• Category 1

    Selected in 2020

  • Grades: pre k - 8
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 650
    Student Enrollment: 195
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1%
    White/Caucasian: 92%
    Hispanic: 5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 63%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1939
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Courtney Bake
  • CONTACT:
    13 7th Street
    Fairfield, MT 59436
    406-467-2425
    cbake@fairfield.k12.mt.us
Fairfield Elementary School
Fairfield, MT
Students and staff feel empowered to do great things when they feel supported and valued.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Fortunately, we live in a community that highly supports its school, staff and leaders. School and the success of our kids in whatever their endeavor (academics, robotics, spelling bees, science fairs, athletics) is important to our parents and the community. We definitely brag up our kiddos on Facebook and social media platforms for whatever they are involved in. Communication with daily home to school folders and Wednesday envelopes, Facebook, twitter and a good old fashioned phone call are some of the ways staff communicates with parents and the community. We send out a big beginning of the school newsletter
with all the important beginning of the year information and a calendar of events. Parent Teacher conferences are well attended in the fall with a 97% attendance rate.
We encourage volunteers including accessing the Front Range Assisted Living center. The Front Range has senior citizens that enter our school four days a week to help with our reading groups. In turn our students travel to the assisted living on many occasions to help out or show off our singing and art talents.
Recently we made a transition to Infinite Campus for our attendance and grading software along with many other facets of the program. The greatest part of this program is that parents can access a student's grades at any time in order to keep track of assignments and completion. Another portion of IC that is fantastic is that it allows for mass text to communicate immediate messages that are needed.
Giving back to the community through service projects such as shoveling snow, planting the main street planters, Easter Egg hunt, picking up garbage on the highway, serving at the annual meetings of our local coops are some of the ways our students get involved and say thank you.


Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
RtI (Response to Intervention/Instruction) is a multi tiered system of support Fairfield Elementary has used for the past 13 years. It has become the way that we do business. This business leads to all successes for academics and behaviors in Fairfield Elementary. A multi-tiered system of support provides guidance for delivering comprehensive, quality instruction for ALL students.
Among other activities that have made us successful are a 90 minute reading block in the morning and a walk to read/move to math initiative.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
I wouldn't describe my philosophy of school change or improvement as much as I would describe it as a philosophy of continued school success. Our culture at Fairfield Schools has always been a supportive and collaborative culture. We have continued to use those factors and built successful students.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
1. Striving to make sure we didn't miss instruction and elements in the shut down last spring.
2. Creating an environment where there is less anxiety and worry about the pandemic crisis.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
Our 90 minute reading block and Response to Intervention/Instruction are the strongest contributing factors to our success.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
We began the process of Response to Intervention/Instruction in the fall of 2006. In the throws of the NCLB era, Fairfield Elementary embraced the idea of data based decision making initially using direct instruction methods, small group instruction and individual based instruction with fidelity. We used varying strategies that we gained from the results in the core curriculum. As we moved into 2008, we picked up a program called Aimsweb to see exactly where our kiddos were sitting within their class and started to pick through the Golden Triangle Cooperative standards coupled with State Standards. We became proficient at that and embraced common core standards in 2011 solidifying our process of direct instruction, whole and small group instruction and individual interventions. In 2015, we were recognized as a sustaining school in RtI by the state and we participated as 1 of 10 schools that were selected to participate in the Leadership for Action in RtI as a result of our success. Still not being satisfied with our scores, the lower grades began using a Walk to Read and a Move to Math strategy as part of the RtI process so that we could give more help to kiddos of all levels. We also made a more conscious approach to improve math fluency and orders of operations. The work has paid off, our growth in our local scores and our state scores has improved!
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
The utilization of Improving Basic Programs and Effective Instruction monies has been a big factor in contributing to the success of our students. These monies have been used mostly in class size reduction situations in which there is smaller classes and more help for the students.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Teachers and staff are encouraged to attend training's each year to keep on top of the current educational trends. Professional Development days are built in to the district calendar to promote and provide access to improving practices throughout the school year. In August during teacher training we brought in the Golden Triangle Curriculum Consortium to assess standards and train staff how to put them into their digital lesson plan book. This is also helping with our transition to standards based report cards. Also on those days, we had a more formal STAR (Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading) training to look at progress monitoring component. Utilizing this component will help us to track our kiddos intervention levels 2 and 3 on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We sent several teachers to the NCCE (Northwest Council for Computer Education) conference in Seattle to stay updated on the latest technological education trends. Later this spring we will do brain based strategies to utilize in the classroom and sending staff to Autism training. Teachers are also encouraged to use the Office of Public Instruction Learning Portal to gain valuable education in varying topics and earn renewal units as well.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
RtI (Response to Intervention/Instruction) is a multi tiered system of support Fairfield Elementary has used for the past 13 years. It has become the way that we do business. This business leads to all successes for academics and behaviors in Fairfield Elementary. A multi-tiered system of support provides guidance for delivering comprehensive, quality instruction for ALL students. Our framework is designed to provide evidence-based instruction and targeted interventions that lead to student success. All students receive core classroom instruction utilizing research based curriculum and methods to teach critical elements of a subject (reading, math, writing, etc). Our data proves that 80-90 percent of students will have a sufficient response to instruction by demonstrating subject proficiency with effective Tier 1 instruction. Students who score at the higher level of Tier 1 will be receiving instruction that will continue to keep them challenged.
Some students will receive strategically targeted instruction in addition to core instruction. Strategic Instruction addresses the specific needs of students who do not make sufficient subject progress in Tier 1. Tier 2 interventions are targeted to teach specific skill needs, are scientifically based, and align with core classroom instruction. Approximately 5-10 percent of students will require Tier 2 instruction. Instruction is generally provided in a small group (3-5 students) format with similarly skilled students. The duration of this instruction varies based on student assessment and progress monitoring data that measures student response to intervention.
Intensive targeted instruction is provided to the most at-risk students who have not responded sufficiently to Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. This small percentage (1-8%) of students usually have severe skill difficulties and require instruction that is more explicit, more intensive, and specifically designed to meet individual needs. Intensive instruction should take place in addition to Tier 1 instruction; however, it may, in a few instances, replace core instruction. Students needing targeted Tier 3 interventions will have additional instruction daily (e.g., 90 minutes of Tier 1 instruction plus 60-90 minutes of intervention instruction). Tier 3 intervention may replace Tier 2 instruction and should be provided by the most qualified teacher within a small group of two to five students. The duration of this intervention is extended over a longer period of time and varies based on student assessment and progress monitoring data.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Students and staff feel empowered to do great things when they feel supported and valued. One of the ways at Fairfield Schools which we empower students is through SOAR (Safe, Organized, Accountable, Respectful/Responsible). SOAR is the expected behaviors in all of our common areas which are taught and modeled continually by staff. For example, a student being Safe in the hallway would be one who stays to the right in a single line and keeps hands and feet to themselves. A student who is being Organized in the lunchroom would be one who is using proper table manners and following signal directions of the adults in charge. An accountable student on the playground is one who avoid rough and dangerous play and uses playground equipment properly. A respectful/responsible student on the bus is one who waits their turn and sits in the correct seat on the bus. When students are given guidance and structure the motivation and the strive to do well increases. Teachers value is priceless. Our teachers and staff work extremely hard at putting students first. Support of that is crucial. Small tokens such as chocolate in their mailbox, coffees from the local shop or a post it note on their desk work! Bigger ways are flowers at Valentine's day, staff tee shirts and coupons for leaving early or a free sub work well! Above this is a general interest in what is happening in their lives by a simple conversation!
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2020

  • Grades: pre k - 8
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 650
    Student Enrollment: 195
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1%
    White/Caucasian: 92%
    Hispanic: 5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 63%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1939
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Courtney Bake
  • CONTACT:
    13 7th Street
    Fairfield, MT 59436
    406-467-2425
    cbake@fairfield.k12.mt.us