• Category 2

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: 4 - 6
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 12,202
    Student Enrollment: 302
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 3.3%
    White/Caucasian: 89.4%
    Hispanic: 5.6%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 1.7%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:27.4
    % Reduced Lunch: 56.3%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1916
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Kellianne Wilson
  • CONTACT:
    2615 Flaherty Road
    Ekron, KY 40117
    270-422-7565
    kellianne.wilson@meade.kyschools.us
Flaherty Elementary School
Ekron, KY
Developing relationships with our students and families has always been a strength at Flaherty Elementary School."
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
Flaherty Elementary School is nestled in a beautiful, rural area in the bluegrass state and we have an awesome team that is passionate and dedicated to academic and social-emotional growth for each child we serve. We are a 4th, 5th 6th grade building with an average enrollment between 300 and 350 students with just over 55% of our students that qualify for free or reduced lunch. We contribute our success in closing the achievement gap between student groups to six focus areas: small group instruction, a comprehensive intervention structure, tight instructional practices, working as a true Professional Learning Community, a strong emphasis on independent reading and a rigorous writing program.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
Literacy is one of our top instructional priorities for student achievement. Not only is instruction data-driven, but students are motivated to learn and grow by individualized reading and writing goals set in collaboration with their teachers. Each homeroom begins their day with a period of independent reading to instill that reading is essential to our daily lives as learners. In writing, we work hard to prioritize the foundational writing skills, especially the structure and organization of our writing as it will prepare students for all writing situations.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
Our master schedule has been intentionally created to allowed for all our reading and math classrooms to be structured with small group instruction for 45 minutes every day. Each small group block has an additional adult in the classroom to deliver instruction and to provide additional support. Our intervention practices continue to focus on skills that our Tier 2 and 3 students need to continue to bridge their individual learning gaps. ESEA funding helps to fund some of our additional adult support in both math and reading small groups as well as Tier 3 intervention groups.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
Flaherty has been working diligently on the concept of “rowing as one” and we started this process out by studying the purpose of a PLC, how to develop one, and the steps to take once they have been developed. This led us into developing our instructional practices. We have worked hard making sure to “row as one” within individual subject areas, as well as our Intervention, Special Education, and AR practices. After developing our Instructional Practices, we then began work on the idea of Common Assessments that we give 5 times a year in each core subject area. We develop, assess, and dig through these as a PLC in order to plan our next “chunk” of learning.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
Developing relationships with our students and families has always been a strength at Flaherty Elementary School. However, with a change in administration in the summer of 2020, a shift in how we utilized our ESEA funding and an intentional team concept our culture has shifted to a strong focus on instruction, intentionality and intensity. This coupled with our journey growing as a true professional learning community has created a culture shift leading to our school's success.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
Our families and community are also strong stakeholders in our success story. And our students are rock stars. They are dedicated to hard work, tracking their growth journey and we celebrate their milestones along the way. Our community supports our school, staff and students throughout the year as we close learning barriers for our students and families. Community support may be providing a free dental clinic, free vision screenings, food and clothing drives as well as other support services for families in need.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2021

  • Grades: 4 - 6
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 12,202
    Student Enrollment: 302
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 3.3%
    White/Caucasian: 89.4%
    Hispanic: 5.6%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 1.7%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:27.4
    % Reduced Lunch: 56.3%
    % ELL Learners: 1%
    Founded: 1916
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Kellianne Wilson
  • CONTACT:
    2615 Flaherty Road
    Ekron, KY 40117
    270-422-7565
    kellianne.wilson@meade.kyschools.us