• Category 2

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 66,975
    Student Enrollment: 466
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 27%
    White/Caucasian: 28%
    Hispanic: 32%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 9%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:26
    % Reduced Lunch: 73%
    % ELL Learners: 14%
    Founded: 1976
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Diane Hodge
  • CONTACT:
    26 Earnest Street
    Kenner, LA 70065
    504-443-1236
    diane.hodge@jppss.k12.la.us
Walter Schneckenburger Elementary School
Kenner, LA
A major component of our professional development occurs in our professional learning communities, in which teachers work together to learn from one another, analyze data from student assessments to improve their teaching, and study the standards to map the curriculum across grade levels.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Families are invited to our special Grand Events throughout the year, which provide opportunities for all family members to spend time with their students and enjoy breakfast and/or snacks and visit our Book Fairs. This promotes family involvement and literacy and raises funds for additional library books and technology. We also hold Math and Literacy Family Nights throughout the year to provide fun, engaging math and literacy games and activities that help families and students learn together. These exciting learning nights allow our teachers and staff to share our love of learning with students and families. Students learn best when all stakeholders are involved in the teaching and learning process, and these family nights create an environment where students and families can work together to complete exciting educational activities and enjoy learning and sharing their knowledge together. Involving families is essential for the success of the school and the students.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
The most successful activity is our school’s yearly service learning experience was provided through a generous grant from the Brown Foundation. We collaborate with Head Start preschool students in our community to learn from one another through active engagement with literature and literacy strategies. This plan promotes literacy and learning through the sharing of literature and love for literacy and exploration, and helps develop and improve the literacy skills of our students, while also building good character, further developing genuine concern/care for the community's needs, and working collaboratively with preschool students. This activity has strengthened ties with our community as we have developed an ongoing partnership with the Head Start programs. This provides opportunities for both groups of students to develop a love of literature, share books, engage in higher order thinking, and enjoy healthy snacks together as they build meaningful relationships.

What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Our first top goal for next year is to increase collaboration among the faculty and staff through professional learning communities, professional development opportunities, and data analysis sessions. Working collaboratively as a team will allow us to improve our curriculum, instruction, and assessment to better meet the students’ needs.
Our second top goal for next year is to engage in more in-depth, precise student data collection and analysis to improve student learning and impact student achievement. Data analysis is essential to understanding how our students learn and succeed, and it will provide us with the information to help meet the individual needs of each and every student.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The single most important factor in the success of our school that others could replicate is to hire highly qualified teachers and staff who are positive role models for students with a willingness to work collaboratively to impact student achievement. Investing in quality professionals who are passionate about teaching and education and have a love for students provides the school with an important factor for success. Teachers and staff who are dedicated professionals not only educate students, but they engage students and inspire them to be lifelong learners and successful adults.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Title I funds are used throughout the school to support our improvement efforts. Our school is able to fund our reading interventionists who work with students to help struggling readers meet their individualized goals. By providing the funding for interventionists who collect and track student data, we are able to help students get the extra hands-on support and small group instruction they need to be successful.
Title I funds also support our pre-kindergarten students by funding the teacher and Para educator salaries, and providing these classes with high quality reading and math resources and learning tools to support early literacy and numeracy.
In addition, Title I funds provide our school with communication folders, student homework logs, and other resources that help improve our communication with students’ families. Our Title I funds have been an important part of our improvement efforts and help us improve meet the needs of all our students.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
A major component of our professional development occurs in our professional learning communities, in which teachers work together to learn from one another, analyze data from student assessments to improve their teaching, and study the standards to map the curriculum across grade levels. These PLCs allow teachers to learn new strategies, increase their knowledge of standards and the curriculum, and model different teaching/learning strategies. Another professional development activity is ongoing instructional technology meetings, which provide opportunities for teachers to learn from teacher leaders, technology coordinators, and technology professionals. Teachers are able to learn to integrate technology into the curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The learning experiences with technology provide interactive tools for students of all ability levels and needs to succeed in school, college, and in their careers.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: suburban
    Town Population: 66,975
    Student Enrollment: 466
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 27%
    White/Caucasian: 28%
    Hispanic: 32%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 9%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:26
    % Reduced Lunch: 73%
    % ELL Learners: 14%
    Founded: 1976
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Diane Hodge
  • CONTACT:
    26 Earnest Street
    Kenner, LA 70065
    504-443-1236
    diane.hodge@jppss.k12.la.us