• Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: 1 - 2
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 24,500
    Student Enrollment: 599
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 35%
    White/Caucasian: 53%
    Hispanic: 7%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 4%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:22
    % Reduced Lunch: 47%
    % ELL Learners: 11%
    Founded: 1971
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Cindy Bigham
  • CONTACT:
    1637 Highway 30 East
    Oxford, MS 38655
    662-234-3497
    csbigham@oxfordsd.org
Oxford Elementary School
Oxford, MS
If we are not changing we are not growing.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Oxford Elementary School (OES) prides itself on extending an "Open Door Policy" to our community.

OES is fortunate to have a variety of tools to promote communication with our stakeholders. Through the use social media outlets, SMS messaging systems and School Status, OES is able to keep the lines of communication open at all times.

Our doors are open for Rising Star ceremonies, Shining Star ceremonies, Tier 3 graduations, as well as open houses and parent data nights are all examples of events created to increase our parent and community involvement.

OES is fortunate to have an active PTO which this year alone was able to raise money with donations from the community to fund 25 grants for classroom teachers. The PTO and our generous community are making a difference for our students.

Finally, OES has formed a strong partnership with the local University. Counselor interns, student teachers and volunteers are a key factor in the success of forging a bond between our school and our community.

Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
As generations change and culture shifts, school change is inevitable. If we are not changing we are not growing. An intentional growth mindset allows us at OES to embrace change and not run from it. As a faculty we find we are more motivated and engaged when we are challenging each other to change something in our everyday practice. Through PLC discussions, goal setting with administration and common planning times teachers are constantly learning new ideas from each other and implementing them in their classrooms.

Teachers are challenged to be vulnerable, and share their strengths and weaknesses with each other to become even more effective in reaching each and every student.

We are constantly growing and changing at OES and that is precisely why student achievement and growth have increased over the past few years.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Oxford Elementary School (OES) is fortunate to be able to use ESEA federal funds to focus on Standards Based Grading (SBG), and the implementation of the Responsive Classroom.

Standards Based Grading (SBG) is in the second year of implementation at OES. With the use of ESEA federal funds, teachers have learned to unpack state standards, identify priority standards, write proficiency scales for each standard, and create common assessments.

ESEA federal funds have also been used over the past two years to send teachers to Responsive Classroom training. Teachers have learned how to implement a student centered, social-emotional approach to teaching and learning in their classroom. As a result our classroom communities have changed drastically. Through the use of the Responsive Classroom practices, discipline concerns have decreased and student achievement has increased. OES has figured out that social emotional growth as well as academic improvements are equally important.

Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Oxford Elementary uses a variety of assessments to inform instruction. NWEA is administered three times each year as well as Star Reading. Data from these assessments is analyzed in PLC's as well as by the administration team to inform our instruction and make changes as needed for each student.

OES hosts a Multi-Tiered System of Support team. By analyzing the data listed above, struggling learners are identified. Assessment data, progress on state standards taught in the classroom, observations and teacher feedback are other pieces of data used when identifying students' needs.

Classroom teachers utilize many other methods of data collection from pre-assessments, formative and common assessments to instructional programming such as Moby Max, SeeSaw, Khan Academy, Read Theory, and MAP Skills to determine the level of student mastery of our state standards. The rich conversations about data that occur in our PLC's and MTSS meetings are key to our students growth at OES.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Oxford Elementary School's (OES) culture is built on relationships. OES administration has invested it's efforts in empowering teachers. Without strong relationships and a safe environment for open and honest professional conversations to take place, our school culture would not be as strong.

Grade level PLC's foster teamwork among our teachers where they dissect the Mississippi state standards, share instructional strategies that exemplify best practice, create formative and common assessments, and analyze their data.

Intentional time spent goal setting, reflecting and sharing strengths and weaknesses has allowed our staff to become vulnerable and willing to seek out support from district level academic and behavioral coaches as well as their colleagues within our own building.

We all serve as instructional leaders at Oxford Elementary, to some degree, making a difference and adding value where our strengths lie.

Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: 1 - 2
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 24,500
    Student Enrollment: 599
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 35%
    White/Caucasian: 53%
    Hispanic: 7%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 4%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:22
    % Reduced Lunch: 47%
    % ELL Learners: 11%
    Founded: 1971
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Cindy Bigham
  • CONTACT:
    1637 Highway 30 East
    Oxford, MS 38655
    662-234-3497
    csbigham@oxfordsd.org