Welcome!
I would like to extend a warm welcome to Hamilton K-8 School, a “Caring Community of Learners.” At Hamilton School, the staff, parents, and I are committed to academic excellence. The school provides a safe, caring environment where uniqueness and differences are respected, and all children are supported to reach their full potential. Adults act as role models and mentors, working collaboratively to prepare our children to be responsible citizens in a democratic society.
– Principal Stefanie Coe Parnell
School Profile
Hamilton Meadow Park School offers Novato youth a supportive educational environment to learn and grow from Kindergarten through 8th grade. The school draws its student body of roughly 600 students from Hamilton Field, Ignacio, Pacheco Valley, and other Southern Novato neighborhoods.
A recipient of the prestigious California Gold Ribbon Award (formerly known as the California Distinguished School Award), Hamilton 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 workplace, and support their development into capable, responsible, and caring citizens.
Our Mission
Hamilton K-8 School provides a supportive learning environment devoted to academic proficiency and college readiness for all students. We give students the tools to be life-long learners, builders of knowledge, effective communicators, problem-solvers and responsible citizens. We strive to teach our students to recognize our similarities and celebrate our differences. Our goal is to help every child reach his or her potential in a safe and caring environment.
Our Goals
- To have the Hamilton Community PreK-8 build equity practices and build staff’s understanding of WHY we do equity work
- Continue and deepen implementation of First School Culture of Caring throughout the entire school with a focus on PreK-8 implementation
- Increase student understanding of writing in the areas of narrative, information, and opinion
- Increase understanding in the area of Concepts and Procedures with an emphasis on Geometry through the learning/use of academic vocabulary and use of mathematical practices
- Build a Culture of Competence among teachers and students to ensure all students are active learners
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.
Programs
Hamilton maintains several school-wide programs to provide support and interventions for student success: Title I, English Language Program, a Resource Program, Speech and Language Services, one-to-one mentoring, counseling, and family outreach. We have a partnership with four neighborhood preschools to align expectations, curriculum, and assessments, and extend Hamilton resources to incoming students and their families. We offer an extended day program for kindergarten children, an After-school Homework Clubs for 1st – 5th grade students, and intervention classes for Kindergarten through 8th-grade students to provide additional support. We also offer a one-to-one mentor program, “Mentor Me Hamilton” which serves roughly 130 students, providing a stronger connection to an adult from our community who can provide a student a positive example of success.
Student Support
It is the goal of Hamilton K-8 School to assist students in their social and personal development as well as academics. The school gives special attention to students who experience achievement problems, difficulty coping with personal and family problems, trouble with decision making, or handling peer pressure. The support service personnel available at Hamilton K-8 School are listed below.
Electives & Extracurricular Activities
After school enrichment opportunities are available for all students, K-8. Enrichment opportunities include Club AVID , a college-focused before-school program and You Choose University (YCU); a Hamilton-organized after-school enrichment program that offers activities such as Spanish, Zumba, Chess, Art, and Reading.
College Preparation
Hamilton has a well-developed “AVID” program that provides support and inspiration for students aiming for college. Club AVID is a before-school program for students in grades 6th through 8th that uses Project-Based Learning as a vehicle to teach students about college opportunities and help students develop a plan to achieve college entry.
Parent Engagement
Parents play an integral role in the life of the school, participating on the Site Leadership Team, PreK-3 Collaborative, PTA, School Advisory Committee, and English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC), and in many informal ways that contribute to our strong sense of community. Parents support the community in classrooms, special programs, computer lab, on the playground, in the garden, on field trips, and for special events. Fathers participate in the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) Program by volunteering at least one day a year. Parents coordinate several major events every year, such as The Welcome Coffee, the Harvest Festival, Grateful Gathering, fundraisers, the Book Fair, and Science Night. Parents are trained as art docents and reading mentors. At least twice annually, parents invest time working on campus beautification projects. We have a parent volunteer coordinator who helps interested parents find appropriate placements.
Facilities
Hamilton K-8 School is comprised of 37 classrooms, a gymnasium with locker rooms, indoor/outdoor stage, cafeteria, administration building, a multimedia center with a computer lab and library, a science lab, two dedicated music rooms, staff lounge, two additional kindergarten rooms, four large playgrounds, two baseball fields, and track and field disciplines; shot put, high jump and long jump.
The school’s library, staffed by a full-time Library Media Clerk, provides an extensive variety of reference and special interest materials, in addition to hundreds of educational and recreational books. Students visit the library on a weekly basis with their classes and are encouraged to visit before and after school. 33 computer workstations within the library are connected to the Internet so students are able to access resources and information online.
Technology Resources
All students at Hamilton have their own device provided by NUSD and “Measure G’. TK, K, and 1st graders have iPads, and 2nd – 8th graders have Chromebooks. A focus in Hamilton’s middle school is to provide a “flipped learning” model to maximize a student’s access to the curriculum and to his/her classroom teacher.
Hamilton has a computer lab with 31 computers in it. Computer skills and concepts are integrated throughout standard curriculum, which helps to prepare students for technological growth and other opportunities. Students are able to research online and have been trained in the following programs: Lexia, Ten-Marks, Xtra Math, Edmodo, Explain Everything, Rosetta Stone, Keynote, Kidpix, Accelerated Reader, Kidspiration 2, Type to Learn 3, iPhoto, Apple Works, Timeline, PowerPoint, MS Word, and Excel.
There’s a place for you, too.
Join us and thrive here.
