally diverse population in the Kensington and Windsor Terrace neighborhoods of Brooklyn. There are approximately 600 students in Pre-K through Fifth Grade, and about 17 languages spoken among the families at PS 130.

The school population comprises 16% Black, 31% Hispanic, 27% White, and 23% Asian students. The student body includes 10% English language learners and 17% special education students. Boys account for 53% of the students enrolled and girls account for 47%.

94.2% of our students qualify for Title One.

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Founded in 1927, St. Joseph’s Indian School has served Lakota (Sioux) families from South Dakota reservations for 85 years, providing a safe place for children to live, learn and grow. We seek to educate Native American children for life – mind, body, heart and spirit.  

Students are accepted based on need, and generally come from situations of extreme poverty. They attend St. Joseph’s at no financial cost to their families – nearly all of our funding comes from private donations.

Each of the 19 homes on campus have houseparents who provide loving care in a safe and stable environment. Children are helped with homework, assigned chores and offered guidance and encouragement to achieve all they can.

St. Joseph’s provides everything the children need, from warm clothing and a safe home to school books, teachers and school supplies.

Appreciation of the Lakota (Sioux) culture is infused in the daily life both at school and in the homes. Our Native American Studies classes focus on Lakota language, culture and traditions. We have an on-staff cultural expert and also regularly invite Lakota (Sioux) advisors to assist with additional programming.

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

The Russell School is a fabulous urban school located in the heart of Boston. Unfortunately, we are lacking wonderful books for our students! A donation of books would make a huge difference to the students. They could learn new things, use their imaginations, and make connections to their learning with a larger variety of textbooks. Thank you for your consideration! - Linda Pike (Nominator)

The Russell School has 360 students, 80% percent qualify for school lunches.

We hit our Book Credits goal!

We hit our PBS Money goal!

Last year on the first day of school, Tropical Storm Lee deluged our
region with several inches of rain in a short period of time.  By the
afternoon, we knew we would have to dismiss early as roads
began to flood.  By the next day, about 18 inches of water had flooded
our entire school and many homes of our students and staff had flooded.
We are in a temporary location still at this time as we make plans with
FEMA to rebuild our school.  We lost most of our belongings that were in
our school and are still rebuilding classroom libraries.  The books
provided by the Books for Schools program will help us provide books for
classrooms and will be greatly appreciated by our staff and students.

Thank you!!
Laurie Mckeveny (Principal)

We hit our Book Credits goal!

You can help Harney Elementary Students receive new books of their own!

Harney Elementary is a neighborhood school located on the outskirts of downtown Vancouver, Washington.  We are bursting at the seams with our increase in student population as we have surpassed the 600 mark.  With this increase in population, our needs have increased as well.  Currently our school is at 70% poverty level, which means more than half of our students take part in the free and reduced lunch program. 

In addition to our high poverty level, we also have a highly diverse school.  Forty percent of our students are of Hispanic descent while an additional ten percent are African American and Pacific Islander.  Both of these factors (poverty and diversity) create challenges and learning opportunities for our teachers and students.
 
Harney Elementary takes pride in their efforts to increase our students reading and writing skills.  Through programs like “At Home Reading”, a Read-a-Thon, author’s workshops and Reading Across America, our staff desires all students to be able to access books that will motivate them to read and achieve.  Our school’s motto is, “Believe!  Learning together, we can Achieve!”  Unfortunately, many of our students do not have access to books at home that can support what is being done at school.  With your help, through Paperbackswap, we would give students the chance to have their own books at home as well as increase each teacher’s classroom library.  

Thank you in advance for giving!

Believe!  Reading together, we can achieve!

Sincerely,

 RaChelle Hendricks, Teacher-Librarian

I am very interested in suggesting this school for this program, not only because my son goes there, but because it is one of the poorest school in all of the Vancouver School District. It gets looked over a lot because most of the other schools have more funds than Harney and because the students tend to lack parents that are involved or lack the ability to donate or volunteer. This school definitely needs all the help it can get! Thank you!

Karen W., PBS member

We hit our Book Credits goal!

Red Shirt Students Get Excited About Books

Red Shirt Table School is a K-8 public school located in the Shannon County School District within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The school has a yearly K-8 pupil enrollment of approximately 75 students. The school exceeds the state average for highly qualified teachers and paraprofessionals. Approximately 98% of the students attending Red Shirt Table School are Native American. About 98% of the students are enrolled tribal members of the Oglala Lakota Oyate.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the second largest Indian Reservation in the United States has a consistent unemployment rate of eighty percent (80%). Reports show that Shannon County is one of the poorest counties in the United States. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is one of the most isolated areas in the State of South Dakota with a population of approximately 2 persons per square mile. Travel to doctors, hospitals, shopping and trade centers usually require one or two hours of driving time. A large percentage of our students are transported to and from the school by bus. The social, economic, and political life of the reservation communities revolves closely around school facilities and school activities.

With books from PaperBackSwap we hope to improve our reading scores and our students passion for reading. These books will be included within their homework binders, which go home each weekend. With the books donated you will be giving students a chance to build their own library of books at home.

Barbara Ice, Principal Red Shirt School

Learn the Lakota language:

To strengthen the Lakota identity and values of students and to assure their overall well-being and academic success.                       

Red Shirt is a little village on the edge of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The residents are far below the poverty level and can use all the help available. The school is very small, with approximately 64 K-8 students attending. The building is only a few years old and very nice, but the support of books will always be appreciated there. My wife and I stopped at the school to walk through a few years ago and were very pleased with the friendliness of the staff.

Kent Hyde, PBS member

We hit our Book Credits goal!