Welcome to Gurney Elementary School

It is our pleasure to welcome you to our Gurney website and hopefully to our school as well! Gurney Elementary School is an amazing place where the WHOLE child is developed through a combination of school wide social/emotional programming and high caliber, academic instruction. Our students thrive in this child-centered environment, which has truly been developed by a very devoted staff and supported by very dedicated parents.

Gurney Elementary School is the only primary school in the District and houses approximately 500 students in preschool through third grade. Our student population comes from seven surrounding villages and townships in two different counties. Our school building sits on a 35-acre campus with beautiful woods, two playgrounds and a legendary sled-riding hill! The campus includes the District's high school athletic fields for softball, lacrosse and junior varsity soccer. We also house the District bus garage. The school opened in 1966 and was closed in 1983 for five years due to declining enrollment. The building reopened in 1988. The District reconfigured in 1998 establishing Gurney as a preK-3 facility.

Gurney Elementary Teaching Staff

The Gurney teaching staff is an amazing family! The caliber is exceptional with at least 90% of the teachers holding advanced degrees, 100% holding Google Educator Certificates, several teachers with National Board Certification, and many more working on and/or holding a variety of endorsements/certificates such as Reading Endorsements, Wilson Dyslexia Practioners, Gifted Education Endorsements, Adaptive Phys Ed. Endorsement, Certified TEACCH Practioner, Certified Crisis Prevention Intervention Trainer, etc.! More importantly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a staff more devoted to their students' academic, social, and emotional success!

At Gurney Elementary School, This We Believe... LINK

The teachers at Gurney focus on providing research-based, differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students. Naturally, in an early childhood setting, there is an emphasis on developing strong skills in the areas of language arts and mathematics. Staff development opportunities and school goals reinforce this commitment. Our teachers incorporate multi-sensory approaches to teaching, addressing the learning needs of all students. Teachers use a balanced approach to literacy instruction combining strong programming such as FUNdations, Heggerty Phonemic Awareness and Lucy Calkins Reading & Writing Units. Math instruction using the Bridges Math program incorporates research-based strategies to enhance students’ learning, problem-solving, and skill development. To secure competency in math, multiple strategies for obtaining answers are explored. In both language arts and math, the teachers at each grade level use common pretests, formative assessments, diagnostic assessments, rubrics and summative assessments to monitor student progress throughout the year. Science and Social Studies units are packed with engaging, developmentally appropriate activities and learning experiences. Units are designed with over-arching understandings as instructional targets, project-based learning activities, formative and summative assessments, and exciting lessons. Every teacher uses the Responsive Classroom Program to develop a sense of community in their classrooms so that all children feel valued, connected, and comfortable to learn. Our team of encore teachers provide exciting units of study for our students in music, art, physical education, Spanish, STEM, library/keyboarding, and guidance. Because our encore teachers see all students in every grade level, they also infuse their content with the Center for Responsive Schools' Fly Five lessons/objectives focusing on cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy and self-control. It has been this phenomenal combination of academic rigor and the efforts directed at developing students' social/emotional strengths that has led Gurney Elementary School to being named an Ohio Hall of Fame School in 2004, 2012 and 2023!

School Leadership

Rachel Jones, Principal of Gurney Elementary School

440-893-4030 ext. 4102
Rachel.Jones@chagrinschools.org
Twitter

Rachel Jones was named the Principal of Gurney Elementary School in June, 2001. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Kent State University and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Akron. In 2006, she earned her Doctorate in Educational Foundations and Leadership from the University of Akron. In 2011, she was chosen to participate in a national program to develop the criteria for principals’ National Board Certification Standards which she completed in 2013. Rachel has also served as a part-time professor for Ursuline College, the University of Akron and Cleveland State University. She served as a mentor principal for the Cuyahoga County ESC Beginning Principal Program and currently serves in the OAESA Beginning Administrator Mentoring Program. She is an alum of the Ohio Education Policy Fellowship Program and she completed the National Security and Strategic Leadership Seminar in 2015 to achieve a certificate in Leader Development from the U.S. Army War College.

In the past 22 years as principal of Gurney, Dr. Jones has facilitated transitions to new curriculum standards, new assessments, new special education procedures, new instructional programs in literacy and math, the full day kindergarten option, the Responsive Classroom Program, kinesthetic classroom supports/furniture, and more. Under her leadership, Gurney has received the OAESA Hall of Fame School Award in 2004, 2012 and 2023, has been named the National One School One Book Model School of 2012, has demonstrated consistently strong achievement on the state report card, and has produced many individual teacher leadership achievements. In the spring of 2014, she was named the Ohio Distinguished Elementary School Principal of the Year.

Sarah Read, Assistant Principal of Gurney Elementary School

Phone
Sarah.Read@chagrinschools.org
Twitter

Mrs. Sarah Read was named the assistant principal of Gurney Elementary School in 2020 and also serves as the on-site administrator for the Gurney Preschool. Previously, she was the principal of Chagrin Falls Intermediate School. During her five year tenure there, the Intermediate School was recognized for increased overall student performance, for meeting growth targets in reading, math, and science, and for decreasing the gap between general education students and students with disabilities, as evidenced by the 2017-18 and 2018-19 State Report Cards. The school achieved Ohio's State Board of Education Overall A Award both years. Mrs. Read also was directly involved in the design, construction, and opening of the new Intermediate School building in 2019. This school serves as a model of how spaces can be thoughtfully designed to best educate students, providing them with enriching, experiential, and creative learning opportunities in order to meet their individual intellectual, social and emotional needs.

Mrs. Read was a classroom teacher at Chagrin Falls Schools for 17 years. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about instruction and the development of young people. She has remained committed to their growth, maximizing individual student performance, inspiring interest, and instilling a sense of self-worth and engagement.

Mrs. Read has been recognized as a Jennings Scholar and was named the Chagrin Valley Rotary Club Today's Teacher in 2010. She was nominated twice for the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation's George B. Chapman, Jr. Teacher Award for excellence in Math Education.

Mrs. Read received her B.A. in elementary and special education from Hiram College and her M.A. in educational administration from Ashland University. She also studied for her Endorsement in Gifted intervention. She resides in Chagrin Falls with her husband, Mike, and their two sons, AJ and Will, who attend Chagrin Falls Schools. Sarah is an avid reader and loves to travel.

Gurney Elementary School

1155 Bell Road
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022

Grade Levels

PreK - Grade 3

School Hours

8:35 a.m. - 3:20 p.m.
Students may enter the building beginning at 8:25 a.m.

Important Numbers

Clinic: 440-893-4030 x4105
Fax: 440-338-4272
Guidance: 440-893-4030 x4112
Main Office: 440-893-4030 x4102
Pre-School: 440-893-4030 x4124

Attendance

Attendance: 440-893-4033

Absence Online Reporting Forms
Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade

Click here if you are planning one or more days of absence and turn in to your student's teacher.

All absences should be reported by 9 a.m. Absence policies are provided in the Gurney Student Handbook.

Safety Concern?
Contact the SAFER OHIO SCHOOL TIP LINE
844-723-3764

Transportation Changes

Changes to your child's transportation must be made by 2 p.m. by calling 440-893-4030.

No transportation changes will be accepted after 2 p.m. unless it is an emergency. Please do not contact the teacher directly during the day with any changes.

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