• Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 2,150
    Student Enrollment: 242
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1.5%
    White/Caucasian: 26.4%
    Hispanic: 68.5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 2.9%
    Native American: 0.7%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:12
    % Reduced Lunch: 74%
    % ELL Learners: 14%
    Founded: 1900
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Andrew Offner
  • CONTACT:
    PO Box 450
    Madison, NE 68748
    402-454-2656
    aoffner@esu8.org
Madison Elementary School
Madison, NE
The programs we have implemented have increased student achievement, closed achievement gaps, and provided an excellent education to our students. We now reach more at risk students and give them a better educational foundation.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
We have been utilizing our Parent Action Committee to get parents involved and into our school buildings. We use them to acquire feedback on how the school is doing and what programs they would like to see in the future. We blend this with our school improvement team to help build a community vision.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
As a district we utilize our website and other social media avenues as a means to reach our stakeholders and parents. We use these to promote a positive image of Madison Public Schools. This enables us to embrace our communities diversity and celebrate our successes together. We encourage parents to be apart of our PAC (Parent Action Committee), which plan activities such as a carnival, open house, elementary track and field, etc. We also utilize this group to further build positive relationships with the community and determine the needs of the parents and what they would like to see at the school.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
All decisions made are student focused. This philosophy has enabled us to reach more at risk students and give them a better educational base to prepare them for the next steps in their life.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
We want to continue to close the achievement gap and to offer a high quality education for every child. We will also continue to work to increase our parent involvement in our school.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
Professional development and collaboration opportunities for our staff help create a supportive atmosphere that fosters a student first approach.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
In the past 8 years we have added content specific curriculum to address gaps in our students performances. Through the programs we put in place, along with smaller groups, more individualized monitoring, and intervention time, we have been able to increase student achievement, close skill gaps and provide an excellent education to our students.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Our Title 1 funds are used to provided staff to support our at risk students.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
For our continuous school improvement plan we utilize a number of all day inservices and at least 1 early out a month. During these early outs we focus on data analysis, curriculum development, and grade and subject level collaboration. Starting this year we have been discussing an instructional model. We are currently implementing the Robert Marzano instructional model. This will be the main professional development focus for the next several years. This will establish common language of learning in our district. It will enhance our staffs ability to communicate with our students and transition from grade to grade.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
All decisions made by the district and staff are student focused. As a district our school improvement team and staff analyzes multiple sources of data which include norm referenced assessments, state wide assessments, screeners and in-program data. Based on these results professional development, programs offered, school district goals and curriculum needs are decided. Our RTI/MTSS/SAT also use this data to make individual student intervention plans.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
We typically use the phrase "We are Madison" to show unity between the school and the community and the sense of pride we have in our diverse population. We embrace this diversity and this gives our students an advantage of experiencing multicultural perspectives before going off to college.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 2,150
    Student Enrollment: 242
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1.5%
    White/Caucasian: 26.4%
    Hispanic: 68.5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 2.9%
    Native American: 0.7%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:12
    % Reduced Lunch: 74%
    % ELL Learners: 14%
    Founded: 1900
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Andrew Offner
  • CONTACT:
    PO Box 450
    Madison, NE 68748
    402-454-2656
    aoffner@esu8.org