Park City & Deer Valley

The Title 1 Ensures Students are Hungry to Learn, Not Hungry to Eat

As reported in the Park Record, for the third year in a row, McPolin Elementary School received recognition for its high test scores as a Title 1 school. Funded through the federal government, the school offers students free or discounted lunch prices. According to McPolin Principal, Bob Edmiston, more than 55 percent of the school's student body qualifies for the program based on household income.

At the end of each school year, the state calculated the average test scores per school. For the last three years, McPolin's averages have been higher than several school's that  aren't in the Title 1 category. The school received a letter from the Utah State Office of Education recognizing the student's achievement. To read the full article, go to www.ParkRecord.com.

Park City is a great place to live and raise children. With the current Park City real estate prices now is a great time to purchase a primary or vacation home.

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael LaPay, Associate Broker
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com

Park City Mountain Lifestyle Newsletter

Late Summer 2011

Park City is a very popular tourist destination. This is the reason why a lot of investors are opting to buy Park City real estate. Buyers and investors alike are aware of rental and resale value. The Park City real estate market is extremely varied and buyers have a plethora of properties to choose from.

What makes Park City a great choice? It offers luxurious amenities and so much more. The area is known for its winter paradise and the fun activities that you can do there. You will witness the rolling mountains covered in pure white snows, the magnificent canyons, the smooth slopes for snow sports like skiing and snowboarding, awesome resorts that are full of fun activities, events and sports competition, and so much more.  

Winter sports are one of the factors that make Park City real estate and the nearby areas popular for many extreme sports enthusiasts. The area has a ski lodge that is accessible for both amateur and professional skiers. There are establishments that are found in Park City which has a combination of brand new and totally remodeled ski-in/ski-out condo units and is available to visitors from time to time. Due to the high volume of tourists every day, the place offers rooms and cottages for overnight stays.

Owners of Park City real estate can expect loads of recreational activities. Tourists and residents are pampered by natural wonders. Park City offers people not only the enjoyment that they get from numerous recreational activities but also the vibrant life the city has to offer. 

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:

Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com

First - through - Ninth Grade Students present their Projects

Students at the Park City Day School showed off their science projects Monday from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at the school's science fair. Many parents, teachers and community members filled the gymnasium to hear students explain their research and experiments.

First-grader Beckley Palmer enlisted the help of her mother Mary to research how to turn a solid chunk of dry ice into a vapor. A constant group of Palmer's classmates, as well as older students, crowded around the beakers filled with water, dish soap and dry-ice to watch the sudsy vapor spill out. Many students gathered suds in their hands.

"Lots of friends like it," Palmer said.

Participation in the fair is required for students from fifth-through-ninth grade. Projects need to include an experiment of some sort that fully follows the process of the scientific method, according to Day School science teacher Peggy Fadling.

As part of the method, students researched a question they had. After they came up with an idea or hypothesis, they created an experiment to test whether or not their idea would work. Many students said they needed to change a few things in order to find success.

The final step in the method was to share their findings with others. Throughout the night, many young scientists stood next to their projects as they addressed groups of people, explaining what they learned through the process. From catapults to explanations of the color spectrum and the water cycle, students wow-ed parents and friends with how much they knew about their projects.

Students in first-through-fourth grade could choose to participate by setting up an experiment, conducting a research project, creating a model, starting a collection or inventing something.

Dierdre O'Neill and Paige Anderson ran a wired circuit through 8 potatoes cut into halves to power an LED light. They researched cathodes, anodes, volts and amperes to learn how to use the electricity in the potatoes to light a flashlight bulb.

"We watched a lot of videos on YouTube to learn how to do it," O'Neill said.

Anderson said they ran into trouble when the potatoes they used produced enough volts but not enough amps to power the light. The two used nails as negatively charged cathodes and copper wires as positively charged anodes to create the wired circuit.

