School Site Council
The School Site Council is a decision- making group of parents and school staff, which has major responsibility for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the School Plan for Improvement. The committee also oversees a budget each year that provides enhancements to the standard school budget. The S.I.P. Committee elections are held at the end of every year.

PTO
All Joseph Sims parents are encouraged to join the Parent-Teacher Organization. The PTO focuses on building school-to-home communication through presentations which will be offered during the evening meetings. As in previous years, the PTO also organizes fundraising and special family activities to benefit the school's assembly programs.

Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and Accelerated
The GATE program offers extracurricular opportunities such a field trips, yearlong projects, community events, and guest speakers. We also house an Accelerated program within each grade level ranging from third to sixth for students needing the challenge of a faster curriculum or one that contains more application and attention to higher level thinking skills. The Accelerated Program offers students an opportunity to have accelerated learning and advanced placement in Honors courses in junior/senior high school and are identified for this program via standardized testing data and teacher recommendation. We currently have 4 self contained classes in grades 3-6 and the teachers in these classes adapt their curriculum for a greater depth and breadth while ensuring that the California State Standards are the core of the curriculum for their class.

Nursing Services
The Nursing Services at Joseph Sims are administered by a qualified school nurse who provides the following services: vision and hearing screening, updating medical information, keeping appropriate records for each student, and providing nutritional and dental health education. The EGUSD nurse visits Joseph Sims a few days a month.

Afterschool Workshop
Our Afterschool Workshop Program serves more than 175 students every month in approximately ten different workshops. Grade level teams decide the monthly focus based on test data and classroom data. Students are then invited to attend 3 days a week for a month to focus on a particular standard or skills. Teachers leading the workshops collaborate with cross grade level teams and receive current assessment data, detailing specific student needs in order to develop appropriate interventions.

Recycling Program
One of our 6th grade teachers started this program as a model of service learning and to date our site has created a self-sustaining, student-run recycling program that from 2002 to date (Nov 2005) has processed more than 170,000 lbs. of paper, plastic, and aluminum products. Through a grant, our school has received recycling tubs for all classes and each month 5th and 6th grade students empty these tubs in the recycling container located on site.

Full Inclusion Program
Joseph Sims has the largest full inclusion population in the district. Our full inclusion program at Joseph Sims is for children who face challenges including those with the diagnosis of Aspergers, Tourette's, developmental delay and autism. Our full inclusion team is made up of parent(s), teacher, instructional aid, resource specialist and speech therapist to support and facilitate a child's success in the classroom environment. Differentiated instruction for these students includes the use of supplemental tools including response boards, specialized technology equipment, visual aids and FM systems.

Character Education Program
Socially appropriate behavior is taught through our Character Education program. Our district-adopted program is “Young People’s Lessons in Character” which is used in all grades. This comprehensive program is based on six pillars that build good character. The six pillars include trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Each month’s theme is published throughout weekly newsletters, discussed by our administrators in morning announcements, performed by students and teachers at Friday morning assemblies and taught within the classroom. STAR (Success through Accepting Responsibility) assemblies are held monthly to recognize students who have exemplified each month’s character trait.

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