Innovative program in its first year at Los Paseos Elementary School

Published in the April 2 – 15, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Agape Tariku and Justin Aboud

Photo courtesy Los Paseos Elementary School  From left, Trey Bringuel, Principal Jenna Mittleman, and Brandon Scadden participating as Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 during last month’s Read Across America event.

Photo courtesy Los Paseos Elementary School
From left, Trey Bringuel, Principal Jenna Mittleman, and Brandon Scadden participating as Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 during last month’s Read Across America event.

On Friday mornings at Los Paseos Elementary School, the students gather in the multi-purpose room for their regular weekly assembly where they celebrate their achievements and successes through Positively Panther Awards and other honors. At the end of the assembly, the students and some teachers build student confidence by doing a school dance to a kids-bop version of “Gangnam Style.”

The children have fun as the school assembly recognizes the students who did well during the week. This is part of the campus-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support program. With this activity, Los Paseos, located in San Jose but in the Morgan Hill Unified School District, has achieved significant changes in its school culture over the last year to help the Panthers become 21st century learners.

One of Los Paseos’s new programs in the current school year is PAWS which stands for being “peaceful, aware, wise and safe.” Fifth- grader Taylor Conley thinks the school is doing a good job in explaining the PAWS rules to all students, helping them stay on track with good behavior. “Principal Jenna Mittleman helps us remember the rules by reminding us kindly and helping us when needed,” she said. “Teachers remind us to always be respectful.”

Los Paseos Panthers actively participate in Project Cornerstone, a Santa Clara County program that helps create student leaders and encourages “upstanders” to help other students who might have been bullied and need help making friends. It makes Los Paseos a more positive place.

Aaron Osborne, a sixth-grader, said he likes the changes he has seen at Los Paseos and how the teachers are supporting the PAWS program. “Students are doing better because teachers are enforcing the new rules,” he said. Osborne was recently recognized with the Outstanding Students Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill.

Andrea Chau, the president of Los Paseos’s student council, also believes the teachers are doing a good job, but there is still room to improve. Part of learning is being involved as a student leader, and serving on the council helps students achieve this, she said.

“We’re the role models at this school,” she said. “Before the (student council) election, we had to sign a paper saying we had good grades, we were responsible, and had good behavior. That just shows that people would look up to those standards.”

Chau is also in the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program that helps her and other students build their creativity and innovation skills. GATE activities help the students develop their global thinking and exposes them to different activities for learning.

“GATE is a really good program that helps with confidence and education,” she said. “I think GATE is a great opportunity because the classes are fun and educational. At the end of the year, they have this special event on Physics Day where we go to Great America…. and we participate in physics activities.”

Agape Tariku is a fifth grader at Los Paseos Elementary School and wants to be an author. She reads a lot and provides cultural-literacy presentations at school assemblies. Justin Aboud is a sixth grader at Los Paseos and plays basketball. He is an accomplished bowler with an average score of 182. He’s been on the Principal Honor Roll for eight trimesters with straight-A grades.