• Category 3

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 53
    Student Enrollment: 587
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 7%
    White/Caucasian: 87%
    Hispanic: 1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 3%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 31%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1953
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Stacy Edwards
  • CONTACT:
    1001 Ormond Dr.
    Kingsport, TN 37664
    423-378-2300
    sedwards@k12k.com
Andrew Johnson Elementary School
Kingsport, TN
Our culture is more student led than teacher led.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Each quarter, we invite families to a family engagement event in our school. The most effective have been math and literacy nights in which families engage work together on the types of activities the students are working on in the school setting. Teachers also provide strategies and resources for parents to use at home in supporting student growth. Families are challenged quarterly to complete an activity associated with the 7 Habits of Happy Kids and share pictures or stories of their experience. Our favorite program is “One School, One Book”. Each student and staff member is provided with a copy of the same book. Families join everyone at the school in reading the same book at the same time. This fosters a sense of togetherness and accomplishment as we promote reading in the home.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
As a Leader in Me School, we routinely invite community members into the school setting to support our students in developing their leadership skills. During an annual Leadership Day, students take responsibility for hosting community members for a half day event that includes a school tour, information sessions, performances, and a luncheon. This allows current community members to experience the work we are doing with developing students as the next generation of community leaders. Community leaders are invited to mentor our student lighthouse team throughout the year as they participate in community service projects. This year, our school has deepened involvement with our community with the planning and building of our new playground. This community build process included our school neighborhoods, parents, students, local businessmen and women, along with major industries. Our community came together to build a playground, and the playground helped build our community.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
School change begins with relationships. When students, parents, and teachers are all working together for a common, clearly defined vision of the school they are trying to create, change is inevitable. Our school has a commitment to incremental growth over time in order to make sustainable changes and progress. We often use the analogy of a crock pot, not a microwave, in regards to how we approach change. We use a process known as collective commitments to move our school forward. The faculty and staff have voice and choice in these commitments. This approach results in shared responsibility and accountability among all key stakeholders.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
We have been a Leader In Me School for three years. In the coming year, we would like to realize our vision of becoming a Lighthouse School for this important work. Secondly, we would like to continue refining our data conferencing and goal setting protocols as an avenue for all of our students to meet their individual growth goals.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
In a word...it's relationships. Understanding that our success begins and ends with authentic, caring relationship with each other and the families we serve. We are continuing the learn more about how to leverage this critical component of school success by advancing our work around restorative practices and developing students as leaders.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
Our Response to Intervention Initiative has helped us close achievement gaps. By assessing students with a universal screener and classroom based assessments, we are able to place students in groups based on their needs. This has been effective because the intervention is targeted, delivered by our most skilled staff members, and occurs early in the student's school experience. Students who do not need additional support are placed in enrichments groups. We have seen children thrive and close gaps through this process. Additionally, The Leader in Me process has helped students become invested and involved in goal-setting, which is leading to school-wide gains. Personal and academic goal setting has had the greatest effect on our students' academic achievement and growth.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Most of our ESEA federal funds are used to pay for instructional assistants and a family liaison (social worker). This instructional support is provided in every classroom within our school. In grades K and 1, each teacher has an instructional assistant for 5 hours of the school day. In grades 2-5 two teachers share an instructional assistant. This academic support is very helpful in meeting individual students needs within the small group settings. Our family liaison is instrumental in building the bridge between home and school. This individual works in tandem with our school counselor to secure services for families that will positively impact the child's success in school.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Our teachers engage in literacy and math collaborative session with teachers from other schools on a quarterly basis. During these sessions, teachers reach a common understanding of the intent of the standards, collaboratively review student work samples, work through upcoming students tasks, and share best practices. Additionally, local industry in our area partners with the university to provide teachers with an opportunity known as MathElites and SciencElites. With this opportunity, teachers become the students. Under the leadership of university professors, the teachers take a deep dive into their respective content areas. The teachers leave with valuable lessons and and resources that can be taken back to their classrooms. Finally, our professional development associated with the Leader In Me has improved teaching and learning through and emphasis on student and staff goal setting.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data is used to clearly identify our current reality and inform goal setting. The children use the data to set goals and decide how they can achieve them by identifying key strategies. Teachers use the data to help drive instruction and plan lessons. We spend time analyzing nine week, benchmark, and teacher developed assessments to help us determine strengths and next steps for students. Using data to create small groups for reteaching or enrichment and developing customized spiral reviews are two high leverage strategies informed through the data analysis process. When students are aware of their data and are able to see growth toward their goals, this is motivation for continued success.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Our school culture has always been positive, but in the recent years we have embraced the Leader in Me paradigms. Our culture is more student led than teacher led. As a result, visitors can see and feel a difference when they enter and are greeted by student leaders. The students realize their opportunities to lead are endless. This helps define our school culture by allowing students to make big decisions in their education and gives them leadership roles in and out of the classroom. Our culture is best defined by empowering each other and understanding that change begins with us.
Stats
  • Category 3

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 53
    Student Enrollment: 587
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 7%
    White/Caucasian: 87%
    Hispanic: 1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 3%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 31%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1953
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Stacy Edwards
  • CONTACT:
    1001 Ormond Dr.
    Kingsport, TN 37664
    423-378-2300
    sedwards@k12k.com