About LOP
Land O’Pines primary school is an exciting place to learn! We host the district’s preschool program and educate students through second grade. As one of the inaugural Future Ready Schools, LOP Pirates are committed to empowering children. We believe when students are given a nurturing learning environment that supports learner-led pathways, they will succeed in their unique outcomes.
Our preschool program has rolling enrollment and students who qualify, can begin as early as three years old. We dedicate a Child Study Team solely to the preschool and our related services include speech, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. We encompass the Tools of the Mind curriculum and enhance student learning with diverse technology: Teachers utilize the Seesaw program to record make-believe play practice and provide scaffolded play instruction to younger learner/students with a less developed play scheme; YouTube videos host virtual field trips to enhance student play; there are digital and interactive books projected for whole class read-alouds; the iScaffold program supports teachers in modifying the trajectory to best reach all learners; and musical transitions promote self-regulation.
Our kindergarten through grade two students have an iPad with a 2:1 ratio. We support students with many of the same resources as preschool. LOP effectively and strategically integrates technology throughout the school's teaching and learning instructional practices, while providing 24/7 access that supports individual and collaborative learning for its students and educators. We utilize Seesaw recordings of student reading to monitor fluency and to make students aware of their own reading progress. Pixar shorts (videos with no dialogue) are used for inferencing lessons in our Reading Workshop curriculum. We have Epic! book accounts for digital book and video access, to expose students to reading across multiple platforms, and enhance classroom libraries. This also gives students access to more media in their personal areas of interest. We benchmark student reading levels via Fountas and Pinnell assessments. Students are able to publish their Writers Workshop books in applications such as Book Creator. Our enVision math program identifies individual student accounts to monitor student progress, as well as assign activities to students based on performance and areas of interest. Front Row, Prodigy, and Xtra Math applications allow for individualized skill instruction in Math Workshop and many of these can be accessed from home. Mystery Science rounds out our STEAM/science curricula.
Our leadership is collaborative and inclusive of all educational stakeholders. Our classrooms are outfitted with projectors, document cameras, and screens and each teacher has a macbook. Our learning management systems, Schoology and Google Drive implement teacher resources to allow share spaces and various ways to communicate within the staff. Staff is encouraged to visit one another’s classrooms as we host self-scheduled learning walks. To communicate with home and the outside community, we are active on Twitter. Programs such as Remind, Seesaw and Dojo allow parents to see what is happening in their child’s classroom throughout the day and provide a clean, private way to connect.
Our staff of 100+ educators is committed to providing a learning environment that promotes high achievement and a positive self-image. With LOP’s technology infrastructure and support, we are sufficient to enable educators to effectively prepare Future Ready students. Through technology, personalized learning, and creative scheduling, individual needs are met for each and every student to create an outstanding educational experience. Land O’Pines
School is proud of its student achievement levels as reflected in school-wide Renaissance STAR Assessment Test results. The STAR computer-based test is administered three times a year and measures individual academic growth in Early Literacy, Reading and Math. We rely on our School Improvement Panel, Data Teams and Professional Learning Networks to formatively assess student and teacher needs. It is through these teams, that we analyze student performance data, and determine our plan for professional learning in a “for us, by us” mentality.
The New Jersey Student Learning Standards are used to direct instruction at all levels and across all subject disciplines. Professional learning in-service activities are focused on meeting these standards, as well as finding new, exciting, and creative teaching strategies to make learning both enjoyable and meaningful. The results of all data collected are routinely reviewed, examined, and analyzed which provides a stimulus for curriculum changes, modifications, and enhancements. Many special academic offerings continue to be available to students in need of extra help. Response to Intervention continues to grow as our staff strives to create a strong educational foundation for our students. Our focus is to fine tune this intervention by changing the mindset of teachers to support students with effective Tier 1 strategies. It is our hope to ensure the sustainability of current levels of attainment, growth, and progress to higher levels of success.
Our Gifted & Talented program begins in second grade, when we offer Enrichment Cluster Groups to help qualifying students reach their fullest potential. To truly combine personalized learning and purposeful play, our students are able to choose an enrichment specials class to attend that is taught on a monthly basis.
We work together to educate our community for our children’s highest success. The Land O’ Pines PTO continues to be an integral part of our school as parent volunteers are always welcome in a wide variety of ways – from seasonal PTO activities to volunteers in the classroom. Of special note are the evening “Family Night” activities such as ‘Pumpkin Carving’, ‘Art Night’, Book Fairs, Holiday Bazaar, ‘End of the Year Carnival’ and similar events which continue to enhance and reinforce the extended family atmosphere because we know that parents play a critical role in their child’s learning experience. ‘Books and Blankets Night is a great way to highlight the importance of literacy as students are able to cuddle up on a blanket and show off their reading skills to their family. During this night, parents can attend a literacy workshop, while students join staff members for a read-aloud and a “bedtime snack”. Parents can also attend a math workshop to learn how the enVisions Math program could be used at home. Thus, we continue to keep the lines of communication with our stakeholders, open, honest and approachable.
Our leadership is one that reflects Innovation, Collaboration and Empowerment. Education and Classroom practice provides authentic learning and digital assessment. Technology Support and Services offers continual training that reflects our district policy. We believe that play is hard work! To this end, we tap into our preschool teachers’ focus and scaffold “play” into our school day. Our professional reading group meets monthly to. We annually celebrate “Global School Play Day” by having our older students ‘buddy’ with our younger ones.
Land O’Pines School has a foundation for Future Readiness by offering a stimulating, enriching, and empowering learning environment that encourages our students to “Wake Up and Be Awesome!”