Hamilton Elementary School, serving grades Kindergarten through 5th grade, is located on the historic military base of Hamilton Field. It is the front door to a truly special community in Marin County.

Hamilton Elementary School

One Main Gate Road, Novato, CA 94949

Office: 415-883-4691

Attendance Hotline: 415-883-6520 x500

Fax: 415-883-2249

Webmaster

View the School Site Map (PDF).

School Motto

“Learning Has No Limits!”

School Mascot

The Hawk

Novato Unified School District

1015 Seventh Street, Novato, CA 94945

Office: 415-897-4201

Website: www.nusd.org

Our Mission

The mission of Hamilton School is to provide a safe and caring environment while students reach their academic potential. Over time, Hamilton students will take increasing responsibility for their learning. As students meet academic standards, they also will see themselves as contributing members of the school and broader community.

At Hamilton, we recognize all students are unique and differences are valued. Hamilton utilizes parent volunteers, enrichment programs, and community support to help build the character of all students.

Welcome Back to School

Principal’s Message

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Hamilton Elementary School, a “Caring Community of Learners”. At Hamilton School, the staff, parents and I are committed to academic excellence and social development. 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.

Teachers provide a positive environment that supports self-esteem and encourages students to be problem solvers and critical thinkers. We empower students as leaders to make contributions to their school and community as Student Council Members, Conflict Managers, Buddies and through classroom service projects.

It takes the entire community working together, with a commonly held vision, to provide an optimal education for our students. We encourage and appreciate meaningful parent participation to support student learning, through the PTA, the School Leadership Team, ELAC and classroom volunteering. Parent and community contributions to the PTA and School Fuel support numerous classroom and school-wide programs such as, Kinder Music, Poets in the Classroom, Youth in Arts, Technology, P.E., and many others. Some opportunities for families to come together are: New Parent Orientation, First Day Coffee, Back to School Night, International Night, the Variety Show, the Spring Fundraiser, and Open House.

Working collaboratively, the Hamilton School Community has a mission to develop compassionate, lifelong learners. Remembering that our children are a community treasure, and that educating and nurturing them is our contribution to the future. Let’s be sure that life is a joyous journey for them and not a race. I look forward to working together to make this the best year ever for our children.

- Ruthanne Bexton, Principal

Academic Performance

Hamilton’s Academic Performance Index (API) Jumps 47 Points in One School Year

Each school year, 2nd – 5th graders attending California public schools are administered S.T.A.R. exams (Standardized Testing and Reporting). These tests were developed specifically to assess elementary students' knowledge of the California content standards in English-language arts and Mathematics. In addition, 4th grade students are assessed on Writing and 5th grade students are assessed on Science. The State Board of Education adopted these standards that specify what all California children are expected to know and be able to do in each grade or course. The API of each school is calculated based on the school’s aggregated S.T.A.R. results. The aggregated results include all subgroups within the school including English Language Learners, Students with Disabilities, and Socio-economically Disadvantaged Students.

Hamilton School’s API score for the 2005/2006 school year was 819 which represents a 47 point increase from the 2004/2005 API score. This is a substantial increase and represents the success of targeted efforts by the teaching and administrative teams to meet the individual academic needs of each student and subgroup within Hamilton. In addition, when the API is disaggregated by subgroup there are marked increases across all subgroups attending Hamilton.

For more information about S.T.A.R. and API, please refer to http://star.cde.ca.gov/. In addition, the recommended California Reading List is available by reference the S.T.A.R. website.