• Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: 1 - 3
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 17
    Student Enrollment: 298
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 5%
    White/Caucasian: 85%
    Hispanic: 3%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 2%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1954
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jenifer Richardson
  • CONTACT:
    3297 Oak Grove Road
    Poplar Bluff, MO 63901
    573-785-6589
    jeniferrichardson@pb.k12.mo.us
Oak Grove Elementary School
Poplar Bluff, MO
Oak Grove staff takes pride in fostering a positive and welcoming environment.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Oak Grove has developed positive relationships with families and community members. We have an active PTO that provides ongoing support. During open house, the PTO, along with our school community business sponsors welcome students and families, and share with families opportunities to be involved during the year such as: lunch buddy, classroom volunteer, room parent, Veterans Assembly, Jingle Jog, PTO, fundraising, food pantry, Christmas Angel Tree, play day, book fair, math-a-thon, PBIS monthly celebrations and STAR Store. Social media is used as an outreach and means of communicating with family and community members. The school facebook page spotlights all of the wonderful things that are happening inside our building and classrooms during the day, and special events that occur during the year. We are able to live stream special events for those that are unable to attend.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Our community is very supportive of our school system. Boys and Girls Club provides "power hour" and enrichment after school each day, as well as a summer program. The Butler County Community Resource Council hosts a district spelling bee, math contest, and is a valuable resource in offering awareness classes to families. AmeriCorps works closely with the school providing tutors daily to work with at-risk students. The Bright Futures Site Council provides ongoing support to meet the needs of individual students and their families. We have an active PTO that provides ongoing support to our students, families, and staff.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
We work together as a professional learning community. We have established collaborative team meetings twice a week during common planning times. Every staff member, including classified staff, are part of a collaborative team. Rick DuFour’s 4 Guiding Questions is the framework followed for the agenda talking points. The structure of this agenda allows for collaborative time to be spent focusing on identifying misconceptions and best practices and strategies to grow our students. The agenda also allows for teams to be instructional leaders within their collaborative teams. The data meetings drive our instruction and our RTI. Students identified as not reaching proficiency, far to go, proficient and higher are provided RTI and enrichment. Transparency and trust are key factors demonstrated among the collaborative teams.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
PBIS laid the foundation for establishing a positive learning environment and culture for staff and students Building wide rules, common language, and consistent supports were established. The implementation of PBIS reduced negative behaviors dramatically, which allowed teachers more time to focus on instruction in the classroom. Once PBIS was in place, the building then turned the focus to PLCs.Through PLC's, the staff at Oak Grove was able to create a building mission, vision, goals & collective commitments. Staff also created team norms, established team roles, defined what collaboration would look like among teams, & created an agenda template that focused on DuFour’s 4 Corollary Questions. Staff learned to effectively use data to facilitate collaborative discussions & maximize teaching resources to identify ways to close the achievement gap. Staff have learned to work together as a team to brainstorm solutions for roadblocks that are encountered along the journey.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Our ESEA federal funds are allocated to support our intervention and enrichment instruction and supports. Funds have been used for teacher salaries, professional development, and technology resources.
Oak Grove provides differentiated settings for RTI blocks made up of 30 - 60 minutes, depending on the identified need. In reading, these settings consist of a special education classroom that serves the needs of students identified through IDEA, a co-teaching model with an interventionist in the regular ed classroom, a pull-out model that utilizes an interventionist and paraprofessional, and a flexible, multi-level academic support room encompassing both regular education students and part-time special education students with a regular ed classroom teacher, special education teacher, interventionist, and paraprofessional providing RTI support.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Oak Grove has teachers dedicated to the highest quality of learning. Teachers concentrate on finding & studying new strategies to meet the needs of all students through various professional development opportunities. The professional development activities have focused on unpacking the learning standards for each grade level, creating rubrics & rigorous assessments that align to the Missouri Learning Standards & district ELO’s. The building leadership team has provided ongoing training to staff on: Assessment Capable Learners, Feedback, RTI and Data Based Decision Making. Time has been created within contracted time for teachers to meet to discuss data-based decision making, rubrics, common formative assessments, RTI and learning standards in grade level meetings as well as vertical teaming practices. The focus on this work has been instrumental in turning Oak Grove into a high performing school.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Oak Grove staff takes pride in fostering a positive and welcoming environment. Hallways, classrooms, & work areas reflect our building's mission, vision, values, &goals. The halls are filled with positive quotes, positive office referrals, celebration & achievement photos, & positive behavior matrices. Staff focus on building positive relationships with students. Each morning students are greeted at drop off by staff & make their way to the gym for the morning celebration each day, which includes: student & class awards, character lessons, class celebrations, & game day. We end with our school chant & pledge to start the day off on a positive note. Staff make it a priority to create an environment where everyone also feels valued and supported. A staff social contract is created at the beginning of the year setting the foundation for a positive working environment and feel safe to share ideas, data, strategies, and provide feedback to peers.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: 1 - 3
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 17
    Student Enrollment: 298
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 5%
    White/Caucasian: 85%
    Hispanic: 3%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 2%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1954
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jenifer Richardson
  • CONTACT:
    3297 Oak Grove Road
    Poplar Bluff, MO 63901
    573-785-6589
    jeniferrichardson@pb.k12.mo.us