• Category 2

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: pre k - 6
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 84
    Student Enrollment: 321
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 10.2%
    White/Caucasian: 67.8%
    Hispanic: 6.1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 2.5%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 13.4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 58%
    % ELL Learners: 7%
    Founded: 1959
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Micah Heath
  • CONTACT:
    700 W. Parrish Road
    Bloomington, IN 47404
    812-330-7747
    mheath@mccsc.edu
Arlington Heights Elementary School
Bloomington, IN
All students can learn.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
We have a strong Parent Teacher Organization at Arlington Heights where parents, teachers, and administration work closely to improve the school environment for everyone involved. Our Instructional Coach and Social Worker have developed a program called Community Connections where they meet with parents of Kindergarten students, typically at the parent’s house, to welcome them into our school community, answer questions, and provide some resources. Communication is a key to our success and we are willing to communicate in whatever manner works best for each family, whether it by email, phone, home visit, etc. In general, we are very open and appreciative of parents who are involved in their student’s life.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.

The most successful activity that Arlington Heights Elementary has initiated to strengthen ties to our community has been our After School Clubs. After School Clubs run for four to six consecutive Mondays during both the Fall and Spring semesters. Clubs are free to students, including transportation if needed, and are run entirely by volunteers. Each semester we offer a variety of club options based on student interest and the strengths of our volunteers, which include AHE staff members, parents, non-for profit representatives, and community members. Past club options have included basketball, drama, cheerleading, coding, Legos, arts & crafts, disc golf, fitness, rock painting, card games, food art, music, dance, gardening, soccer, and the list goes on and on. During clubs students receive a free snack, largely donated by parents, while gaining experiences that might not otherwise have the opportunity. After school clubs engage students and build upon our strong community.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
At Arlington Heights Elementary we believe that it takes much more than focusing on academics to help students find success. The basic needs along with social and emotional needs of a child have to be met before the student can be their best academically. In order to help students achieve academic success we believe that they must receive differentiated instruction. As a Title I school we lean on our Instructional Coach and Title I teachers to provide quality differentiated instruction. We believe in the power of the group and have found great success with our General Education Intervention Team.
AHE Core Beliefs:
-All students can learn
-We must organize our resources so that learning is the constant and time and instructional methods are variables
-Our diversity is a strength and must be valued and respected
-High levels of parent involvement in the school impact student achievement
Positive behavior is maintained when it is specifically taught and positively reinforced daily
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
1. Attendance! Our goal is to have a percentage rate of 97% or better. There are numerous studies that illustrate how poor attendance can influence whether are not a student reads proficiently. Chronic absenteeism is a strong indicator that a student may drop out in high school. Poor attendance affects both a student’s academic success and their ability to establish and maintain positive relationships.
2. Introducing more STEM activities into our curriculum while also elaborating on our promotion of College and Career pathways.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?

Building positive relationships is the single most important factor in the success of Arlington Heights. That starts by hiring and retaining staff members who genuinely like students and who focus on building positive relationships with students, staff, and families. The focus of the school has to be on the students, staff, and families - are their needs being met. If the focus is on the “test” for example then we believe that students will not be as successful as they could be. At Arlington Heights we are preparing students for the rest of their lives, not for one year, or one subject, or one test.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
In recent years we have been able to cluster grade levels for combined tier 2 intervention time. By combining grade levels we are able to work as a team with Title I, Special Education, ENL and homeroom teachers to spread our groups to get the most for our time. We are able to provide remediation groups at the same time as enrichment and on level groups. Through this type of planning we are able to reach more students at their level. To create these groups we look at student data such as BAS and Lexile. Using common formative assessments we have been able to do a rotation of skill based groups to focus even more on what each student needs.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
We use our ESEA federal funds to support 2.5 Title I teachers who provide quality differentiated instruction (Tier 2, Tier 3, Enrichment) during our intervention times.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
-We have had targeted professional development provided by the instructional coach on areas in which our teachers have shown need and interest. This year we have implemented an Academic Team to help focus the professional development even farther.
-In addition to our school wide professional development the MCCSC provides learning opportunities throughout the year for teachers to attend.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Collecting and using data is a regular practice at Arlington. Our corporation has worked to create common formative(CFA) and common summative (CSA)assessments for our priority standards. Through these, teachers regularly assess, in their PLCs, which students are comprehending and applying their instruction and which students need more instruction. In addition to the CFA and CSA, we benchmark reading level at each grade level through BAS and lexile. In our primary grades, we also have additional benchmarks which help to monitor the basic skills need to learn to read. We use data on a regular basis in every day decision making to PLC to our MTSS team. When looking at a student's data we look at goals for the grade level and student growth goals and we go from there.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Arlington Heights Elementary is a caring community where the well being of each student is the top priority and staff members work collaboratively with one another and with family and community members to ensure that every student experiences success. Our goal is to meet the needs of each student, whether that be basic needs, emotional needs, physical needs, or academic needs. We work closely with family members and community services. Community is at the core of Arlington Heights Elementary. Over the years, we have partnered with several community groups to help our students be successful. A few examples include Krimson Leadership Academy, Healing Hearts, Girls on the Run, College Mentors, and Kiwanis. We are a PBIS school and all teachers have been trained in Well Managed Schools to motivate students with challenging social and emotional, behavioral and academic needs. We have also adopted a Social and Emotional Learning curriculum.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: pre k - 6
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 84
    Student Enrollment: 321
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 10.2%
    White/Caucasian: 67.8%
    Hispanic: 6.1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 2.5%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 13.4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 58%
    % ELL Learners: 7%
    Founded: 1959
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Micah Heath
  • CONTACT:
    700 W. Parrish Road
    Bloomington, IN 47404
    812-330-7747
    mheath@mccsc.edu