Bostic Traditional Magnet Elementary School

Bostic Traditional Magnet was developed at the request of parents who wanted a more traditional, back-to-basics form of learning environment. Basic subjects of reading, composition, grammar, handwriting, spelling, math and social studies are emphasized. Standardized dress is required for students.

Classroom teachers provide core academic instruction using the self-contained classroom philosophy. Specialized art, library, music and physical education programs are provided. Fifth grade students may participate in the instrumental strings program. Bostic also provides all-day kindergarten and a childcare program before and after school.

Bostic Traditional Magnet appeals to many families who seek a rigorous, structured learning environment. Bostic serves students with varying exceptionalities through Speech, Categorical MR, Interrelated and Gifted programs. Bostic meets the district’s diversity guidelines for magnet schools and provides a program where all students are valued and supported.

Bostic consistently meets the criteria for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as described in President Bush’s plan “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB).  Bostic students have a history of positive academic performance with high levels of staff accountability. The partnership between parents and staff has definitely made excellence in academics a reality at Bostic.

Bostic students received recognition for earning the distinction of “Standard of Excellence” on the State Assessments of Math and Science in the Spring of 2003 with 86.3% of students scoring in the proficient and above range in Math and 86.3% proficient and above in Science.

Bostic students have earned the distinction of  “Standard of Excellence” in the area of writing for the school years 2000, 2002, and 2004. The State Writing Assessment is given to fifth grade students every other year.

In the Spring of 2004 Bostic students earned the “Standard of Excellence” in Reading, Writing and Math. Of Bostic’s fifth grade students, 84.9% scored in the proficient to exemplary range on the state reading assessment. Of Bostic’s fourth grade students, 88.5% scored in the proficient to exemplary range on the state math assessment.

In the Spring of 2005 Bostic students once again earned the “Standard of Excellence” in Reading, Math and Science. The state science assessment is given every other year. Of Bostic’s fifth grade students, 90.2% scored in the proficient to exemplary range on the state reading assessment. Of Bostic’s fourth graders, 87.5% scored in the proficient to exemplary range on the state math assessment and 89.6% on the science assessment.

Awards

Our McConnell partnership/tutoring program received a Daily Point of Light Award from Washington, and was first-runner up for the J.C. Penney volunteer team of the year; 1998-99.

Patti Lewis, special education paraprofessional at Bostic, was recognized as Para Educator of the Year by the Association for Retarded Citizens; 1999-2000. In the 1999-2000 school year Mindy Whitson, 2^nd grade teacher, was a Finalist for Distinguished New Teacher. Two Bostic teachers were finalists for this award in the 2001-02 school year: Mikelle Mercer (New Teacher), and Jane Walker (4^th grade). Kip Schroeder, Bostic Site Council President, was named as a KAKE-TV “Person on Our Side”.

Bostic's Fall 2005 Good Apple Award recipients went to Jennifer Karst, volunteer; Mikelle DeFore, 3^rd grade teacher; and Stacy Record, regular substitute teacher.

Spring 2005 Good Apple Award recipients were Susan Goodman, PTO treasurer; Minda Rangel, school nurse; Tammy Shandy and Yvette McBride, standardized dress coordinators.

Spring 2006 Good Apple Award recipients were Karla West, MR Categorical Teacher; Tanya Allen and Ronda Gilstrap, MR Categorical Paraeducators; Suzan Aker, Peggy Lyman, and Jennifer Karst, volunteers. 

Spring 2007 Good Apple Awards went to Lynda Gillen, nurse; Samia Alzoobi, Susan Goodman, Maria Hatchett, Sue Helm, Steve and Judy Helmer, Katie Kirton, Nancy LeCompte, Stacy Record, and Kathie French, Battle of the Books parent volunteers. 

Congratulations and thank you to each and every one!

Exit east Kellogg at Rock Rd. Go south three blocks on Rock Rd. to Gilbert. Go east on Gilbert 1.5 blocks. Bostic is on the south side of the street. See Maps for all USD 259 locations.

The mission of Bostic Traditional Magnet Elementary School is to expect and value maximum academic performance from every child and to prepare each child to be a successful, productive, responsible citizen by:

• Promoting self-respect and respect for others;
• Actively involving parents in their child’s education;
• Providing a safe, supportive, and structured environment for learning;
• Providing and assessing a challenging curriculum exceeding the district standards;
• Allowing opportunities to apply learned skills in real-life situations;
• Providing interventions to support social and academic needs; and
• Encouraging responsibility and self-discipline.

1. All students will improve reading for 2007-2008 in the areas of identifying main idea, retelling and literary structure in expository text. Our goal is to maintain the state "Standard of Excellence"; have no students scoring at unsatisfactory level; reduce the achievement gap between Caucasian and Af/Am students from 11.3% to 8% and increase the percentage of students scoring proficient and above from 94.7% to 97% on the state reading assessment.

2. All students will continue to improve competency in the application of real life problem solving skills.  All students will improve their knowledge and application of data analysis concepts. All students will improve in the area of estimation and measurement.  Our goal is to maintain the state "Standard of Excellence"; have no students scoring at unsatisfactory level' reduce the achievement gap between Caucasian and African American students from 13.7% to 10% an increase the percentage of students scoring proficient and above from 94% to 97% on the state math assessment.

3. All students will demonstrate continuous growth in their ability to effectively communicate in written form. Maintain the distinction of “State Standard of Excellence” in writing increasing percentage of students scoring proficient and above from 84% to 88%. We would also like to reduce the achievement gap between African American and Caucasian students from 23.6% to 18% or less.

