• Category 1

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 46
    Student Enrollment: 633
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 2%
    White/Caucasian: 36%
    Hispanic: 25%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 35%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:23
    % Reduced Lunch: 63%
    % ELL Learners: 18%
    Founded: 1958
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Candace Young
  • CONTACT:
    1400 E 23rd Street
    Farmington, NM 87401
    505-599-8609
    cyoung@fms.k12.nm.us
Northeast Elementary School
Farmington, NM
School change is created by leadership who presents a mission that motivates others to become invested in the mission.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
The Leveled Literacy Intervention program involves parents and students to be successful.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
This year the district implemented a new online registration process for new and returning students. Northeast Elementary provided support to our families with this process by holding registration nights at our school and at a neighborhood site. These coordinated events provided district tech support, computers and Internet access, Navajo and Spanish interpreters, and teachers and staff to help guide families through the new process. This support helped our families without computers, wifi, and/or transportation to be able to access and complete the process for making sure their child was properly registered for the school year. Parents expressed great appreciation for the support provided and that we provided support outside the school building and came to their neighborhood. In our district, we had the highest percentage of students registered with the new system, no matter the socioeconomic status.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
School change is created by leadership who presents a mission that motivates others to become invested in the mission. Further, leadership is disseminated throughout the site and continually grown and developed. Not only does it require that leadership has a clarity of mission, but also an investment in people (relationships) who share the mission, integrity, commitment to a healthy culture, and hard work.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Through the direction of the University of Virgina Turnaround Program, Northeast's top two goals are sustainability goals. Goal one, by using a strength finder, staff will be plugged into a position that will allow them to lead in areas they are most capable. Goal two, evaluating and eliminating some practices that are no longer critical to monitor, freeing the team to invest their time and efforts in other area.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The single most important factor is investing in teachers. 1) A belief that teachers can be successful at a high level with this most important work. 2) Strategic improvement of their pedagogy. 3) Time for teachers to work together in a supportive environment on a shared mission.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
One of the greatest positive effects on student achievement was the implementation of a Tier 2 intervention plan. Data was used to research which program would be the most impactful to our setting. The Level Literacy Intervention Program by Fountas and Pinnell was selected and implemented with great success. Teachers were trained to be interventionists who specialized with struggling readers. This included reinforcing or developing an understanding of quality reading instruction. As a school, everyone was involved in the intervention process - classroom, special education, and Title 1 teachers, and instructional aides. We discovered it required careful monitoring of each student in the program, additional professional development, parent involvement, and a building commitment to daily implementation.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Title 1 funds were used to pay for an intervention program and other supportive programs, teacher training including books and book studies such as Van de Walle's Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics and Lucy Calkin's writing program, summer school, and summer pay for teachers involved in curriculum development and planning. Northeast would not have been able to "turn around" the school without this critical final investment afforded by Title 1 funds.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Professional development included research from The Art and Science of Teaching by Dr. Marzano. Guided small group work addressing effective instructional unit designs and delivery of instruction. Reading instruction for remediation, philosophy of mathematical instruction and writing.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Northeast uses multiple types of data for all instructional decisions. The state assessment data is used to write the building's "90 Day Plan". This plan articulates the necessary work needed to address the deficit in student proficiency. It includes, data, goals setting, actions, monitoring (more data, but action specific), reflection and adjustment. We use data from the District Interim Assessments (administered 3 times a year) to write comprehensive classroom Action Plans that include corrective instruction for the whole class, small group, and individual students. The plan includes teacher written assessments to measure effectiveness of the Action Plan and the cycle continues until all students reach mastery. Grade level teams meet weekly in Professional Learning Communities to review common formative assessment data. General data such as attendance (student and teacher), discipline, Student Assistance Team, and surveys are used if shown to impact student achievement.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Five years ago, Northeast Elementary School received the District's one and only "F" grade, from the State of New Mexico. The school's culture was defined by student behaviors that were extremely disruptive and non engaging, parents behaviors that translated a lack of respect, and teachers were embarrassed and discouraged. Improvements were aggressive. We restructured every aspect of the school system from leadership, instructional delivery, programs, schedules, teacher morale, professional development and conduct, students' behavior and student/staff attendance. We applied Winston Churchill"s philosophy, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." We pulled together with a common mission which yielded a school culture that was a positive successful learning environment for students, teachers, and families.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 46
    Student Enrollment: 633
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 2%
    White/Caucasian: 36%
    Hispanic: 25%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 35%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:23
    % Reduced Lunch: 63%
    % ELL Learners: 18%
    Founded: 1958
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Candace Young
  • CONTACT:
    1400 E 23rd Street
    Farmington, NM 87401
    505-599-8609
    cyoung@fms.k12.nm.us