For the fifth year in a row more than 40 Danbrook Elementary School students, located in Anaheim, sang Christmas carols through the halls of Knott Avenue Manor Residential and Knott Avenue Care Center, located in Buena Park.
Danbrook PTA assembled the choir of students specifically to entertain the residents; they are directed by second grade teacher Sandra Patrick.
For the fifth year in a row more than 40 Danbrook Elementary School students, located in Anaheim, sang Christmas carols through the halls of Knott Avenue Manor Residential and Knott Avenue Care Center, located in Buena Park.
Danbrook PTA assembled the choir of students specifically to entertain the residents; they are directed by second grade teacher Sandra Patrick.
The choir consists of students from second to sixth grade. The fourth, fifth and sixth grade students made Christmas cards for each of the residents, which they handed to those living in the facilities, as they walked along the halls singing Christmas carols.
This year, the entire staff at Knott Manor’s locations was presented a Christmas card, along with a certificate for a free food item donated by McDonald’s located at Lincoln and Western in Anaheim.
PTA President Peggy Kruse-Stodghill, who has had two of her own children attend Danbrook, said she started the program five years ago as a way to show students that a person doesn’t need to be rich nor famous to make a difference in someone else’s life.
“Many of our students come from lower-income homes and didn’t think they could make a difference for others,” said Kruse-Stodghill. “Many students said that once they are there singing and handing out the cards, they could see what joy and delight ‘they’ bring to the residents with their songs and cards and it makes them feel proud and empowered.”
Danbrook has worked to improve its Academic Performance Index, reporting 851 out of 1,000 on scores, which took the school out of a federal sanctions program for schools missing testing targets.
“We cheered for them when they came to school and said, ‘We know you can do this!’” Kruse-Stodghill said. “Kids just need to know someone believes in them; many times they don’t get that at home.”
In fact, going back to last year, the school’s Principal, Erasmo Garcia, who has been with the school for four years now, promised if students would increase their test scores by 40 points, he would get a “Mohawk” hair cut.
And so it was, that the little school, tucked in a quiet residential housing tract, received a “GreatSchools Rating” of 7 out of 10, based on its performance on state standardized tests.
The students not only obliged the principal’s request – they raised the test scores by an incredible 81 points – making Danbrook number one in Orange County for “Most Improved” in 2012.
It was a “big” deal and so the school held an assembly on the playground, complete with costumes where Garcia, dressed as a Rock Star and sat center stage as the three highest CST scoring students Sarah, 12; Bryce, 10 and Pedro, 11, got to hold the hair clippers in their hand and shave off some of Garcia’s hair, along with members of the Centralia School District office.
The “final” cuts were performed by Kruse-Stodghill, who also added “purple” hair color to the top of the Mohawk as students cheered, led by the school’s cheer team, as Garcia said, “I need some encouragement here.”
It’s this type of leadership that has lead the students to improve and to see themselves in an improved light and to move forward – raising their test scores by an unprecedented amount.
Danbrook is a Title I School, with a student population of 720, of which 75 percent are Hispanic.
The principal is credited with changing the school because, “He speaks the student’s language.”
Kruse said as a PTA, they try to incorporate families into the school activities and make them feel welcome.
The school has a GRIP or “Gang Retention Intervention Program,” where parents greet every student each morning as they enter the school grounds.
After attending Danbrook Elementary, students attend Orangeview Junior High and then Western High School, all of which are in the same general area of west Anaheim in the Centralia School District.
