Mira Patel

Principal Mira Patel

Welcome!

We are a strong school community committed to educating the whole child.  We believe in teaching in a student-centered environment, providing complex and meaningful experiences and purposeful engaged learning.  We are committed to the development of exceptional systems to reach our goal:  teacher collaboration, classroom lessons aligned to academic standards, engaged students, assessments that guide instruction and intervention, data analysis, and data-driven decisions.

four students standing behind a bench

School Profile

Lu Sutton Elementary is one of eight elementary schools within the Novato Unified School District, and offers Novato youth a supportive educational environment to learn and grow from Transitional Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Since the 1960’s, we’ve provided an educational home to around 365 students a year. A recipient of the prestigious California Gold Ribbon Award (formerly known as the California Distinguished School Award), Lu Sutton prides itself on strong academics and exceptional support for student learning. We strive to offer rigorous academic programs, engaging arts and technology electives, an effective social-emotional curriculum, and ready interventions to help students overcome barriers to success.

Our aim is to prepare young adults for success in high school, post-secondary learning, and the workplac Save e, and support their development into capable, responsible, and caring citizens.

Our Mission

Our mission is to educate all students to become learners who are independent, responsible, and productive citizens in our diverse society. We are driven by the vision that all students will reach academic proficiency in a safe, secure, and supportive environment.

Girl looking forward

Our Culture

We provide a caring school culture as a place for our students to come each day to learn.  We inform parents of our academic and behavioral expectations with the parent handbook. Back to School Night provides the opportunity to reinforce expectations. Conferences provide time for teachers and parents to review assessment data and to monitor student progress towards proficiency. Throughout the year teachers and staff review and reinforce set expectations with students.

We have implemented Second Step to teach social skills to include empathy, tolerance, and problem-solving.  A No Bully Solution Team is available to students involved in ongoing bullying. In order to ensure a safe campus, all staff has been trained to recognize and deal with bully-type behavior.

Students and staff are taught four school expectations:  We are Safe  We are respectful  We are responsible.  We are always learning.  Our school rules are visible on campus and integrated into everything we do.

Diversity

We have an especially diverse student body and believe that greatly enriches our community.  Our team works hard to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment where all students can thrive, whatever their individual needs, abilities, backgrounds and economic circumstances.

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Programs

Lu Sutton has an excellent faculty of eighteen credentialed teachers including fourteen general education teachers, two certificated teacher specialists for reading and social-emotional learning, and one Resource Teacher. We also have a Speech & Language Pathologist, Music Teacher, and Physical Education Teacher. 

Students with special needs are provided with support services by a broad range of personnel and programs. The district funds a part-time Resource Specialist, Psychologist, Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Nurse. In addition, we have the support of two counselors.

Title 1 funds, state funds, PTA, and local grants support Lu Sutton’s Before and After School Intervention programs for grades one through five.

Student Support

It is the goal of Lu Sutton Elementary to assist students in their social/emotional and personal development as well as academics. The school gives special attention to students who experience achievement problems, difficulty coping with personal and/or family problems, trouble with decision making, or handling peer pressure.  The table lists the support service personnel available at Lu Sutton Elementary.

Lu Sutton Elementary provides special education services to students who are assessed and found to be eligible for special education.  Programs and services designed to meet the students’ needs are identified in the Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The Resource Specialist Program serves students with exceptional needs who are able to function in the regular classroom for the majority of the day. They receive individual, small group, or classroom instruction designed to meet their identified needs.  Designated Instructional Services are provided to students who are eligible for Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, or other services.

The English Language Learner Plan provides focus to support students who are not meeting district content standards and who are developing their English fluency.

  • Write and implement a SMART goal to address the achievement gap between subgroups
  • Implement ELD standards for integrated ELD
  • Identify and provide focused instruction to target students scoring below standard
  • Provide staff development in differentiating curriculum and instruction
  • Provide daily instruction and support in beginning English to Newcomer ELL
  • Implement the use of Rosetta Stone and other software specific to the needs of EL students
  • Provide leadership and educational support to maximize re-designation for EL students
  • Monitor progress of reclassified students
  • Implement the revised ELD Progress Profile to support mastery of ELD standards
  • Provide before and after school intervention programs for students scoring below standard
  • Provide Homework Club for students in need of additional support
  • Utilize the Map of Standards for English Learners as a resource and the Progress Profiles as a teaching tool in order to monitor and record student progress
  • Continue (5-week) Kinder Academy summer support program

As a district, our goal is to provide support to teachers and schools so that every student is challenged and makes significant progress during each school year. GATE is a district-designed and funded program for highly capable students. NUSD does not receive supplemental funding for our GATE program.

Novato has designed the GATE program with 5 principles in mind:

  • All educators are responsible for the education of students with gifts and talents.
  • Services should be provided throughout the day in all environments based on their abilities, needs and interests.
  • Giftedness is dynamic and constantly changing.
  • Giftedness is found among students from a variety of backgrounds.
  • Student education is focused on student outcomes rather than practices.

Grade-level teams meet bi-weekly to monitor student progress and adjust instruction accordingly.  Galileo assessments administered each trimester provide information for teachers to utilize and make instructional decisions. This information guides the teachers’ decisions regarding flexible reading or math clubs, partner or team configurations, differentiated learning centers, 1:1 or small group instruction. We identify and refer at risk students for support throughout SST process.

young latino boy high fiving teacher in library

parents group participating in tour of novato

Parent Engagement

We value the partnership we share with our parents. Lu Sutton provides multiple opportunities for parents to participate in their child’s learning.  Our families chaperone field trips, are Watch DOGS, join us for classroom activities, provide art lessons through the Arts Attack program, and volunteer in class during reading, math, arts and special activities.  Many PTA committees are in action providing enrichment programs and special events.  The PTA recruits volunteers and sponsors special events, such as class field trips, school-wide assemblies, Walk-a-thon, Safe Routes to Schools, the annual Ice Cream Social and Harvest Festival, Authors’ Days, and two Book Fairs to reinforce our commitment to literacy.  Parents are also active in the School Site Council, and English Language Advisory Council (ELAC).  We communicate regularly with parents via a bi-monthly newsletter published in English and Spanish, the school Facebook page, and a parent application called Konstella.

Facilities

Lu Sutton Elementary was originally constructed in 1959 and is comprised of 24 classrooms, a multipurpose room/cafeteria, a library/media center, staff lounge, and kindergarten, primary, and upper-grade playgrounds. All K-5 classrooms and the multi-purpose room were remodeled with Measure A funding approximately eleven years ago.

The school’s library, staffed by a full-time Library Clerk, provides a variety of reference and special interest materials, in addition to hundreds of educational and recreational books. The Librarian regularly attends classroom Zooms to share new books and read stories. Six computer workstations within the library are connected to the Internet so students are able to access resources and information online.

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young girl of color with laptop

Technology Resources

At Lu Sutton, technology is an integral support to assist learning in our community by providing targeted learning experiences for our students, lesson development for our staff, and communication and education for our school community. Every student has been provided with a Chromebook or iPad to assist with remote learning. Lu Sutton’s computer lab has 33 desktop computers. The server was upgraded with new software to serve both lab and classroom computers. 

There’s a place for you, too.
Join us and thrive here.

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