• Category 3

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 37,000
    Student Enrollment: 537
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 3%
    White/Caucasian: 92%
    Hispanic: 2%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 2%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 46.8%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1963
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lou Ann Peery
  • CONTACT:
    2150 Millsfield Highway
    Dyersburg, TN 38024
    731-285-2840
    louannpeery@dcchoctaws.net
Fifth Consolidated School
Dyersburg, TN
We strive to create a culture of excellence, growth, and community."
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
At Fifth Consolidated, we strive to create a culture of excellence, growth, and community. The primary way we do this is by placing a focus on cultivating relationships with both our students and their families. We feel that positive relationships with our students are a key component to achieving success. Our faculty and staff work together using a “whole student” approach in order to ensure that all student needs are met.

High quality, data-driven instruction is the foundation of success for our school. Our students receive whole and small group instruction from their teachers. Students are also provided with tiered intervention services through RTI and ALLCorps tutoring. Our district currently utilizes multiple programs to assess student growth through benchmark assessments and progress monitoring. The information from these assessments is used to make instructional decisions from a data-driven approach.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
We have promoted positive change in our school by prioritizing a "whole student" approach with our students. Our teachers strive to build positive relationships with both our students and their families to encourage ownership from all stakeholders in the educational process. We work diligently to create an environment where we set high academic expectations, but also celebrate student growth and accomplishments both inside and outside of the classroom through incentive programs. We utilize the PBIS approach in our school. The purpose of this program is to teach students about behavior expectations and strategies.

We also work diligently to ensure that we are making data-driven decisions through the use of data from various benchmark assessments. We use this assessment data to meet as a group to discuss student progress and and ensure that all students are receiving any needed services or interventions.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
ESEA funding has supported our school's success by providing the funds for our Title I program. This funding has allowed us to employ interventionists that work with our students in small groups in order to assist them in closing any learning gaps that may exist that are hindering them from performing on grade level. By having these interventionist on staff, our students are provided both whole and small group instruction in order to increase their likelihood of academic success.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
Teachers from our school participate in various professional development opportunities that have impact the success of our school such as Promethean Board training, SPDG training, and grade level collaboration meetings. Equipment training for devices such as the Promethean Board prepare our teachers to implement the usage of technology in their classroom in an effective manner that impacts student learning. SPDG training reinforces our belief that student relationships are a critical component in the foundation for student learning and success. Also, grade level collaboration opportunities allow grade level teachers to meet with both the administration and instructional coaches to review and refine instructional pacing, curriculum and other learning aspects that impact student achievement. In addition to the above mentioned activities, our school also partners with our state CORE office to ensure that we implement instructional programs with both rigor and fidelity.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
We believe our school's success can be attributed to our decision to shift our focus to two primary elements: environment and ownership. We strive to provide all students with a positive and safe learning environment each day. This is done by prioritizing positive teacher-student relationships. Our teachers spend time getting to know their students on a personal level in order to build trust, but to also learn more about the individual needs of each student. Ownership is another area of focus at Fifth Consolidated. We strive to work with all stakeholders to create a feeling of ownership with all staff members, community members, etc. This unified sense of ownership reinforces a "team" approach and has everyone focused on student success.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
Fifth Consolidated is very fortunate to have community stakeholders that are very active within our school. Both our PTO and community partners actively support our school by providing funds, sponsoring and coordinating school events, and attending various school activities to interact with our staff and students. These partnerships assist us in offering various school events such as our Fall Fest and other family engagement activities. Their support helps us to build better relationships with both our students and their families and affirms our focus of environment and ownership. Community involvement has definitely attributed to the success of Fifth Consolidated Elementary.
Stats
  • Category 3

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 37,000
    Student Enrollment: 537
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 3%
    White/Caucasian: 92%
    Hispanic: 2%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 2%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 46.8%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1963
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lou Ann Peery
  • CONTACT:
    2150 Millsfield Highway
    Dyersburg, TN 38024
    731-285-2840
    louannpeery@dcchoctaws.net