Loma Verde Elementary

About Us

Welcome!

A woman with long brown hair smiles at the camera.

Loma Verde Elementary is a vibrant, joyful learning community where students, staff, and families come together with a shared belief in the collective power of community. Our school is rooted in strong relationships and a deep commitment to student engagement, fostering a culture where every child is known, supported, and inspired to thrive. Our school is filled with joyful learning experiences that go beyond the classroom. From hands-on projects and cross-grade collaborations to family engagement events, our students have daily opportunities to explore, create, and lead. Programs like Odyssey of the Mind and Girls on the Run empower students to think critically, solve problems creatively, and build confidence in themselves and their peers. Through student leadership initiatives, even our youngest learners find ways to make their voices heard and contribute meaningfully to the school community.

Loma Verde Elementary School is one of eight elementary schools in the Novato Unified School District, with a student body of typically around 400 students in Transitional Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Located in southern Novato, Loma Verde Elementary is situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful tree-covered hills in a well-established residential neighborhood.

We are committed to a standards-based curriculum while also providing a balanced instructional program that is student-centered, encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative expression. Parents and staff work collaboratively to create a safe and supportive environment that supports the development of capable, responsible, and respectful young people.
The Novato Unified School District is an innovative and effective education system that provides diverse academic experiences to meet individual student needs, and challenges students to realize their educational potential.
The Novato Unified School District is committed to providing an educational experience that will:
- ensure students possess academic and technical knowledge to enter successful careers and post-secondary experiences.
- prepare all students to be successful, responsible, and productive citizens and leaders in a diverse and global society
- encourage students to embrace a variety of learning opportunities throughout their lifetime
- provide students with tools to unlock their full potential The Novato Unified School District will exemplify excellence in education by ensuring high quality, innovative instruction and equitable access to learning opportunities that inspire and prepare students to reach their utmost success.
We have an especially diverse student body that reflects the ethnic and social diversity of the Novato community, and believe that greatly enriches our community. Our team works hard to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment where all students can thrive, whatever their individual needs, abilities, backgrounds, and economic circumstances.
Loma Verde maintains several school-wide programs to provide support and interventions for student success: Title I, English Language Program, a Resource Program, Speech and Language Services, one-to-one mentoring, counseling, and family outreach. We offer an extended day program for kindergarten children, an After-school Homework Clubs for 1st – 5th grade students, and intervention classes for Kindergarten through 5th-grade students to provide additional support.
It is the goal of Loma Verde Elementary to assist students in their social and personal development as well as academics. The school gives special attention to students who experience achievement problems, difficulty coping with personal and family problems, trouble with decision making, or handling peer pressure. Loma Verde has a partnership with North Marin Community Services to provide counseling, with two counselors on-site four days per week provided by NMCS.
- Individualized Instruction
  Loma Verde Elementary provides special education services to students who are assessed and found to be eligible for special education. Programs and services designed to meet the student’s needs are identified in the Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The Resource Specialist Program serves students with exceptional needs who are able to function in the regular classroom for the majority of the day. They receive individual, small group, or classroom instruction designed to meet their identified needs. Designated Instructional Services are provided to students who are eligible for Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, or other services.
- English Language Learners
  Loma Verde Elementary School teachers offer our English Language Learner (EL) students English Language Development instruction during the instructional day. All Loma Verde teachers are CLAD or SDAIE trained.
- Gifted and Talented Education (GATE)
  As a district, our goal is to provide support to teachers and schools so that every student is challenged and makes significant progress during each school year. GATE is a district-designed and funded program for highly capable students. NUSD does not receive supplemental funding for our GATE program.
  Novato has designed the GATE program with 5 principles in mind:
  - All educators are responsible for the education of students with gifts and talents.
  - Services should be provided throughout the day in all environments based on their abilities, needs and interests.
  - Giftedness is dynamic and constantly changing.
  - Giftedness is found among students from a variety of backgrounds.
  - Student education is focused on student outcomes rather than practices.
- At-Risk Interventions
  Loma Verde provides a before school intervention program in English Language Arts and Mathematics for those students performing below grade-level standards or who are at risk of retention. We offer small group interventions throughout the day with a Reading Teacher and a Math Teacher. Loma Verde has developed a Progress Monitoring Team that meets monthly to review student assessments and monitor student progress.
After-school enrichment opportunities are provided through partnerships with YMCA, Electivity, and other organizations. Examples of recently offered enrichment activities include Track, Golf, Archery, Explorations in Quantum Physics, Urban Architecture, Wholesome Meals for the Family, and Fashion Design.
We foster a strong family-school connection to provide a supportive collegial community and make a wide array of parent involvement/partnership activities available, including opportunities to volunteer in classrooms and on field trips, book fairs, school events, parent-teacher conferences, school leadership team, PTO, ELAC, and parent education events.

Nearly 20,000 volunteer hours were given last year by parents and other community members to support school programs. Staff and parents work actively to establish a sense of participation that goes beyond the classroom and the school.
Loma Verde Elementary is comprised of 21 classrooms, a multipurpose room/cafeteria, a library, a computer lab, a staff lounge and workroom, and 2 playgrounds. Several smaller rooms are used as office space, for counseling and tutoring programs. The multipurpose room was renovated in 2006.

A highlight of the campus is our school garden, which hosts worm and composting bins, edible plants, and native plants. Our garden is a critical extension of our Next Generation life science studies. Loma Verde teachers use the garden to teach the process of inquiry and observation, with the assistance of a part-time garden instructor underwritten by the Loma Verde Foundation.

The school’s library, staffed by a full-time Library Tech, provides an extensive variety of reference and special interest materials, in addition to hundreds of educational and recreational books. Students visit the library on a daily/weekly basis with their classes and are encouraged to visit before and after school. Four computer workstations as well as iPads are available, so students are able to access resources and information online.
With funding from the Measure G Bond, the “One to World” initiative provides Chromebooks for every student in grades 3-12. In addition, Loma Verde Elementary School has a computer lab with 30 computers. The Loma Verde PTO funds a computer specialist to maintain the lab and train teachers to become capable of implementing the 21st Century technology skills students will need to become proficient with independent research and independent learning. In addition, Loma Verde has purchased document cameras and projectors to highlight learning programs for classroom teachers in first through fifth grades.