• Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 11,278
    Student Enrollment: 369
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 9%
    White/Caucasian: 70%
    Hispanic: 8%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 8%
    Native American: 4%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:24
    % Reduced Lunch: 42%
    % ELL Learners: 7%
    Founded: 2000
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Carla Wulf
  • CONTACT:
    1900 W. 55th South
    Wichita, KS 67217
    316-554-2333
    cawulf@usd261.com
Ruth Clark Elementary School
Wichita, KS
One Team One Goal
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
We begin the school year with an Open House, welcoming students and families while providing a brief overview of what to expect in the coming year. Grade specific family nights throughout the year provide parents the opportunity to learn grade level standards and participate in activities to create resources to use with their children at home. We offer numerous opportunities to support their students through participation in our book fairs, grandparent lunches, fun runs, music programs, and field days. We have a strong Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) that also provides numerous ways for parents and families to be actively involved at school. We use social media and other apps to communicate with families on a regular basis and share student success stories.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
We have been very purposeful in planning activities that allow parents and the community to participate with our staff and students. One activity is our Boogie on the Blacktop. It is a block party in the parking lot. Students and staff dance to different songs. The proceeds of our silent auction at this activity support the music and PE department. We hold our bi-annual Fun Run because we believe active kids do better. Kindergarten and First grade run a half mile, Second through Fifth grade run a mile. Parents usually come and run with their students. It creates a fun afternoon. We host family nights that focus on STEM, Reading or Math. Parents work side by side with their students, learning fun activities that are simple to do at home to enhance student learning. Special days are on the calendar inviting grandparents to eat with their grandchildren. This provides a time to share upcoming events and activities.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Our philosophy of school change or improvement is "whatever it takes." We are continually monitoring and adjusting what we do based on the needs of our community and our student population. Change is rarely easy. The stepping-stone to success is creating a team mindset of doing what is best for students and being willing to be accountable to do so. This may require adding more support staff, it might be making curriculum changes, or it might be adding something to our plate and being willing to let go of something else. We are trying to prepare students for the future, while at the same time being prepared to meet their present needs.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
1. Do what is best for students academically, physically, socially and emotionally.If we continue to stay focused and do what is best for our students, academics fall in to place more readily.
2. Self-care of staff. If we do not take proper care of ourselves, we risk burn out and lose effectiveness.

What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
We would love to share that we have discovered a magic formula, program or curriculum that allows us to experience success, truthfully we believe it is that fact that the bottom line to everything we do at Ruth Clark centers on one question, "How will this help our students?" With this as our driving focus, it keeps us all united and focused on doing what is best for the students. This mindset eliminates personal agendas, minimizes drama and focuses on the students. Our staff is a family and while we might not always agree on specifics, we always agree on doing what is best for students. We have not found that one program or one initiative that solves every educational problem, but we have found that when we unite as a family to gather every available resource and work as a team, together we can do so much more for our students than when we go off on our own and try to do it all. We have a lot more fun as a team and we continue to love what we do. TEAMWORK does make the DREAM WORK!
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
Capturing Kids' Hearts, along with our Positive Behavior Intervention and Support System (PBIS) allows us to create a safe and caring environment with a set of clear expectations built on a foundation of trust and respect. Flip Flippen says, "If you have a child's heart, you have his head." Our students know and believe we care about them. This trust and respect allows students and staff the freedom to take risks, make mistakes, learn from them, and try again within a safe boundary. We recognize there is no one recipe, program or initiative that works with every student, so we are continually seeking new ways to use every available resource to its fullest potential to individualize instruction based on needs.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
ESEA federal funds help provide the necessary resources to address curricular and instructional needs. These monies provide support staff and instructional supplies to support interventions and small group instruction. Without this funding, fewer students would receive the crucial and necessary individualized support.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Educators are also students, always growing and continually learning. Professional development is a priority in our district and at our building. Trainings are research-based and incorporate best practices. Staff development is ongoing and focused on the needs of the staff as a whole, but is tiered to the individual needs if necessary. Our district is fortunate to have a Learning Center that not only brings in presenters from out-of-district, but also utilizes the strengths and skills of staff within the district to provide learning opportunities for all staff. We also have Professional Learning Communities (PLC's) that meet weekly in grade levels. These small group meetings provide the perfect opportunity for staff to share new trainings they have attended how they plan to implement what they learned. Mentoring provides additional support for new teachers and other staff members as needed.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data drives instruction and determines the behavioral support of students. Formative and summative data such as AIMS Web plus, Early Childhood Assessment of Mathematics (ECAM), My Data First and state assessments are administered throughout the year. Analyzed data and individual student needs determine the instructional grouping. Teachers review data in their weekly Professional Learning Community meetings to monitor student progress, adjusting instruction when necessary. Groups are fluid and student placement changes based on changes in their data. If student progress does not meet expected goals, we dive even deeper into the data and develop Tier II and Tier III interventions as needed. The data, grouping, and needs for interventions, help us determine the best use of our support staff as well.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
The culture of Ruth Clark is "family." We are a team that works together to do what is best for our students. Themes such as "One Team/One Goal," "Focus on the Positive" or "Team Work makes the Dream Work," keep us focused on working as one. Capturing Kids’ Hearts is a program we incorporate that helps build relationships based on trust and respect. Students and staff create social contracts to guide and model how we treat one another. Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) provides the foundation to build a common language and behavior expectations school-wide. This year we have added Second Steps, a program that provides social-emotional skill building, to assist students with trauma-induced learning difficulties. Research says kids need time to be active. We plan time in our schedule to ensure this happens. Students begin the day with power walks and have a noon fitness time before lunch each day. Kindergarten through fifth grade have two or more recesses each day.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 11,278
    Student Enrollment: 369
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 9%
    White/Caucasian: 70%
    Hispanic: 8%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 1%
    Asian: 8%
    Native American: 4%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:24
    % Reduced Lunch: 42%
    % ELL Learners: 7%
    Founded: 2000
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Carla Wulf
  • CONTACT:
    1900 W. 55th South
    Wichita, KS 67217
    316-554-2333
    cawulf@usd261.com