  Top

The council is an organization that consists of school staff, parents and business/community members. It acts as a steering committee for the development and evaluation of the school's mission, goals and program. The council has been involved in hiring teachers, developing a Mission Statement for the school, and providing input on such important school policies as standardized dress, homework and discipline policies. They also provide input on curriculum, help to assess the school's performance and set goals and strategies for improvement of Bostic Traditional Magnet.

Meeting Day: First Tuesday of the month
Time: 6:00p.m. – 7:30p.m.
Location: Bostic Library
Chairperson: Mark Jordan, 687-1035


Parent Involvement

Bostic has a high degree of parent involvement. The Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) is a group of Bostic parents, teachers, staff and interested persons. The PTO board meets monthly. General PTO meetings are held four or fives times a year. These are open meetings, and anyone may attend board or general meetings. Parents are urged to participate in PTO. The objectives of PTO are: to promote the welfare and education of children in the school community, to assist in securing adequate laws for the care and protection of children, and to bring the home and the school into a closer relationship. These goals are attained through the leadership of the PTO board and the participation of parents, teachers and staff at Bostic.

• At Bostic, the emphasis is on academic content - the atmosphere is conducive to learning and students and staff are aligned in their focus on this mission.
• Reading Counts/Accelerated Math programs are used to continually challenge students to grow and learn.
• Categorical MR students are integrated and paired with regular education students so that each may learn from the other.
• Student standardized dress unifies the student body and creates an atmosphere for learning.
• Interrelated special education instruction is provided to students who have been identified with learning disabilities.
• Gifted instruction is available to students who meet state and district specifications for service.

Basic Concepts

1. Self-contained classes - one teacher is responsible for all academic instruction.
2. A heavy emphasis on reading, math and communication skills.
3. Citizenship, patriotism and heritage will be stressed.
4. Attendance and punctuality are strictly enforced.
5. Discipline will be stressed - self discipline is preferred - but a student will not be allowed to constantly disrupt a class. Good conduct is expected.
6. Respect is expected for authority, for others and for differences.
7. Academic expectations and grading standards are high.
8. Basic skills in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics and research are emphasized throughout the program. In all grades, achievement in basic skills lays the foundation for the development of critical thinking, stressed within all subjects.
9. Library skills and writing across the curriculum will be emphasized.
10. Traditional reading and shared inquiry are emphasized.
11. Relevant homework will be assigned frequently.
12. Accurate and frequent reporting to parents will be expected from the staff.
13. Parents are expected to support their children in a partnership with the school.

Parent involvement is crucial to the traditional program's success. Parents are expected to support teachers and the administrator in any way requested and to help the school and parent organization through generous donations of time and energy.

Kindergarten

All-Day Kindergarten:  9 a.m. - 4:10 p.m.

• Junior Safety Patrol
• Student Council
• Strings
• Battle of the Books 4th/5th grade Literature Program - Champion 2006
• Science Fair
• Wax Museum
• DARE
• Field Day
• Association with Arts Partners to enrich students in the arts
• Family Literacy and Family Math Nights
• Vocal music programs by grade level
• Fun Night
• Study-Book Buddies
• Student Leadership Tech Team
• Schoolwide spelling bee

The Leicle Bostic Traditional Elementary Magnet School is housed in the former Kistler Elementary School which was originally a part of Common School District No. 184, Kechi. The district came into the Wichita Public School System by attachment in July of 1963.

The site is located on a farm which was formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. Foster. This farm was a part of the original Osage Trust Lands (1873).

The original school, containing three classrooms and a gymnasium, was completed in 1953, and classes actually started in January of 1954. An addition of two permanent classrooms was completed in 1955. Three portable classrooms were built on the site in 1958, and three permanent classrooms were added to the main building in 1962. Two additional portable classrooms were added in 1963, two in 1966, and a portable rest room in 1969.

Kistler was closed as an attendance center in May of 1984. The building was used for storage until 1988. From 1988 to 1994 the building was used as a Gammon Elementary School annex.

In 1994-95, the building was renamed Leicle Bostic Traditional Magnet Elementary School after a former USD 259 principal, and Gammon students returned to the base school. At present it houses one classroom each (K-5) and has an enrollment of 155 students. The two other classrooms are utilized as a library and computer lab.

At the April 8, 1996 meeting, the Board of Education approved the closing of the Bostic School building at the end of the 1995-96 school year and the entire program moved to the Stearman site at 8103 East Gilbert, keeping the Bostic name.

In April 2000, the voters of the Wichita School District approved a $284.5 million bond issue. The projects began in the fall of 2000 and were completed over the next five years. The plan built 19 multipurpose rooms, upgraded science labs, replaced portable classrooms with permanent construction, improved handicap accessibility to all buildings, rebuilt five existing elementary schools, added a new elementary and middle school, expanded seven other elementary schools and provided nine new libraries as well as the expansion of nine others. Building infrastructure in 82 buildings was also upgraded, included the replacement of antiquated plumbing, updates and expansion of electrical systems, replacement of inefficient or broken windows and doors, upgrades of heating and cooling systems, and asbestos abatement when required.

The school district hired the firm of Winter Architects, and Caro Construction Co. was utilized to complete the Bond project. The infrastructure at Bostic was upgraded, and the bus load/unloading areas revamped.

Bostic's Bond project was completed for the amount of $865,945 and the school's dedication ceremony was held September 4, 2003.