• Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 0
    Student Enrollment: 335
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 11%
    White/Caucasian: 66.7%
    Hispanic: 15.9%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 6.5%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:17
    % Reduced Lunch: 65%
    % ELL Learners: 14%
    Founded: 1991
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jennifer Deaton
  • CONTACT:
    5320 White Store Road
    Wingate, NC 28174
    704-624-5400
    jennifer.deaton@ucps.k12.nc.us
Union Elementary
Wingate, NC
We forge strong relationships between teachers, students, and parents through annual celebrations so all stakeholders are engaged.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
For many years, we held evening meetings or Curriculum Nights in conjunction with the PTO meetings. We continue to do this, but we also began holding more events during the school day. We actually have better turn-out during the day. Each grade level started a yearly tradition so that students and parents have something to look forward to in the upcoming years. For example, 1st grade holds a Mother's Day Tea where the moms come to eat lunch, watch a musical performance, and students share poems with their moms. Fifth grade holds a yearly Wax Museum after completing a biography study. Students dress as a famous person, prepare a speech/report, and complete a technology presentation. Parents visit and roam the "museum halls" to see the presentations. These yearly traditions happen at the end of a curricular unit which allows students to showcase their work and have an audience. During our evening Curriculum Nights, we have tried to add a hands-on emphasis
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
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Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Our school has a K-5 Literacy Coordinator and a K-5 Math Coordinator. Each grade level meets weekly with both coordinators. During this time, staff members work together to complete long-range pacing and plan for the week ahead. The coordinators often model Reading or Math strategies in front of teachers during team planning so that teachers know how the lesson should be taught to their students. Our curriculum coordinators also model lessons in classrooms with students while the grade level teachers watch. Afterwards, a debriefing session occurs to discuss why certain strategies were successful and why in-the-moment instructional decisions were made. School-wide staff development happens throughout the year at staff meetings. This year, we are focusing on the Gradual Release of Responsibility using the book Better Learning Through Structured Teaching. For the past two years, we have had extensive training on teaching guided reading as we believe small group instruction is key.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Grade level teams use the Professional Learning Communities Framework (PLC). They plan units together with the help of curriculum coordinators. Administration works with grade levels at the end of each grading period to discuss data related to county assessments. We determine the individual grade level's strength and then pick an area to work on. For example, we may decide that first grade needs additional time in word study to teach vowel teams. We also identify our most at-risk students and make plans for extra intervention. In third-fifth grade math, we have started using weekly probes on Mondays. These are short 5 question quizzes based on the skill taught the previous week. The data is analyzed and certain students are selected to receive small group reteaching of that concept. Classes aim to reach an 80% or higher average each week. If they do, they earn a blue ribbon in the main hall on a math graph. This has created a friendly competition and helped with goal setting
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
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Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 0
    Student Enrollment: 335
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 11%
    White/Caucasian: 66.7%
    Hispanic: 15.9%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 6.5%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:17
    % Reduced Lunch: 65%
    % ELL Learners: 14%
    Founded: 1991
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jennifer Deaton
  • CONTACT:
    5320 White Store Road
    Wingate, NC 28174
    704-624-5400
    jennifer.deaton@ucps.k12.nc.us