• Category 1

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 6
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 2,300
    Student Enrollment: 291
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1.7%
    White/Caucasian: 90.7%
    Hispanic: 4.1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3.4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 48%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1926
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Brennan Riffel
  • CONTACT:
    218 S. 5th Street
    Sterling, KS 67579
    620-278-3112
    riffelb@usd376.com
Sterling Grade School
Sterling, KS
We believe if we have high quality teachers and give them the best resources to teach, their students can learn and will be successful.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Our students and community come together for a career exploration day that we call COW day. COW Day stands for Career On Wheels and it brings in parents and community members to our school that represent a variety of occupations. Our guests drive their vehicle that they use in their careers to our school and park in front of the school. Students then get to go around and talk to the different participants about their careers in front of the vehicles that they use. Our career guests come from a variety of occupations and they all talk about the skills that they use in their different jobs and tie those skills to what our students are learning in school. Various careers are represented such as farmer, police officer, construction worker, florist, baker, veterinarian, etc. Students love learning about the different careers and the skills needed for each occupation. They also enjoy seeing the vehicles that they use in their occupations and our guests enjoy meeting our students.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Our philosophy of school improvement is that we want to invest in people over programs. We believe if we have high quality teachers and give them the resources to teach the best way their students can learn, then students will be successful. We also strive to give our teachers the freedom to make changes, and the flexibility to try new things.
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 programs that has had perhaps the greatest positive effect on student achievement is our after school tutorial program. Students are able to stay after school in their own classroom to get additional help in reading and math. Not only is there help for students to get their homework completed, but also skill development activities are used to help close the achievement gap and to solidify and reinforce concepts that were learned that day. Students that need the most assistance are able to work in smaller groups and get more individualized help that is targeted to the areas where they need it the most. Students are even given an after school healthy snack and have access to technology resources to help them build and reinforce skills.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
We have invested all of our Title 1 funds into employing Title 1 reading and math specialists. We have a Title I teacher that works with each K-4 classroom in both reading and math. This enables us to work with smaller groups of students that are organized based upon student data. We have also created a "reading academy" within our school day that allows struggling readers to get additional small group and individual reading instruction using our Title 1 teachers.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
A variety of assessment data is gathered and students are divided into learning groups based upon that data. These smaller learning groups allow for more individualized instruction. These learning groups are fluid and can change based upon the level and pace of the individual student. This allows the learner to receive instruction at their learning level but also advance at their individual pace. Teachers work with students to set learning goals and then help students monitor their progress towards to those goals.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Our school motto is "Work Hard and Be Nice." These are the two basic rules for our school. Working hard includes giving your best effort in all that you do. Being nice means being respectful to others and yourself. We also have different character traits each month that we focus on. At assemblies that we call "Friday Focus" we talk about what those character traits mean and recognize students for showing outstanding effort in those areas with awards such as school water bottles, lanyards, etc. Students can also be chosen to go out to eat with the principal to celebrate their accomplishments in reading. Our teachers also have the mindset that "they are all our kids." This means that we strive to treat every student as if they were our very own.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 6
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 2,300
    Student Enrollment: 291
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1.7%
    White/Caucasian: 90.7%
    Hispanic: 4.1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3.4%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 48%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1926
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Brennan Riffel
  • CONTACT:
    218 S. 5th Street
    Sterling, KS 67579
    620-278-3112
    riffelb@usd376.com