Our school is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the Graduate by developing and supporting a sense of community for each child, parent, and faculty member through purposeful learning experiences. The staff at Pleasant Knoll Elementary is committed to ensuring all children learn at their highest potential. During the 17-18 school year, our staff united around our theme of “C greatness @ The Knoll.” As a school community, we focused our training, time, and resources in the areas of Character, Coaching, Creativity and Continuous Improvement. Our narrative will highlight staff and student accomplishments in each of our “C” areas.
Over the course of the school year, 75 students were recognized for good character through our school’s “positive” principal recognition program. PKES students regularly participated in classroom community meetings and classroom guidance lessons that highlighted the importance of developing good interpersonal and communication skills. Our students were able to demonstrate good character through participating in clubs such as Let Me Run, Girls on the Run, Chorus, Nutrition Helpers, and Safety Patrol. The generosity of our school community was evident as we raised $5,547 for Pennies for Patients. Our school community donated over $700 worth of household supplies, food, and toys to the Ronald McDonald House and received $595 in donations to the Ronald McDonald House team. During the holiday seasons, we were able to assist 13 PKES families with food and clothes donations.
Instructional coaching was utilized to support district and school initiatives such as Lucy Calkins Writing, Discovery Education Techbook, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and Professional Learning Communities. Our reading coach conducted guided reading learning walkthroughs and provided specific feedback to teachers. Our coaches also developed teacher-friendly frameworks/reflection tools for guided reading and student engagement strategies.
Our district’s new STEAM initiative and the formation of our school’s STEAM Leadership Team led our charge to promote and sustain creativity within our instruction. Four teachers and our lead teacher made up the STEAM Leadership Team that led professional developments and assisted with the school-wide implementation of utilizing instructional strategies that focused on collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity. In collaboration with community partners and our PTO, the PKES staff was able to offer several activities that fostered creativity such as Read Across America Week, Career Day, Red Ribbon Week, Veteran’s Day Breakfast and several stellar grade level musical performances.
In our efforts to maintain continuous improvement, our PLC Leadership Team facilitated trainings that provided our staff with frameworks aligned with best practices within Professional Learning Communities. Grade levels were given additional planning time to unpack standards, develop common assessments, and analyze student data. To support the work of PLC’s, PKES administration provided a thirty-minute enrichment block in the master schedule so teachers could provide students with enrichment and/or remediation based on student need.
With the help of the PTO, School Improvement Council, and all stakeholders at PKES, we look forward to continuing to work together to provide a safe and purposeful learning environment for our students
Travis Howard, Principal
Haley Cilley, SIC Chairperson