• Category 2

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: k - 4
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 6
    Student Enrollment: 353
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1%
    White/Caucasian: 95.4%
    Hispanic: 1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.5%
    Asian: 0.3%
    Native American: 0.3%
    Other: 1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 60.8%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1962
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Teresa Drinnon
  • CONTACT:
    400 Old Stage Road
    Church Hill, TN 37642
    423-357-5621
    teresa.drinnon@hck12.net
Church Hill Elementary School
Church Hill, TN
We are bringing real world experiences into the classroom. Many of our economically disadvantaged students have never traveled outside this area of Appalachia; therefore, we must bring the world to our students.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
• CHES holds scheduled events to engage parents in their child’s learning. These are designed to help parents with strategies to use at home to support their child’s education.
• All events are academically focused and we strive to show parents that learning can be both educational and fun!
•Scheduled events are varied in time to accommodate parent/guardian work schedules. These events are sometimes before school, during school, after school, or in the evening.
•Classroom newsletters, “Week in a Peek”, school website, and monthly school-wide newsletters are used to keep parents informed throughout the year.
•Realizing that not all parents are available to come to scheduled school events, we utilize parent portal, email, automated phone call system to keep parents informed about changes in their child’s education. Parent portal and the automated phone messaging system are available in other languages.





Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
• Our school is located in a community that works together for the educational and social growth of each student. Strong community involvement is abundant; local businesses provide our students with school supplies and essentials along with church and civic organizations providing our students with snacks, supplies and clothing. Our Family Resource Center provides weekly food bags for our students with the greatest need and will help families who have been displaced from their homes. Each year, we choose community service projects to help those in need. We have participated in raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Church Hill Community Closet, our local food pantry, Jump Rope for Heart, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and Church Hill Nursing Home.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Change is inevitable; we must embrace change or risk becoming complacent and mediocre. Our world is constantly changing and evolving, therefore, both students and teachers must continue to grow and learn.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
1) Improving Writing - Our data shows we have a great opportunity to grow in the area of writing. Each grade level has developed a writing plan for the year that includes writing across the curriculum. We will strive to improve in this area.
2) Breaking down the standards in order to gain a deeper understanding has been a priority this year. Our next step will be to develop common assessments that reflect the depth and rigor of the standard.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
CHES has experienced high achievement and positive growth for consecutive years, and worked diligently to close the academic achievement gap between students. We are bringing real world experiences into the classroom. Many of our economically disadvantaged students have never traveled outside this area of Appalachia; therefore, we must bring the world to our students. We believe all students can grow regardless of background, income, or ability – our expectations are high for ALL students. Teachers take the time to listen to students and take personal interest in their lives. These are “our” students; teachers do not make excuses. High achievement and growth are expected.


Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
• Effective Core Instruction -
Grades 3 & 4 have departmentalized instruction allowing the subject matter to match the teacher’s academic strengths. Additionally, this structure allowed teachers to dig deeply into each grade level and subject matter standards.
Uninterrupted reading blocks have been developed by grade bands. K-2nd grade receive 150 mins. uninterrupted reading time each day for Tier I instruction, while grades 3 and 4 receive 90 mins. of uninterrupted reading time each day for Tier I instruction.
A foundational belief for Church Hill Elementary staff is that “all means all.” All students in the school receive a guaranteed and viable curriculum during Tier I core instruction, focused on grade level state standards.
• All Special Education students are included in Tier 1 instruction. SPED support is given during this time to help meet the needs of our students. Additional support is given during intervention time related to the child’s deficit area.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
• Our Title I Leadership team (staff, community members, and parents) determined that technology needs to be an integral component to support student learning, therefore, funding has enabled CHES to increase technology exposure for our students. Our decision resulted in the purchase of the following items:
o two mobile computer labs assigned to the 3rd and 4th grades
o a “fixed” computer lab
o classroom sets of IPads
o each classroom has a promethean board
o each classroom has a computer station with 4-5 student computers
o keyboarding instruction has been integrated into the related arts schedule, with supplemental practice occurring in the classrooms.
- Funding from Title I supports additional paraprofessionals that allows our students to have the additional support they need during this time.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Professional Development is ongoing throughout the year. Our system provides many opportunities for our teachers to grow professionally and improve student learning. This past summer, the TN Core Office offered our teachers many opportunities for PD such as: Writing in the Elementary Classroom, Math RTI2, Using Reading to Improve Student Achievement, Introduction to TN Ready. We sent a team of teachers to attend a summer training on content areas (math, ELA, SS) as well this past summer. Our county offers PD on Technology i.e., Google Classroom, Google Docs, Excel, and will tailor our requests to fit our needs. Teachers continue to attend a variety of PD offerings throughout the year. All teachers are required to share the information they gather throughout PD trainings with their colleagues. Teachers present during faculty meetings and PLC meetings. During observations I take pictures of best practices and share these during faculty meetings: Name it, Claim it, Explain it.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
• Data drives our instruction. We use data walls to monitor and track student achievement. Closing the achievement gap with sub-groups has been a priority.
- Our teachers meet in our Data Room during PLC's to break down standards and discuss instructional strategies. We discuss students who aren't learning and adjust as needed to help them be successful. We feel it is important to be transparent with our data to best serve our students. The teachers collaborate and share ideas on strategies that are working well and offer suggestions to each other.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
1) Research has demonstrated that a positive school climate directly impacts academic achievement. School may be the only place some children truly feel safe. Michael Doran, an internationally recognized expert on school safety, toured and trained Hawkins County School principals and staff about safety procedures in schools. As a result, Church Hill Elementary School staff and community members reviewed and updated the Church Hill Elementary School’s safety plan. The committee working with the updated safety procedures included school staff, the Church Hill Police Department, community partners, and parents. 2) RTI2 has been implemented with fidelity in reading and math. We have a small percentage of students requiring Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions. Students who are not in Tier 2 or 3 interventions are provided with activities that align with the standards and extend their learning. 3) Sped programs are implemented with fidelity, directly related to each child's deficit area.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2015

  • Grades: k - 4
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 6
    Student Enrollment: 353
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 1%
    White/Caucasian: 95.4%
    Hispanic: 1%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.5%
    Asian: 0.3%
    Native American: 0.3%
    Other: 1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 60.8%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1962
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Teresa Drinnon
  • CONTACT:
    400 Old Stage Road
    Church Hill, TN 37642
    423-357-5621
    teresa.drinnon@hck12.net