• Category 1

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 20,845
    Student Enrollment: 380
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 93%
    Hispanic: 1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 6%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:21
    % Reduced Lunch: 41%
    % ELL Learners: 7%
    Founded: 1990
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Vicki Gile
  • CONTACT:
    1401 Hall
    Hays, KS 67601
    785-623-2510
    vgile@usd489.com
Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy Elementary School
Hays, KS
Our school has utilized “looping”–a design that allows students and teachers two consecutive years to learn together.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
O’Loughlin utilizes technology to communicate and engage parents in the education of their child using Seesaw. This student driven, digital portfolio lets students and teachers communicate with parents about their individual child’s academic performance and day-to-day activities in real time. Parents are also able to respond to posts affirming the work of their child while keeping current about classroom content. Teachers invite parents to the classroom to view finished projects and celebrate student success. O’Loughlin has a very active Parent Teacher Association (PTA) that encourages family involvement with special activities at school. Family Engagement Nights provide family units with fun, theme-based activities that include a meal. O’Loughlin has a formal Parent/Teacher Conference at the end of the school year to inform parents of their child’s progress and serve as a resource for parents seeking to enrich the academic skills of their child during the summer months.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Kathryn O’Loughlin McCarthy Elementary School has developed a yearly, school-wide career day in which local businesses and agencies provide stations for students to visit and explore. Different career opportunities are highlighted each year. Multi-age groups are rotated through each station. Part of the focus in each station is to identify education levels and skill sets that are needed for each profession. Presenters connect student learning curriculum to their professional skills and required education.

Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
O’Loughlin’s philosophy of change is to utilize innovative, research-proven, educational practices. We are currently working on year two within the Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA) process and highly value the Self-Correcting Feedback Loop in which staff are engaged and their perceptions are valued when designing an improvement or responding to change. We regularly adjust instructional practices as various mandates, student data, current research, and our collective pedagogical wisdom indicate. Maintaining a balance among these areas has required grade level PLCs to collaborate regularly, share openly, respect sincerely, and support unconditionally while focusing on the success of each student. When student success is the primary focus, staff members within grade level PLCs work together to see beyond the safety of the familiar, step out of their comfort zone, implement change with fidelity, and find solutions to challenges collectively.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
While the members of O’Loughlin acknowledge the strengths and accomplishments of its students, families, and staff, we continue to look toward the future by setting goals unique to our community. Recently the stakeholders at O’Loughlin engaged in a multi-step process which involved gathering and analyzing data to determine areas we will focus on during the next year and beyond. The conclusion was to focus on the areas of relationships and relevance. The goal to strengthen relationships is regarding O’Loughlin staff fostering positive connections with families by communicating frequently (via multiple formats) about student mastery of curriculum (both academic and social-emotional) and giving practical guidance of ways families can support the content at home. To positively contribute to relevance, O’Loughlin staff has committed to engage more rigorously in the analysis of data to continue making intentional decisions based on multiple forms of data.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The looping design that allows students and teachers two consecutive years in a learning community sets our school apart from others and is viewed as having the most significant impact on the success of our students that can be replicated with fidelity. Teachers at O’Loughlin who have implemented looping regard it as a positive model because it contributes to the quality and depth of the triad relationship (parent-teacher-student). In addition, students benefit from the staff’s in-depth knowledge of the curriculum standards at multiple grade levels which allows for differentiation of instruction in order to meet each student’s individual needs.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
Since opening in 1990, our school has utilized “looping”–a design that allows students and teachers two consecutive years to learn together. Kindergarten and first grade, second and third grades, and fourth and fifth grades stay with the same teacher and the same classmates during their loop. Looping has increased the quality of parent-teacher communication; enhanced staff understanding of the continuity of the curriculum from one grade to the next; and provided teachers with a deep understanding of each student. This significantly reduces the length of time required at the start of the second looping year for teachers to assess and evaluate students since they are already familiar with the unique academic and social needs of their students. Parents and students also benefit because they are accustomed to classroom routines and expectations for success. The opportunity to connect at a meaningful level and grow in community is supported with the implementation of the looping model.

Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Federal funds are used to target early reading intervention and to support core ELA instruction. Funds are used to employ certified reading specialists trained in Reading Recovery who provide targeted, intense reading instruction to identified students. This is accomplished in individual and small group instruction.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
O’Loughlin embodies a culture of collaboration that fosters accountability and professional growth. The district keeps Professional Development (PD) relevant utilizing perception data. Included in these PD opportunities are: Summer and afterschool technology training; monthly Early Release days; Safe & Civil School training and Social-Emotional Learning. O’Loughlin staff are invited to share individual PD experiences at monthly staff meetings to encourage forward thinking, affirm best practices and stimulate conversation. Our staff members facilitate technology meetings to exchange ideas and troubleshoot. Staff benefit from visits with our ELA Instructional coach during PLCs to discuss updates to standards, changes in expectations and how best to implement the Reading and Writing Workshop. These PD opportunities provide a common language and clear, focused goals to staff with strategies that increase student engagement and positively contribute to their academic and social growth.

Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
A Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is utilized at O’Loughlin to improve the achievement of all students. Student data from multiple measures is used to differentiate instruction and move students forward as they master the standards. Students are placed into small, fluid groups and opportunities are created to reteach students, or to accelerate them by teaching new, advanced concepts. Teachers work collaboratively in grade-level Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to analyze data, and generate specific, individualized, research-proven interventions. As progress monitoring data indicates from this intervention, students may be referred by their classroom teacher, in concert with their parent, to a Student Intervention Team (SIT). This process may lead to additional Title I services or referrals to a Tier 3 intervention. Parents are an integral part of the process and this communication often contributes to increased parent engagement with the learning process.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
O’Loughlin School maintains a culture of collaboration among staff members which fosters accountability and professional growth that positively contributes to student success. As the demographics of our students change, and research indicates, our district is implementing a positive and proactive approach to classroom management and behavior support as developed by Safe and Civil Schools. This initiative instills a deeper sense of unity and consistency throughout our building while permitting us to tailor our routines and expectations to fit our student population. As a result, staff are exploring and implementing practices to become a trauma-responsive school by supporting students in identifying their feelings and self-regulating their behavior using the Zones of Regulation, mindfulness, guidelines to success, and calm corners. O’Loughlin staff have made a shift to encourage students to reach their potential by embracing a Growth Mindset Philosophy.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 20,845
    Student Enrollment: 380
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 93%
    Hispanic: 1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 6%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:21
    % Reduced Lunch: 41%
    % ELL Learners: 7%
    Founded: 1990
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Vicki Gile
  • CONTACT:
    1401 Hall
    Hays, KS 67601
    785-623-2510
    vgile@usd489.com