• Category 3

    Selected in 2024

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 110,323
    Student Enrollment: 284
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 2%
    White/Caucasian: 34%
    Hispanic: 52%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 2%
    Asian: 3%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 5%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:19
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 23%
    Founded: 1962
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jason Shipman
  • CONTACT:
    2755 Fourth Street
    Sparks, NV 89431
    775-353-5510
    jshipman@washoeschools.net
Florence Drake Elementary School
Sparks, NV
"Relationships first!"
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
Student success at Florence Drake Elementary School is a balance between the positive culture/climate around our students first, combined with outstanding tier 1 instruction that is paired with flexible interventions, and rounded out with strong family communication and relationships with the community. Our staff is committed to knowing each student by name and strength, and we intentionally target student skills gaps. We provide outstanding relations and connections for each student with a variety of staff members, leading to a safe community where all students want to learn and play with peers. The administration works daily through formal and informal discussions with teachers across all grade levels in efforts to align program adoption (PD) and to align systems like instructional strategies with focus on rigor and relevance.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
Relationships first! There is no substitute at Drake ES for high-quality relations with each student. We teach, we guide, we coach, we parent, and we protect our students every day. Drake classrooms feel like a family away from home for each student.
Instructional focus on District adopted curriculum looking at NVACS Standards through student data in PLCs.
Daily/weekly grade level collaboration around most effective instructional strategies to achieve common learning objectives.
Interventions for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students that are routinely framed around current student levels through active progress monitoring and teacher communication.
Active communication with parents around student needs, both academic needs and SEL needs. Weekly/daily outreach with parents of students with chronic absenteeism. Working with each family around attendance incentives. Supporting families with wrap around supports, when possible.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
ESEA, through Title I funding, provides Florence Drake with vital supports. Most importantly, ESEA funding allows the Drake community to fund a .5 certified Interventionist. This position is filled by a veteran teacher who is well-versed in literacy and math intervention techniques. She helps run our MTSS program, and works 1:1 with students and teachers weekly. This significantly helps reduce the learning gaps across grade levels. As well, the ESEA funding provides for student and instructional materials in all grade levels. This support helps our small community make the most of our small school budget by offsetting yearly expenses around these foundational materials supports needs of a Title I building. When funding is left, in some years, we are able to fund extra technology and/or learning programs to bolster 21st century technology needs.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
Each PD opportunity has been strategically aligned to needs based on student performance levels. Each PD has been linked to previous PD, for continuity. Each PD has been aligned to our School Performance Plan for continuity and structure. We began with PD targeting math reasoning and mathematical fluency two years ago. This led to our staff recognizing the greater student needs around critical thinking with word problems. We adopted critical thinking skills through the book study Routines for Reasoning enriching student academic discussion across math content. Our PD this year has been two-fold through EL strategies for all grades or through phonics for grades K-2nd. Our K-2nd grade teams are adopting UFLI phonics taking a systematic look at the Science of Reading around phonics delivery. The EL strategies PD is focused on literacy shifts to increase student speaking and listening daily with academic vocabulary, combined with writing activities tied to our reading programs. .
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
Florence Drake Elementary School has not experienced a 'cultural shift'. These values have historically been an active element at Drake: student-first decision making, safe/welcoming climate for all, focus on improved learning outcomes, dynamic intervention systems, and family connections. As the building Principal, I work at keeping these values in front of the staff and as leadership principles for each grade level and team. We have made these 'next level' gains with student academics in recent years due to the intentional focus and awareness around these cultural elements. It is not a matter of the school not previously having these elements, but a fact of being explicit and intentional with communication and with all student decision making.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
Florence Drake Elementary School historically has an engaged parent base. As a 'walking school zone', the majority of our students' parents walk or drop-off their children daily. This allows me to interact as the Principal, face-to-face, with any/all parents. Being present and visible daily develops trust among all parents and provides a sense of safety for their children. As well, our teachers all practice an open-door policy daily, with an open-campus, so parents are welcome to stop and speak with teachers about any/all concerns. This instills a deep sense of trust between our teachers and families, which leads to our families trusting the decisions made by their kids' teachers.
Stats
  • Category 3

    Selected in 2024

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 110,323
    Student Enrollment: 284
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 2%
    White/Caucasian: 34%
    Hispanic: 52%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 2%
    Asian: 3%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 5%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:19
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 23%
    Founded: 1962
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jason Shipman
  • CONTACT:
    2755 Fourth Street
    Sparks, NV 89431
    775-353-5510
    jshipman@washoeschools.net