[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4374-S4375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNITION OF DR. PAT JOHNSON, PRINCIPAL OF KENT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

 Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, the students at Kent Elementary 
School have witnessed many innovative changes thanks to the hard work 
and foresight of their principal, Dr. Pat Johnson. For the last nine 
years, Dr. Johnson has been called a strong and supportive leader by 
her colleagues and never ceases to make the mark of excellence high for 
her staff and students. I applaud Dr. Johnson's work in transforming an 
at-risk school into one of excellence.
  Kent Elementary School serves a low income and highly transient 
population, yet Dr. Johnson believes in the abilities of all students, 
preaching her motto that ``Together Everyone Achieves More'' (TEAM). 
Though many students face challenges both at home and in the classroom, 
Dr. Johnson uses her positive attitude to inspire her staff toward 
maintaining an environment that promotes student learning.
  One example of Johnson's commitment to enhancing student achievement 
was by creating a school-wide discipline program. Through this program, 
discipline problems have dramatically decreased on the playground and 
in the classroom. Dr. Johnson also believes in reinforcing positive 
social skills to the children through rewards and student recognition. 
All of the staff members share in this ``Positive Action'' program, 
making teamwork a priority for the children.
  Dr. Johnson has also implemented block scheduling to maximize student 
learning. In order to better target students' math and reading skills, 
students attend specifically assigned classes that fit their 
appropriate learning levels, giving children the opportunity to move to 
other classrooms as their needs and skill levels improve throughout the 
year.
  Student reading levels have also improved because of Dr. Johnson's 
Reading Mastery program which focuses on strategies that help students 
reach academic success. Johnson's impact on her students is also 
evident in Kent Elementary's 1998 Washington Assessment of Student 
Learning (WASL) writing scores which were the highest scores in the 
Kent School District.
  Another challenge taken on by Principal Johnson was giving students a 
sense of stability in their lives by creating a ``multi-age format'' in 
each classroom. This system allows students to have the same home-room 
teacher for two years and lowers the student/teacher ratio.

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  Clearly Dr. Johnson is a tremendous leader who works to enrich her 
students' lives. She has established many new ways to improve student 
learning and continues to inspire her staff and students to conquer new 
challenges. Clearly Dr. Johnson is an influential principal who is 
making local education in Washington State even stronger.

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