• Category 1

    Selected in 2014

  • Grades: k - 4
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 1,800
    Student Enrollment: 282
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1%
    White/Caucasian: 95%
    Hispanic: 2%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 49%
    % ELL Learners: 4%
    Founded: 2004
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Duane Krusemark
  • CONTACT:
    401 S. Pine Street
    Valley, NE 68064
    402-359-2151
    dkrusemark@dcwest.org
Douglas County West Elementary School
Valley, NE
Teams discuss new approaches, implement ideas and manage cross curricular applications. Teams ensure opportunities for all students to achieve through collaboration, differentiation, trainings, accommodations, modifications, evaluation, and communications.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Currently, we are learning and researching through our PLC's, which model - Danielson or Marzano, we would like to adopt or develop as our own. This year, we have been using our PLC's to look at making better decisions by using our data, professional development, and technology.
Another goal we are working on for next year is reviewing our curriculum maps. As Nebraska updates our standards, we want to make sure our maps align vertically across grade levels and to check our checkpoints for each quarter.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The Title I Matrix is an important factor in verifying students at greatest need for Title I services. We use teacher input, different standardized test scores, and grade level skills. Students may qualify for both reading and math or in just one subject area.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement is hiring highly qualified teachers, and utilizing the strengths of teaming. Building support teams and creating strong relationships within the community maximizes learning opportunities. Teams define greatest needs, schedule student assistive times, reinforce instructional concepts, correlate intensive learning interventions, participate in classroom conferences, evaluate data and student progress, provide individual educational and small group supports, develop curriculum, instruction and assessment correlations and data digs. Teams discuss new approaches, implement ideas and manage cross curricular applications. Teams ensure opportunities for all students to achieve through collaboration, differentiation, trainings, accommodations, modifications, evaluation, and communications. Teams create nurturing learning environments.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
TItle I funds are used to facilitate teacher salaries for two Title I teachers, Title I Parent Night, and for the use of six student iPads in the Title I classroom. Each of these efforts are an integral part of our program to support our improvement efforts for our students to improve their learning.
Having two Title I teachers with years of classroom teaching experience helps meet the needs of our high poverty percentage students.
Title I Parent Night is a great way to involve families and share information with them regarding Title I. At our annual parent night we share ways for family members to assist their students in reading and math, share data about student success, and give out books for our students to foster a lifelong love of reading books that they enjoy.
Access to technology in the Title I classroom is a huge bonus. We have been able to purchase six iPads for student-use. We use these devices on a daily basis with students in Kindergarten through fourth grade.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data trends are reviewed by multiple team players including: board members, external review teams, administration, curriculum instruction leaders, building and grade level staff, school specialty personnel, student assistant teams, parents and students. Teams identify strengths and weaknesses in student achievement. Vocabulary and curriculum alignment are focused upon. The identification of skill mastery levels are evaluated. Goal setting is focused upon. Timely pyramids of interventions are activated. Action plans and best research strategies go through a cycle approach of being: planned, implemented, monitored, and reviewed. As a district, data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making by: monitoring student progress, creating school improvement plans, parent student conferencing, individual education plans, special programming, differentiation, and curriculum planning.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2014

  • Grades: k - 4
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 1,800
    Student Enrollment: 282
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1%
    White/Caucasian: 95%
    Hispanic: 2%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 49%
    % ELL Learners: 4%
    Founded: 2004
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Duane Krusemark
  • CONTACT:
    401 S. Pine Street
    Valley, NE 68064
    402-359-2151
    dkrusemark@dcwest.org