Nineteen Missouri schools were honored during the 2019 Powerful Learning Conference for their commitment to professional learning opportunities for students. This year’s event was held Jan. 28-29 at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, and more than 1,600 Missouri educators are expected to attend.
DESE assistant commissioner Chris Neale presented awards to nine schools that have been named Exemplary Professional Learning Communities Schools for promoting cultures focused on collaborative learning while effectively using data to increase student achievement.
“It is exciting to recognize these school leaders and teachers who are passionate about the long-term success of their students,” Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Margie Vandeven said. “They rise to the occasion every day to ensure that our future generation continues to move Missouri forward.”
The following are 2018-19 Exemplary Schools:
Cameron High School – Cameron R-I School District
Crocker High School – Crocker R-II School District
Laurence J. Daly Elementary School – Fayette R-III School District
Fulton Middle School – Fulton 58 School District
A.D. Stowell Elementary School – Hannibal 60 School District
Perryville Sr. High School – Perry County 32 School District
Helena Elementary School – Savannah R-III School District
Scotland County Elementary School – Scotland County R-I School District
Westview Elementary School – Westview C-6 School District
(From the Westview School District)
Westview C-6 School District was established in 1908 as a one-room schoolhouse with 39 students. At the present time, the district serves 118 pupils in a K-8 setting with one class per grade; an additional 15 children are enrolled in early childhood preschool and Parents as Teachers programs. The district pays tuition for students who attend the adjoining districts of Seneca or Neosho for high school.
Westview C-6 is a totally rural district in far Southwest Missouri. There are no industries and only a few small, family-owned businesses. Westview's free and reduced population has fluctuated between 72% and 83% over the past several years. Residents commute to Neosho, Seneca, or Joplin to work.
Westview began the journey to becoming a PLC school in 2013. Westview was known for their academic commitment to their students and we wanted to solidify that commitment with students and staff. It was determined we needed to rewrite our vision and mission statement for our district so that it could be the driving force behind any future decisions. Once the vision and missions were created the focus became, "What do we want our students to learn?" and "What is needed to build a positive school culture to achieve our mission?” “No Excuses” became our motto. This was a focus for two years in which we built a strong foundation, and our mission is continually revisited to see if we are still on track.
The PLC leadership team was established during the development of the vision and mission and is the guiding force in the implementation of changes in the school. Grade span teams were also created and the hard work began. The teams focused on the new standards and discussion began about changing our grading practices. Many data sources were evaluated to determine what standards needed to become priority at each grade level and how students would be measured to achieve mastery. As a school, grading is a powerful component in achieving goals, so we took the time to evaluate this practice and have slowly moved to integrate standards-based grading by adding one-grade level a year. Currently, the students and parents through the fifth grade have only known standards-based grading. The focus on grading and standards has evolved the teaching practices of our staff, and we have now embraced project-based learning and STEM initiatives that would have never been attempted before.
Over the years, we have determined the need to make education relevant to our students and families, and to also set goals. Currently, we are challenging students and staff to set unrealistic goals....to Dream Big and achieve them! We are here to be the steps of the future. It is the belief of the school that we must meet the whole child in order for them to achieve success, but in turn we must also meet all the needs of the staff in order for them to achieve success as well. Hence, the focus has become making a commitment to each other that we are here to support each other; It's okay to fail as long as we learn from our mistakes. It takes a community to raise a child and every student is our responsibility.
We can only hope the growing process will never end, whether it be in population growth or educational growth. Through the years, Westview will continue the valuable task of offering an education of the highest quality for a worthy community.
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