Lakeside Farms Elementary is taking the initiative with programs for military families

According to military spouse Johnnie Bruner, “It is an outstanding school full of staff that genuinely cares! And Mr. T is an excellent leader to his staff.” The school is Lakeside Farms Elementary School (Kindergarten through 5th Grade) and “Mr. T” is Matthew Thompson, principal. Bruner was commenting in the context of the special Lakeside Farms programs for military families and their students.

According to military spouse Johnnie Bruner, “It is an outstanding school full of staff that genuinely cares! And Mr. T is an excellent leader to his staff.” The school is Lakeside Farms Elementary School (Kindergarten through 5th Grade) and “Mr. T” is Matthew Thompson, principal. Bruner was commenting in the context of the special Lakeside Farms programs for military families and their students.

Lakeside Farms is a little off the beaten path, so to speak, located in the Lakeside community. According to the latest available School Accountability Report Card (SARC), in the 2013-14 school year enrollment was 682 students, with over 40 percent identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. What the SARC does not indicate is the number of students from military families, which according to Thompson is 20-25 percent each year.

“I believe strongly in supporting our military families, because they sacrifice so much for us and our country. It’s not just the military personnel that sacrifice; it is the spouse or significant other and the children,” said Thompson.

Since arriving at Lakeside Farms, Thompson and staff have taken the initiative to design and implement programs specifically intended to help this unique population.

In an interview with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), Robert Blum, professor of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, commented on the challenges facing children in military families.

“Military families and military children are amongst the most transient of populations. It is not uncommon to see kids who have grown up in military families who have been in five, seven or nine different schools by the end of their high school career. There is very high mobility. With high mobility come issues of engagement, disengagement and reengagement,” said Blum.

Thompson described the impact on Lakeside Farms in terms of the individual classrooms, offering that due to the transient nature of the military life, the families are always on the move. And the moves are not dictated by the beginning or end of the school.

“The classrooms can look different day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month,” he said.

Determined to provide the best possible support for the military families and their students at Lakeside Farms, Thompson leads the entire staff in providing self-generated, self-taught discretionary programs throughout the school year, because he believes they deserve the support.

“I know many kids who have more courage than most adults, because of what they’ve had to take on, with a mother or father deployed,” he said.

So over the years, Lakeside Farms has developed several programs aimed at recognizing and helping this student population. 

Examples include Military Appreciation breakfasts each fall; a partnership with the USS Boxer; a two-day field trip for fifth grade students to Navy Base San Diego, and a Military Appreciation dinner in the spring. Much of the support has been made possible by the assistance provided by assistance from Chanin Masaglia, a School Liaison Officer from Naval Base San Diego. In addition, Thompson developed a special form of recognition for students from military families when their parent is deployed.

As described by Ms. Bruner, “Lakeside Farms has a bravery award that is handed out to students whose parent is deployed, recognizing them for their bravery during that difficult time. My boys have all received the bravery award, which helped them and their classmates to see what they are going through.”

According to Thompson, the awards developed with family input are presented during Character Assemblies, as the students and a family member are recognized.

“Sometimes,” Thompson added, “that is all the student needs, as evident by the pride seen on their face.”

This recognition is just one element in the overall approach at the school.

From the first day of enrollment, and sometimes before enrollment, the school works to create a welcoming and supportive environment. Thompson describes working at making the transition as seamless as possible. If aware of an inbound family, he will call them in advance, to lesson their anxiety.

“If I were in their situation, I would want a phone call from the principal,” he said.

Continuing to explain the motivation and the approach, he added, “It starts the moment they walk through our door. To make them feel welcomed. And to instill a love and appreciation of country in all our kids and families is very important to me personally. Because they give so much. Unfortunately they are often overlooked. They will not be overlooked here at Lakeside Farms.”

Thompson declared they get more from the students and military families than they give them, a sentiment shared by lead teacher Jessica Ehlers, who offered, “I love the experience those kids bring to the classroom, because they’ve lived all over the world. They can offer real life experience about they travels and life.”

The Lakeside Farms support starts at the top with the principal. According to Ms. Bruner, “Mr. T specifically is a huge influence on my boys, he helps talk to them when my husband is deployed, he encourages them and always tells them he is there if they need to talk to anyone. The entire staff is very aware of the children with deployed parents and they work hard to go the extra mile to assist that child and their families with any help or support they might need.”

These positive endorsements are informally passed around the military community, with one individual reporting she, “Overheard military parents saying if you want to go to the good school, you go to Lakeside Farms.”

As military families learn they are moving to an area, it is very common for them to research school opportunities in the area. Such was the case for Jared Buell, a Marine who recently moved into the area with his family.

According to Buell, the family had researched schools, using Internet resources that provided ratings and scores, though they are not the main factors in his mind. He related being at the local park in military housing with his kids, who were busy meeting new friends. Doing do, they asked which school they attended, and Lakeside Farms was specifically mentioned. Based on the favorable kid-to-kid comments and nothing but positive reports from other military parents, Buell decided to stop by the school. “I’ve never met such an enthusiastic principal,” is how he described that first meeting. Buell said he came away with a positive sensation after talking with Thompson and the staff, contributing to deciding on enrolling his children there. Though it has only been a couple of weeks, Buell specifically noted how one teacher took special interest in helping one of his kids.

It happened during the annual big ice cream social at the school. Buell’s daughter had expressed concern with a challenge with math. Not missing a beat, her teacher took them to her classroom, opened it up, and sat down to explain how to do the math. Buell emphasized being very impressed with this level of support, particularly in the middle of school special event.

Buell’s anecdote and Bruner’s comments validate the efforts of Thompson and his staff, as they pursue and implement the discretionary, self-taught, self-designed set of support programs.

For Thompson the foundation for all of this is, “Building relationships with all the families is important at the school. It is particularly important for the military families, so they know the school genuinely cares for their students. And meeting individual needs.”

Thompson wants everyone to, “Know, understand, and appreciate the sacrifices of our military men and women. The sacrifices of their spouses or significant others. Especially the sacrifices of the children. That’s what is lost in the pop culture and all the stuff that is going on in our society,” he said. “I want the children to be appreciated and cared for, no matter where they are, no matter what school they attend.”

And he would, “Ask readers to give up their time and resources to military families and their children. Whether it is a card of thanks. Whether it is a donation. Whether is it time. That’s what I’d like the reader to take away and do. Think of a military member’s family and their children and do something for them. If everyone would do this, we’d see a transformational change in our nation.”