All About Evergreen Elementary School
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The Evergreen Experience
The Evergreen Family
Additional Thoughts From Parents & Students
Evergreen Elementary School Stats
Neighborhoods Within School Boundary
It’s your neighborhood expert again, here to take you on a tour of Evergreen Elementary, a brand new school on the Key Peninsula’s south end. Join me as we take a look inside.
Welcome To Evergreen Elementary
Hugh Maxwell, Principal
This is my 10th year at Evergreen. Our school is located at the south end of Key Peninsula. Students that attend our school are typically from about Home down. All of our students ride buses because we have no sidewalks in this area—it’s very rural. And when our students finish their careers at Evergreen, they move on to Key Peninsula Middle School for their middle school years.
So we’re the Eagles, and what do eagles do? They soar. S.O.A.R. stands for being Safe, On Task, Accountable, and Respectful. We have what’s called “Eagle Eye”—it’s a little slip—and so any staff member, as they’re walking through the school, if they see a student that is exemplifying those, then they write them up a little slip and that goes to the teacher, and there’s a little celebration in the class. The teachers keep track of how many they get and when they fill a grid, two of the students will bring it down, we get a picture, and then we just provide some kind of a little reward. Something that the class wants to do—it might be some art, it might be STEM tubs, it might be shooting rubber chickens off the second floor.
Last year, Evergreen was designated as a STEM Lighthouse school and that came with a $20,000 grant that we used to purchase additional supplies to help increase our outdoor learning and our STEM integration.
The Evergreen Experience
Judy Walsh, Teacher
I’m a fifth grade teacher here at Evergreen Elementary. This is my sixth year at this school. We have great traditions at our school. Field Day will be mentioned—that’s a favorite. We have a wonderful Veterans Day tradition where we bring veterans in from the Key Peninsula and we celebrate them. Evergreen is always filled with different activities and traditions. It’s a great place.
Eliza, Student
I’m in fifth grade. Every year the whole school does a candy bar sale. The money the fifth graders sell goes to the fifth grade camp. We get to go for three days and get to spend two nights in cabins. And there’s a bunch of cool activities we’ll get to do.
Katie & Timothy, Students
Raphael’s special because he’s the school’s pet. Its back legs are paralyzed, so that’s why it has wheels behind it.
Renee Harding, Parent & PTA President
I’ve been here since 2013. I have had three children that have gone here and I also am a substitute para-educator at the school and I’m the president of the PTA and I was involved in the co-op when it was here also. There’s a lot of opportunities—the PTA’s a big one, volunteering is huge and it’s really important when you volunteer in your kids’ school. We offer like four family nights, so we just had a huge chili cook-off, we have a dance night coming up in January, we’re having a huge STEM night that our STEM teacher’s helping to put on in May.
Therese Souers, Teacher
This year I’m teaching second and third combined. This is my 16th or 17th year here. What I really like that we focus on is growth mindset, and since I started doing that in my classroom, it’s been huge. They stretch more, they persevere, instead of just melting down right away. I love, love, love working with kids.
Hugh Maxwell, Principal
So one of the unique things about Evergreen is that we have an outdoor learning environment that we are constantly developing and working on. We’re only one of two schools in the district that have some outdoor space that is designated for student learning. We’ve received numerous grants. We just have great ideas about additional design for students to be able to come outside and just have that natural outdoor learning experience.
The Evergreen Family
Renee Harding, Parent & PTA President
I highly recommend anyone coming to this school. When we first moved here, we were renting and I told my husband, even if we moved out of the Evergreen School area, I will bring my kids here every day. Mr. Maxwell, the whole staff, they really embrace your kids and they love them and it’s just incredible. I would never send my kids anywhere else.
Judy Walsh, Teacher
Well, I have had the privilege of teaching in many schools in several states, and Evergreen is unique in that our staff is like a family—we are very close-knit. The staff here tends to have longevity. We have staff members that have been here 20 years or longer. And once someone is here, they really don’t leave very often because it’s such a wonderful community school. And we all love teaching here.
Hugh Maxwell, Principal
I would say I’m proud to be principal of Evergreen every day. I have an amazing staff. Many of them were here when I came 10 years ago. And when people come here, they stay here. We have teachers that have been at our building for 15, 20 years. We kind of joke around that once you come to Evergreen, you stay at Evergreen, and I didn’t know that I would be here as long and I plan to be here even longer.
Additional Thoughts From Parents & Students
What Parents Love About Evergreen
“Great communication from staff! Staff remember all the kids and families by name and greetings feel authentic and genuine! Small-town community feel with many staff that live and give back in the town! They take advantage of nice days and often eat or do projects outside!”
“The staff is so kind, and understanding. They are great at reaching out.”
What They Wish Could Be Better
“I really hope staff will consider training in more modern guidance practices. They still use discipline that is shaming and not respectful at times and that’s concerning. I also think a ban on taking away recess should be in place. If an adult at work is required breaks why shouldn’t a young child? Taking away that break to run off energy and steam is counterproductive and is a cruel punishment meant to cause emotional damage.”
“Bus routes and stops seem sparse.”
What Their Children Love About Evergreen
“They love the all-school events like trunk-or-treat and game nights.”
“My children love the staff, and how open everything is. They are able to make decisions about their own schooling.”
What Would They Tell A New Family At Evergreen?
“My advice would be to stay involved as much as possible! Kids thrive off a great school-to-home connection! So join the PTA, volunteer on a field trip, and enjoy all those after school events!”
“Make sure to sign up for the emails!”
Evergreen Elementary Stats
Peninsula School District Profile
Feeds Into:
Henderson Bay High School (school of choice)
Neighborhoods Within School Boundary
Some neighborhoods include:
Filucy Bay
Long Branch Estates
Longbranch
Longbranch Shores
Palmer Lake
Peninsula Meadows
Taylor Bay Estates
Whiteman’s Cove
Herron Island
If you want to learn more about our wonderful community here be sure to check out my blog, or for more information on buying and selling in Gig Harbor and the surrounding area go to askpaigeschulte.com.