"Moving on Up!" is the message at Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md. The early childhood initiatives in place at Broad Acres and the support from Montgomery County Public Schools to effectively implement these initiatives are key to student success.

Broad Acres serves 570 children in Head Start through grade five. It is an ethnically, linguistically and socioeconomically unique community, where 90 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. Broad Acres is a Title I school and English is a second language for the majority of its children and families. The student population is 64 percent Hispanic, 19 percent African/Caribbean/African American, 17 percent Asian/Vietnamese, and less than 1 percent white. Over 30 percent of the students at Broad Acres enroll or withdraw during a school year. Many parents are recent immigrants who share housing arrangements and work several jobs to provide the basic necessities for their families. The community values education and appreciates the opportunities it affords children.

In his three years as superintendent, Jerry Weast has implemented a variety of initiatives to ensure a solid foundation in literacy. For Broad Acres, this means that there are two Head Start classes, six all-day kindergarten classes with none larger than 15 students, and six classes of 15-17 students each at first and second grade. In these primary classes, there is a focus on state content standards with clear expectations for what children should know or be able to do at each grade level. Teachers meet to plan together and to define criteria for success. According to principal Jody Leleck, "Every staff member truly models the belief that all children can meet standards, given the time, support and effort necessary."

With poverty, mobility and a large number of English language learners, assessment and monitoring are critical to intervention and support. Teachers use spreadsheets to track individual student performance in reading, math and science. Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers also administer county fall, winter and spring literacy assessments and enter this data. Individual student profiles are created from teacher spreadsheets to monitor progress and target support, such as after-school and Saturday tutoring sessions.

The most recent state assessments suggest that early childhood initiatives are working for the students at Broad Acres Elementary. They had the highest gains in Montgomery County Public Schools on the 2000-01 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. Third-grade scores increased in each tested area, with reading scores improving by 17 percent. For Broad Acres students, standards-based, early childhood instruction and assessment are the keys to those unlimited opportunities they deserve.