• Category 2

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 6,800
    Student Enrollment: 572
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 63%
    White/Caucasian: 26%
    Hispanic: 4%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:19
    % Reduced Lunch: 65.7%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1967
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Randi Smith
  • CONTACT:
    20910 Chesterfield Ave
    Petersburg, VA 23803
    804-520-6005
    randi_smith@ccpsnet.net
Ettrick Elementary School
Petersburg, VA
The culture at Ettrick ES was grounded in pessimistic beliefs of generational poverty, where those living in poverty for generations have limited faith in education and its benefits.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Ettrick ES has a strong partnership with the community’s neighborhood organization, the Concerned Citizens of Ettrick. Three years ago, when Ettrick ES was facing state denial of accreditation, members of the CCE and the school’s administration met to discuss the needs of the school and how the community could help with academic improvement. The CCE and Ettrick ES then partnered to develop an Early Literacy program, where parents or caretakers of 2, 3, and 4-year-olds along with their children could come to a location at the school, three times a week, to engage in academic play. While in attendance parents learn how to engage in reading and mathematics activities that are fun and can be replicated at home. This is powerful in a community with high-poverty where academic engagement at home does not always take place, primarily because parents and caretakers do not know how to appropriately interact with their children in a way that builds literacy and math skills at home.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
For the past 3 years, our school has implemented the use of Student Data Notebooks, which has allowed students to set goals, graph learning, revise goals, and reflect on results of their learning as it pertains to goals set. Prior to implementing SDN’s we found that students believed that grades simply happened to them, and were not a directly tied to anything they did or said. Students begin by charting progress from a beginning-of-year assessment, and use that assessment to set. As students move through the year they chart various assessments and revise or continue with the original goal. Students use the SDN as a tool to guide them through conversations about their academic progress with their parents during Student Lead Conference Day. Using SDN during Student Lead Conferences with parents has been powerful, as the parents are able to hear from their child as to what s/he wants to accomplish during the school year, as well as how the parent can help the child reach his/her goals.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Our primary focus for ESEA federal funds has always been in support of providing opportunities for students to interact with more high-quality professionals as opposed to purchasing “things”. We currently are using our funding to provide salaries for a mathematics specialist, mathematics coach, two mathematics tutors (parttime), a reading coach, and one instructional assistant. By providing the building with more interventionists we are able to adopt a “flood-in” model of support during reading and mathematics blocks. This allows more students the opportunity to receive small-group instruction at their level. The decision was made to prioritize funding in this way because we have more students in need of Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions than students functioning at the Tier 1 level. By flooding-in with more interventionists, we are allowing more instructional time to occur at Tier 2 & 3 levels.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
For several years we have committed to bi-weekly team planning sessions where we have immersed ourselves in data that helps us to know the students academically. During these meetings, we review various formative and summative assessments that help to identify pacing for future instruction, prepared of the students and their ability to move forward, as well as identify remediation needs of students. The constant review of real-time, authentic data has enabled our school to provide effective and flexible small-group intervention instruction on a daily basis. Our small-groups are fluid, meaning membership of each group changes often, and the changes are made based on what the data reveals about each student’s needs. In addition, the weekly data study impacts the rate in which we instruct various concepts; going faster when the data reveals students have a stronger foundation in an area or slowing down when indications are that they might struggle.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
The culture at Ettrick ES was grounded in pessimistic beliefs of generational poverty, where those living in poverty for generations have limited faith in education and its benefits. Our approach in changing this culture into one which embraces and encourages the benefits of education is steeped in relationship-building practices for all stakeholders, welcoming our community partners, and creating a setting where students and their parents can visualize themselves with opportunities and in a different life-situation than their current situation. To aid the emphasis on relationship building we have immersed ourselves in professional developments that have been focused on Positive Behavior Intervention Systems (PBIS), Trauma-informed Care, and instructional practices that increase collaborative and hands-on experiences for students. Some of the most impactful steps stemming from these have been reverse referrals, de-escalation kits in all classrooms, and establishing a mindfulness room.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 6,800
    Student Enrollment: 572
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 63%
    White/Caucasian: 26%
    Hispanic: 4%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:19
    % Reduced Lunch: 65.7%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1967
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Randi Smith
  • CONTACT:
    20910 Chesterfield Ave
    Petersburg, VA 23803
    804-520-6005
    randi_smith@ccpsnet.net