Eileen B. Lorenz begins her third year as principal at Travilah Elementary School.
Is there anything you’d like to see parents do more of?
“Read with your child. … It has a significant impact on how your child does at school.”
Is there anything you’d like to see parents do less of?
“I can’t think of anything I wish they would do less. … Each parent sends us their most precious commodity. It’s our job [to accommodate parents’ interests].”
What are some of the major differences you foresee between this year and last year?
“We have been working on vertical articulation — making sure we know what middle schools and high schools are expecting.”
What is a challenge you face as Travilah’s principal?
“I think that every elementary school principal faces a difficult job in making sure every child gets the very best in terms of academics.”
“We are definitely standards-based, and that is a result of the No Child Left Behind Act. Fourth- and 5th-graders know [testing] is coming down the pike.”
Based on educational studies, Travilah wants to ensure that all teachers in each of the school’s grade levels are working together. “The philosophy at Travilah is that every child belongs to every teacher.”
What is your favorite part of being principal at Travilah?
“It’s a wonderful school with great kids and very supportive parents. [Also] watching teachers in action. … A lot of people think that educators have work off for three months, [but] they were all in training, and they were stopping by to set up their classes. The staff is great.”
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Travilah Elementary School
13801 DuFief Mill Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Phone: 301-840-7153
Grades: K-5
Principal: Eileen B. Lorenz
PTA President: Mary Tonelson
Racial/Ethnic Composition
African American: 4.2%
Asian: 33.2%
Hispanic: 4.6%
White: 57.8%
% Receiving Spec. Ed.: 7.3
% ESOL: 4.2
% FARMS: 5.5
Student/Instructional Staff Ratio: 13.93
Average Class Size (Grades 1-2): 23.9
Average Class Size (Grades 3-5): 25.7
Average Class Size (Kindergarten): 24.3
Projected Enrollment/Capacity: 494/413*
PROGRAM DISCRIPTIONS
The Autism program serves children from ages 2 1/2 to 21 who have autism or pervasive development disorder (PDD). The program provides a highly structured curriculum based on functional skills development, behavior management, and communication. Mainstream related services may attend to individual needs.
The Bridge Program provides an intensive program for adolescents with emotional disabilities that interfere with education success. The program also serves students with behavioral difficulties, health impairments, or secondary disabilities. Students receive individualized instructional accommodations, behavior management, and alternative learning structures.
Learning for Independence offers students with mild to moderate mental retardation many opportunities for interaction with regular education peers, including peer tutoring, inclusion in general education classes as appropriate, and extracurricular activities. The program uses the Fundamental Life Skills (FLS) program or a combination of FLS and adapted general education curricula. At the secondary level, students receive community-based instruction and vocational training.
The School/Community-Based Program (SCBP) emphasizes individualized instruction in school and community work environments for students with moderate to severe disabilities in the areas of communication, behavior management, and socialization. School-based instruction uses the Fundamental Life Skills (FLS) program or a combination of FLS and adapted general education curricula. Community-based instruction exposes students to real-world settings.
Learning and Academic Disabilities helps students with learning and academic disabilities through a variety of services, depending on individual student needs. Services may be found in elementary and secondary learning centers, the Carl Sandburg Learning Center, or school-based cluster model programs.
The Division of Career and Technology Education (CTE), a part of the MCPS system, coordinates programs that prepare students for the transition from school to careers. Career-oriented curricula intend to help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to prepare for the future.