• Category 2

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 3
    Student Enrollment: 280
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 30%
    White/Caucasian: 66%
    Hispanic: 4%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:17
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1959
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Toni Lawfield
  • CONTACT:
    955 US HWY 61
    New Madrid, MO 63869
    573-748-5568
    tlawfield@newmadridco.k12.mo.us
New Madrid Elementary School
New Madrid, MO
New Madrid Elementary is committed to inspire a community of respectful, responsible, lifelong learners.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Our school has an active PTO that offers a wide range of activities throughout the year for students and their families to attend.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
New Madrid Elementary has really initiated ties to our community over the last few years by focusing on the involvement of our community and our families. There are multiple activities throughout the year sponsored by not only our school, but our PTO as well.
Some of our activities include Open House, Grandparent’s Day Breakfast, Veteran’s Day Lunch, Trunk or Treat, Christmas Family Fun Night, Book Fair Family Night, and music programs are just a variety of activities that we offer over the school year.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
New Madrid Elementary’s success can be attributed to everyone having a clear vision of what needs to be done and how it needs to done to get each student to where they need to be. Another improvement has been each and every person from the administrators to the School Board and everyone in between getting on board to make sure each student gets the high quality instruction that they need and should receive. Our vision statement is “New Madrid Elementary is committed to inspire a community of respectful, responsible, lifelong learners. “
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
In all honesty, we have more than two goals, but a few of our MAIN goals that will help us to reach all of our goals are to continue to increase literacy instruction and learning, stay the course, and to keep creating a culture of collaboration with everyone from teachers to the community!
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The most consistent and single factor that we have used over the past several years and continue to use would be enlisting Schools Cubed in getting our school, teachers. Administrators, school board, etc. all on the same course. Schools Cubed is a consulting firm that has provided us with the tools and help needed to create a clear vision and getting everyone on board to spread that vision district wide. We have learned not only the importance of data and how to analyze it, but to make sure we are using the RIGHT data.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
We have implemented the data-decision making processes from Schools Cubed. This is a firm we have partnered with for the past three years. We strive to make sure that all students are receiving high quality and researched based instruction at all times. We also use independent interventions that pertain to each individual student’s needs instead of grouping them as whole has also made a huge impact.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
We at New Madrid Elementary have been fortunate to receive a number of PD activities that have helped to improve teaching and learning. These opportunities range from Deb Glaser: The Reading Teacher’s Top Ten Tools, this was an online coarse that each of our teachers participated in, it implemented a variety of ways for our teachers to learn from narrations to classroom videos to interactive pieces as well, our teachers also attended Phonics PD from “Really Great Reading Company” this included providing our teachers the tools and knowledge on how to teach all students (not just those who learn easily) to read. Their approach to reading is explicit, multisensory, interactive and research based. We also collaborate with other teachers throughout our school district to share our ideas and their ideas with each other.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data plays a major role in every educational decision that is made for all students here at New Madrid Elementary. Rubrics are used to make sure that highest quality of staff is hired. We use data from benchmark testing and everyday instruction to guide what instruction each student needs individually, not just as a group. We use a total RTI system and framework for ensuring we meet the needs of all students. We hold data meetings with grade level teams every 6-weeks. We not only analyze benchmark data but also progress monitoring data.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
The morale of our school as a whole has changed dramatically over the past few years. We are truly a tem and work together as one. The staff and the student’s share in each other’s successes. We set goals and celebrate when those goals are met and then we set new goals. We are always trying to be better than our best. As a principal it has made a huge impact as far as me getting in the trenches with the teachers and collaborating, modeling, helping out where needed and being more of an instructional leader than a boss. We have also implemented a Building Leadership Team which is made up of faculty that collaborate and bring issues/questions to the table of other faculty so that all voices are heard and answered. We also make sure that our special education and our regular education teachers are highly collaborative as well.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 3
    Student Enrollment: 280
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 30%
    White/Caucasian: 66%
    Hispanic: 4%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:17
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1959
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Toni Lawfield
  • CONTACT:
    955 US HWY 61
    New Madrid, MO 63869
    573-748-5568
    tlawfield@newmadridco.k12.mo.us