On behalf of the faculty and staff at Guild Elementary School, I would like to thank you for visiting our 2009-10 website and encourage you to examine the assortment of site links added to it for the benefit of our students and parents/guardians.  We hope that our maintenance of this website enables parents, students, and other stakeholders to stay continually informed about school policies and procedures and the many events that we have planned for our students.  Please note that changes to our web provider are taking place, so teachers may be postponing changing their individual and grade-level sites until the conversion is complete.

Guild Elementary School strives to present a challenging, enriching, and supportive academic program to all our students.  The caring nature, high quality, and dedication (to children) of our school and staff is made evident by the fact that approximately 28% (183 out of 660 students) of our 2009-2010 students CHOOSE to attend GUILD SCHOOL "out-of-zone" rather than attend their zoned school! 

ACADEMIC PROGRAM OFFERINGS:

In addition to our core curricular offerings as mandated by the TN Department of Education, Guild School will once again offer Unity.com for the 2009-10 school year.  Unity.com is an after-school academic enrichment program that targets academically at-risk students in grades 3-5.  In this program, students are given free tutorials in the areas of reading, math, homework, and also enjoy organized recreational activities.  We offer free-of-charge morning tutoring, with four different Guild teachers serving as tutors for students in any grade.  The computer lab was recently refurbished via stimulus funding from the federal governmnet.  In 2007, Guild School was the first large Sumner school to become a “school-wide” Title One school, a transition that enabled our staff to provide assistance to ALL students, not just “Title One” students.  Our 2009 TCAP scores truly reflect the undeniably strong impact that school-wide Title One has had on the academic success of our school and students.  Our Title One program, called “R.E.A.C.H.” (Reading Empowers All Children’s Hopes), enables us to expand our services and assistance to all Guild students.  Our three Reading Specialists, Kim Yoakem, Tina Thompson, and Pam Newby guide this critical program. Guild also offers a comprehensive Special Education program that consists of CDC, ERC, and Resource “pullout” and “inclusion” classes. Guild has one of the most talented Speech & Language therapists in our state - Mrs. Karen Shoulders, serving students in grades K-5.  Further, Guild hosts “Family Reading Night” every Monday and Tuesday night from 3:00 - 6:00 for all students and family members.  Students may read to their parents and/or take Accelerated Reader tests during Family Reading Nights.  Our SEARCH (gifted) program is one of the largest in our county and our SEARCH students have earned recognition through their highly successful participation in the MTSU Stock Market Game, earning third place out of 151 participating schools,  many of which were private and/or middle schools. Several of our SEARCH students were recognized by the Duke University Talent Identification Program.  Recently, three of our SEARCH students received "Best Presentation" awards at the MTSU Science Invention Convention.  After the completion of each six weeks period, Guild School rewards our six weeks Honor Roll students and Students of the Month with "Great Gator Grades Day", a day of extra recess, games, and prizes for our Honor Roll students.  Further, Guild will hold its sixth annual Honors Night in May 2010 in order to recognize our “A” and “A/B” Honor Roll students for the entire year as well as top students in a variety of academic and extracurricular subjects.  Our students further benefit from our recent partnership with Tennessee State University's School of Education, which sends 70+ future teachers to our school to observe teachers and students; teach mini-lessons; serve as reading partners with many Guild students each week in addition to TSU's Adopt-A-Classroom program in which a dozen of our classes have been "adopted" by TSU students.  Special thanks goes to Dr. Beth Christian, TSU professor, for allowing Guild to have ALL of her students for this worthy and beneficial endeavor!  Finally, a huge thanks goes out to The Junior Service League of Gallatin and Volunteer State Community College for sending reading buddies to Guild to serve many of our first grade students.

2009 TCAP REPORT CARD:

NCLB Status:

• Good Standing for 2009-10!
• Math:  99% proficient/advanced without Special Education scores
• Math:  96% proficient/advanced with Special Education scores
• Math:  156 Advanced-level scores (out of 283); figure includes Special Education scores
• Math - 3rd Grade:  Higher than state and system averages
• Math - 4th Grade:  Equivalent to state average
• Math - 5th Grade:  Equivalent to system average; higher than state average
• Math - 13 Regular Education teachers (out of 14) had 100% proficient/advanced scores
• Reading/Language Arts:  9 Regular Education teachers (out of 14) had 100% proficient/advanced scores
• Reading/Language Arts:  91% proficient/advanced (school wide, counting Special Education students' scores)
• Reading/Language Arts:  98% proficient/advanced (excluding Special Education student scores)
• Reading/Language Arts (3rd Grade):  Higher scores than state average (Special Ed scores included)
• Reading/Language Arts (5th Grade):  Equivalent scores to system average AND higher scores than state averages (figure includes Special Ed scores)
• Reading/Language Arts:  134 Advanced Scores (out of 283); figure includes Special Education scores
• Social Studies (3rd Grade):  Higher scores than state and system averages
• Social Studies (4th Grade):  Higher scores than state average
• Social Studies (5th Grade):  Equivalent scores to system average; higher scores than state average
• Social Studies:  Seven teachers with 100% proficient/advanced scores
• Social Studies:  136 Advanced scores (out of 283); figure includes Special Education scores
• Science (3rd Grade):  Higher scores than state average
• Science (4th Grade):  Higher scores than state average
• Science (5th Grade):  Equivalent scores to system average; higher scores than state average; 
• Science:  Four teachers with 100% proficient/advanced scores
• Science:  120 Advanced scores (out of 283); figure includes Special Education scores
•  All Tests:  Six Students with PERFECT SCORES!
• Overall:  1,132 tests taken by 283 students:  546 Advanced scores!

Extracurricular Programs/Offerings

1. 5^th Grade Boys Floor Hockey:  every other Friday; 2:45 - 4:30; facilitator - Mr. Lopez

2. 5^th Grade Girls Volleyball:  Fridays during the Spring semester; facilitators - Ms. Davis and Mrs. Montgomery

3. Jump Rope for Heart participation each Spring

4. Family Fitness Festival participation each Fall ;  Guild won FIRST PLACE in Sumner County at the October 2008 festival!  WAY TO GO, GATORS!

5. Fall and Spring Field Days

6. School Carnival (Each May)

7. Fried Pie Fridays:  question of the day;  students with correct answer receive a small prize

8. Wacky Wednesdays (Kindergarten)

9. Cinco de Mayo celebrations each May

10. Chorus for 4^th and 5^th graders:  currently, 80+ members

11. Clothing Closet – we provide clothing to students in cases of emergency and/or if they do not have clean or appropriate clothing to wear at school.

12. Candy Scrambles and Handprinting on the Guild Gator Wall of Fame for Students of the Month.

13.  First Gator School Bank:  Guild partners with Volunteer State Bank to maintain a school bank in which students may make deposits at the school (into Volunteer State Bank) every 1^st and 3^rd Thursday of each month.  Six  5^th grade students are our bank tellers, giving them a very valuable “real-life” experience in banking.

14.  ROTARY bicycle giveaways:  a new, free bike is given to a deserving student each month by the Gallatin ROTARY Club.