Science teachers assigned projects in mid-December and many students began working on them during the holiday break from school, Fadling said. The fair is designed to allow students to learn the scientific process, share their ideas and experiences with their peers and bring the school community together, she added.

by Douglas Greenwood OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com

McPolin Elementary's Curriculum is Scheduled to Expand in August

According to research based on early-childhood education, a student's success in elementary school is directly linked to how ready he or she was to begin kindergarten. Students who attended a high-quality preschool program are found to be involved in fewer cases of crime, teen pregnancy, delinquency, substance abuse and welfare dependency as compared to those who did not.

Next school year, Park City School District will expand the new preschool curriculum that was introduced at McPolin Elementary last October. Beginning in August at each elementary school, a morning and afternoon class for 3-year-olds will run Monday and Wednesday. Another will run Tuesday and Thursday. A morning and afternoon session for 4-year olds will be offered Monday through Thursday.

For more than 20 years, Park City schools have offered limited preschool classes for children with disabilities beginning at age 3, as mandated by the government.

In conjunction with Davis County School District, Park City students have been able to participate in the Government-funded Head Start Program for nearly two decades. Head Start is designed to help minority families become self-sufficient and prepare their children for success in school.

"One of the things we've been working really hard on district-wide, but starting at the elementary, is closing the achievement gap," Park City curriculum director Tom VanGorder said. "We've had huge gaps over the last 10 years in comparing our Caucasian population to our ESL [English-as-second-language], Hispanic and special ed. populations."

With the limited scope of Park City district's preschool program, VanGorder was troubled by the minimal success he was seeing. He said many students were going from Head Start into kindergarten no better prepared than their classmates who hadn't already gone to school.

"For the benefit of our kids, we had to say, 'We can not continue doing this anymore the way we are doing it,'" he said.

In an effort to further close the gap, VanGorder began looking at a new approach to high-quality, early-childhood education. New preschool curriculum was based on Granite School District's program in Salt Lake, which has received national recognition for its success, VanGorder said.

About 90 students are enrolled in the new program at McPolin this school year. When the classes expand to Parley's Park, Jeremy Ranch and Trailside elementary schools in August, VanGorder anticipates to cap the classes at about 90-100 students per school.

The curriculum is designed to focus on just a few aspects each month. It focuses on early literacy, numbers, social interactions, as well as physical and cognitive growth in an age-appropriate environment. Students will take three assessments throughout the year to measure their progression.

Class-time is organized by activities to best meet the limited attention of 3- and 4-year-old students, according to VanGorder. Students rotate through centers throughout the day.

The teaching center groups a small number of students with the teacher to focus on language, math or social learning, while another group of students spend their time in the work center. The remaining students can choose between different activity centers where they can apply what they are learning by working alone or with their peers.

Full-class activities alternate between break-out sessions and the students spend the day rotating through the four learning centers. The children stay busy all day, VanGorder said.

The program will be funded through a combination of Title 1 monies and donations from the Park City Education Foundation. A large portion of the one-time Edujobs federal stimulus will be used as seed money while the district continues to earmark and secure steady donations.

"I'd love to find individuals or corporations that want to be some heavy-duty sponsors for us because it's that important," VanGorder said.

Interested students will also pay tuition that will be based on a sliding scale, VanGorder said. Families who qualify for the free-and-reduced lunch program will pay $20 each month. For families who can afford it, monthly tuition will be $180. The projected cost for the program's first year is close to $400,000.

"The school board, at this point, is committed to making this run as we need to," VanGorder said. "I feel confident that it will continue based on the support of the school board and the superintendent."

Registration packets are available at each elementary school office. Registration is first-come first-serve and will take place at McPolin Elementary School Thursday and Friday Febuary 3rd - 4th, 2011, from 9:00am to 5:00pm. The program is for district residents only. A $30 fee is due at registration.

by Douglas Greenwood OF THE RECORD STAFF : The Park Record

For More Information on Park City and Deer Valley Contact:
Michael Lapay
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Mobile: 435-640-5700
Toll Free: 888-410-7653

mlapay@pureparkcityrealestate.com