Burnett Creek Elementary involves itself with a great number of business, community, and higher education collaboratives. Evonik is wonderful resource to our school community from their formalized "Mr. Wizard" program and other speakers to their outdoor learning classroom that we utilize. Many of our staff members have successfully acquired grants via their Partners in Education grant program.
The Tippecanoe County area is fortunate to have many businesses and organizations willing to support and collaborate with local schools. Burnett Creek Elementary has formally involved itself with the following groups: Public Schools Foundation, Read to Succed, Junior Achievement of Greater Lafayette, West Lafayette Kiwanis Club, West Lafayette Lions Club, and Battle Ground Lions Club. Our partnerships with these organizations range from speaking engagements to formal literacy programs such as the federally sponsored Reading Is Fundamental grant.
Our affiliations with state universities bring us specific pride and unique programming offerings to our school. We have served student teachers from Ball State University, Indiana State University, and Purdue University. Indiana Wesleyan and Purdue University have both utilized our facility to offer graduate courses for area educators, thus providing an opportunity for our staff to be “guest lecturers” in their respective areas of expertise.
Our geographic proximity to Purdue University allows us to engage in a variety of partnerships with their School of Education. We host their “Block” courses that meet at our facility during our school day. This allows the Purdue students to receive their lecture/theory instruction here and then to immediately and directly apply it into practice with our students under the supervision of practicing teachers. This also affords Purdue students majoring in education the opportunity to be in classrooms to implement their “theory in to practice”. This exposure to general classroom procedures and practices is to assist them in their training and to ensure that their true desire is to pursue the educational profession.
The Purdue affiliations are truly endless. They include but are not limited to the following: hosting regional supervisor student teacher training meetings, outreach professional development sessions, teachers teaching Purdue classes, hosting a variety of education class sessions on our site, and entertaining dignitary guests of Purdue. Burnett Creek Elementary collaborates with Greater Lafayette Commerce and United Way to implement Read to Succeed. Recruitment for volunteers from local businesses will partner with the school to implement the mandated ninety minute Reading Block.