• Category 1

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: k - 8
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 15,750
    Student Enrollment: 25
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 100%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:2
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 60%
    Founded: 1945
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lisa Heckenlaible
  • CONTACT:
    110 N. Mentzer
    Mitchell, SD 57301
    605-995-7500
    lisa.heckenlaible@k12.sd.us
Rosedale Colony Elementary School
Mitchell, SD
Our school culture is: Everyone matters and kindness counts.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
The parents are key in the success of our school and students. We use the students’ planners as a daily communication tool with the parents. This form of “checking in” provides the teachers and parents with a great idea of how the student’s day has been or will be. This holds everyone accountable and shows the students that school and home go hand-in-hand. On any given day, you can see the parents stopping by or calling to keep in touch. This true partnership really is awesome and vital to our success!!
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Our school has several opportunities that involve the community. Our school is in a Hutterite Community where the entire population is within walking distance of the school. This provides us with many opportunities to involve everyone. We have quarterly incentive parties (carnival, camping, rollerblading, etc..) that everyone partakes in and contributes to. In addition, there are school sponsored events ranging from an annual Christmas Program to a huge Fire Prevention day. These involve all learners and colony community members alike. We conclude each school year with a community wide picnic filled with activities that take place throughout the entire day.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Our philosophy of school change or improvement is to bring in the changes slowly to ensure the principles of a one room school can still work with the change. Within the last two years, the district has provided us with a one-to-one chromebook initiative. In the Hutterian community, technology is not a factoring component in their lifestyle; therefore, implementing technology in the school setting was a well thought out process with colony member feedback. We needed to keep up with the ever changing world of education and technology but also keep their values and beliefs true to heart. This along with high expectations provide the students with the belief that they can achieve greatness.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Our goal is and has always been to continue showing growth in our performance. Implementing performance based assessments is a continued goal for our learners. These have allowed the students to think deeper and apply their skills and knowledge to real life applications.
Another goal this year is to analyze our math curriculum to ensure that it continues to challenge our learners in all aspects of common core. We use a different curriculum than the other district schools. The interleaving that the Saxon Math program provides has proven successful to this point. We will need to see if the next curriculum, that the district moves forward with, will benefit the colony learners or if we will continue with our current program.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
Teamwork! The power of everyone knowing their role in the relationship to the students’ learning and giving it all they have! All team members; parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, administration and all community members working for the best interest of the child. Showing consistent care, concern, love and support through all triumphs and troubles, through trials and tribulations, through all the joys and tears…….throughout the entire year…in school and out.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The curriculum we use at Rosedale Colony School has a positive effect on our achievement. For ELA, we use the ReadyGen curriculum. This program has made a major impact on our students’ writing skills. It has also made our students critical thinkers. This program along with our spiraling Saxon math program has provided our students with a great foundation for learning. We also incorporate the brain based program, Boost-Up, to provide our students with brain movement exercises. The one-room schoolhouse model allows the older students to help the younger students; therefore, a variety of learning is taking place without teacher-directed instruction. Students are consistently being exposed to lessons in other grade levels.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Rosedale Colony School receives targeted assisted Title I services. Our Title I teacher services our English Language students on a daily basis, assisting with the transition to school. Students arrive speaking Hutterian and quickly learn English. The Title I instructor also works with students through the Reading Recovery program and utilizes the ‘Road to Reading’ and “Road to the Code’ programs. She works on phonological awareness and reading remedies, to assist our young learners in understanding the English language and apply skills needed to become fluent readers.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
The Mitchell School District provides ongoing professional development with all new curriculums. We have an active curriculum director that arranges for representatives to visit our district to provide follow up trainings, to ensure implementation is streamlined and effective. Our district has also been working through the various theories and stages of Mind, Brain, and Education. This professional development has allowed staff to reflect on their teaching and notate improvements through video and communication with colleagues. Ongoing use of professional development is key to our success. Teachers have worked diligently to ensure students are using higher order thinking skills in their day-to-day education. Our ELA curriculum has been a major component of assisting our teachers with increasing depth of knowledge and producing higher quality composition.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data is very much used to guide instruction and the direction of learning. Assessments are taken at the beginning and middle of the year to determine the students’ strengths and needed areas of growth. From there we adjust our teaching to increase the areas of concern as well as maintaining the strengths. We do monthly progress monitoring as well to ensure all students are on the right track in their educational journey.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Our school culture is: Everyone matters and kindness counts. Our classroom consists of all students grades kindergarten through eighth. All learners are responsible for assisting each other in the learning process. The older learners are a key component in helping the younger ones learn, including translating instruction and directions in English.
The implementation of a money based token economy program has improved the learning culture of our classroom. Students take on the responsibility to ensure that what they are educationally producing meets high expectations and performance.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2018

  • Grades: k - 8
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 15,750
    Student Enrollment: 25
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0%
    White/Caucasian: 100%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:2
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 60%
    Founded: 1945
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Lisa Heckenlaible
  • CONTACT:
    110 N. Mentzer
    Mitchell, SD 57301
    605-995-7500
    lisa.heckenlaible@k12.sd.us