• Category 2

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 152,522
    Student Enrollment: 413
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 33%
    White/Caucasian: 4%
    Hispanic: 58%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 2%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:22
    % Reduced Lunch: 95%
    % ELL Learners: 45.8%
    Founded: 1897
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Molly Struzzo
  • CONTACT:
    1100 Waverly
    Kansas City, KS 66104
    913-627-4750
    molly.struzzo@kckps.org
Bertram Caruthers Elementary School
Kansas City, KS
We work to meet each student where they are and then work to master all skills."
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
It's hard to talk about our school's success because Covid halted our plan of staying the course and keeping our growth growing. We are back on course and excited to keep it going. Our success that we are most proud of is moving the majority of our students out of the below proficient category. ALL kids, in all demographics grew and in many demographics we completely eliminated scoring in the 1 (below proficient) category.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
The greatest contributing factor was first teachers taking a deep dive into each standard, planning for student success with the standard and then working towards mastery with students. Planning to meet each student or group of students where they are and then working until it was mastered.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
ESEA funding has provided us the opportunity to hire additional staff members to support students, provide interventions and allow for additional small groups with students. It also provided us the opportunity to increase our parent involvement and provide resources for families to help at home.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
The majority of our professional development time was used to take that deep dive into knowing the standards, looking at the data and then planning for students. Several tried and true teaching strategies were studied and implemented to engage students in the learning.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
We went from providing extra support and focusing on our "bubble" kids to providing extra support and focusing on all kids, where they are and working towards individual mastery student by student, standard by standard.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
This honor belongs just as much to our families and community as it does to the students and staff. Community partners provided tutoring, and met individual needs of our families. Our families committed to having their students here on time, valuing the school day, and picking their students up from after school tutoring. Families also committed to practicing at home.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 152,522
    Student Enrollment: 413
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 33%
    White/Caucasian: 4%
    Hispanic: 58%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 2%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:22
    % Reduced Lunch: 95%
    % ELL Learners: 45.8%
    Founded: 1897
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Molly Struzzo
  • CONTACT:
    1100 Waverly
    Kansas City, KS 66104
    913-627-4750
    molly.struzzo@kckps.org