Student+Audience

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Spring Mill Elementary School, a large, urban school located on the north side of Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of seven elementary schools supported by the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township. Spring Mill serves approximately 750 students in Kindergarten to fifth grades, 17% of which are English Language Learners and 12% are students with special needs. Our students come from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, in which 53% are served by free and reduced lunch options, and ethnic backgrounds including American Indian, Asian, African American, Hispanic, Caucasian, and Multiracial. The students are served by full-time Principal and Assistant Principal, 28 general elementary teachers, 6 special education teachers, 5 special areas teachers, 1 English as a Second Language teacher, 4 Title One teachers, 1 Mandarin language teacher, and 1 counselor.

Second grade houses 108 students in which 5 teachers have approximately 20-25 students per classroom. Fourth grade houses 131 students in which 5 teachers have approximately 25-28 students per classroom. Students in both grade levels have been exposed to basic information literacy in both computer class as well as the media center. These students visit each of these classes for 45 minutes once a week. Students are also provided opportunities for information literacy within the classroom where 5 computers are available for use throughout the day. Students at Spring Mill Elementary are hands-on, active students. They enjoy creativity and want to share their learning in a variety of ways. These students are typical elementary students in their likes and dislikes and follow common trends in American culture. This causes teachers to also be current with unit planning and educational approaches. Connecting to the "real world" is imperative for our students. In this way, teachers are able to prove that the learning taking place is necessary and important and in return, students respond more openly.