Principal Natal is looking forward to the start of the 2023-2024 school year! She is thrilled to start this year as a gopher as this is her first year as principal of Glorietta, although she has been in Orinda Union School District since 2005 starting as a teacher at Wagner Ranch and more recently being the Associate Principal at Orinda Intermediate School. She is committed to supporting students' social-emotional learning, and building a school culture that supports equity and inclusion for all students to achieve at high levels. 

 

Glorietta Elementary School is an engaging educational environment filled with excitement and enthusiasm, a place where children learn in a supportive and nurturing setting through meaningful challenges and inspirational fun. Teachers are experienced and greatly valued, parents are appreciated and involved, and support staff is cherished for their efforts and dedication. Glorietta is a caring community that prides itself on rich traditions and academic excellence!

 

Academic success is achieved through differentiated instruction, frequent monitoring of student achievement, analysis of best practices, and ongoing assistance from our instructional support team.  Our District and school site's strategic goals help us align our concerted efforts and enable us to achieve amazing results both in class as well as on standardized tests. We approach teaching as facilitators of learning with a focused commitment to Readers and Writers Workshop as the core foundation in literacy.  For both math and science, a strong component is to ensure that students, at all grades, are engaging in the conceptual understanding of the standards at consistently high levels of proficiency.  For professional growth, teachers collaborate with colleagues weekly, while District Literacy, Math, Technology, and STEAM coaches support planning, work with educators in a modeling and coaching role and facilitate cohesion across the school and district.  Enrichment in art, music, and physical education instruction is made possible through the generous donations of our parent community.

 

Beyond the classroom, our rich curriculum includes a school-wide theme of Everybody Belongs Here. Our framework for character education focuses on the values of respect, responsibility, caring and kindness, perseverance, empathy, integrity and trust, and monthly community building assemblies. We've made a strong commitment to engaging students in anti-bias work, celebrating diversity and working towards social justice through our collaboration with ADL. Students also receive instruction utilizing the District adopted Second Step curriculum and additional character education programs. Additionally, we cultivate social development through buddy class interactions and students have an opportunity to get involved in Student Council, Green Team, and our Student Leader and Safety Patrol programs.