Home of the Eagles
Walnut Grove School was established in 1907 with 27 students in the Walnut Grove School District No. 81.
In March 1952, voters approved a bond to construct a new addition to the Walnut Grove School to accommodate growing enrollment. This addition added three classrooms, a furnace room and a multipurpose room to the original two-room schoolhouse. In 1954, more classrooms and space for a library were added, followed by expansions in 1964 and 1968.
In March 1962, after 55 years of independent operation, the Walnut Grove School District consolidated with Vancouver Public Schools.
Other historic moments:
September 1996 — Walnut Grove Elementary reopens after extensive remodeling and technology upgrades.
2015 – Walnut Grove Family-Community Resource Center opens.
Fall 2021 – The new Walnut Grove Elementary School is open. Thanks to a bond measure that voters approved in February 2017.
Our mission
The mission of Walnut Grove Elementary School is to provide a safe and happy learning environment where students, parents and staff value achievement, cooperation, respect, compassion and accountability for all.
Character education
What is character education?
Character education is a national movement creating schools that foster ethical, responsible and caring young people by modeling and teaching good character through an emphasis on universal values. It is the intentional, proactive effort by schools, districts and states to instill in their students important core ethical values such as caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility and respect for self and others.
Character education is not a quick fix. It provides long-term solutions that address moral, ethical and academic issues that are of growing concern to our society and key to the safety of our schools.
Character education not only cultivates minds, it nurtures hearts. Character education gets to the heart of the matter—literally.
How does character education work?
To be effective, character education must include the entire school community and must be infused throughout the entire school curriculum and culture. Character education promotes core values in all phases of school life and includes proactive strategies and practices that help children not only understand core ethical values, but also care about and act upon them.
The research-based Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education guide the elements needed for effective, comprehensive character education:
- Promotes core ethical values.
- Teaches students to understand, care about and act upon these core ethical values.
- Encompasses all aspects of the school culture.
- Fosters a caring school community.
- Offers opportunities for moral action.
- Supports academic achievement.
- Develops intrinsic motivation.
- Includes whole-staff involvement.
- Requires positive leadership of staff and students
- Involves parents and community members.
- Assesses results and strives to improve.