Welcome to Shelyn Elementary, Home of the Sharks, where our staff and students Attack Academics to Achieve Excellence.” We are very excited to have a website to provide a glimpse into all of the phenomenal things happening in our classrooms and on our campus.

I have had the extreme pleasure of getting to know the Shelyn community over the past two years. During this time, I have learned about the AMAZING place that Shelyn School has been over the last 40 years, and feel proud to be a part of the team that continues to uphold this standard of excellence. I feel privileged to have been selected as Principal and work collaboratively with the staff, students and parents to ensure the lifelong success of all learners. I recognize and appreciate the passion and dedication our staff and families have for the success of all of our students.

Our dedicated staff work together collaboratively in order to improve student instruction. This collaboration has resulted in our API rising to 905 this year!! All thanks to the hard work of our teachers, students and parents! We also received recognition from the California Business for Education Excellence Honor Roll as a Scholar School. We also have the BEST attendance rate in Rowland Unified School District!

This year Shelyn began our journey as a Cotsen Foundation School. We have a cadre of teachers who are focusing on a particular subject area such as reading, writing or mathematics along with an out of the classroom mentor who assists these teachers and helps them apply their new learning. All of this new and innovative knowledge is shared with other staff members who show an interest resulting in a movement in the direction of Professional Communities of Practice. In a COP, teachers focus collaboratively in subject driven teams on student learning, not just teaching. The teachers will work collaboratively to discuss current data and implement strategies that focus on what students are learning and also what to do when they are not. Shelyn has always strived for the success of lifelong learners soaring above the rest. The implementation of COP’s will help us to continue in that direction, and also give us a chance to celebrate successes throughout the school year.

All of these things, and more, make Shelyn a truly Special place to be!

Sarah Opatkiewicz, Principal