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We define collaborative planning as school-level administrators and lead teachers meeting with: -grade levels to identify the daily targets, assessments, and teaching practices -departmental meetings to plan specific lessons for the grade levels -grade levels meeting periodically with administrators and district leaders to plan STEM implementation and "challenges"

Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.

Title I Parent Involvement meetings is an opportunity for parents to hear about the resources the school has to offer and ask questions about concerns they may have. We get input from them.
Title I Learning Centers assist parents when teachers are not available with parenting and at-home teaching resources.

Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen the ties to your community.

We are a campus school with the middle and high schools within a safe walking distance. We partner with them to offer activities to increase our student achievement. We use service learning students to peer tutor and for before-school care of students of campus teachers. These programs extend the influence of the school on students throughout their school career.

What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?

1. To improve the quality of our intervention programs

2. To close the achievement gap for students with disabilities

What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?

The single most important factor in our success is our focus on school culture, specifically our focus on collective efficacy. When everyone believes they have the skills, talent, and support to be successful, they approach challenges with a "can do" attitude. To replicate our success, we recommend school leaders be trained in McRel’s Framework for Balanced Leadership.

Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement.

The initiative with the greatest positive effect on student achievement has been collaborative planning sessions. We define collaborative planning as school-level administrators and lead teachers meeting with:
-grade levels to identify the daily targets, assessments, and teaching practices
-departmental meetings to plan specific lessons for the grade levels
-grade levels meeting periodically with administrators and district leaders to plan STEM implementation and "challenges"

Explain how Title I funds have supported your improvement efforts.

Our Title I funds have supported the following:
-highly qualified teacher and assistant to work with students
-paying teachers for planning sessions beyond the school day
-substitute teachers for professional development
-math manipulatives
-other teaching tools

Identify the professional development activities you use to improve the teaching portion of the teaching and learning process.

PD activities used to improve teaching have included:
-data use training
-small group reading instruction
-development of high quality learning centers
-small group math intervention
-direct explicit instruction
-teaching writing
-text complexity
-common core state standards
-inquiry-based teaching

Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.

Data is used to determine our academic focus, select students for intervention, and to change the predicted achievement paths of under-performing subgroups.

Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.

Montgomery Central Elementary is a purposeful community of staff members focused on student achievement. Collective efficacy drives our daily work. (See question #1)

• Category 2

  Selected in 2012

• Grades: pre k - 5
  School Setting: rural
  Town Population: 136,231
  Student Enrollment: 486
  Student Demographics:
  

  Black/African American: 2%
  White/Caucasian: 93%
  Hispanic: 3%
  Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
  Asian: 0%
  Native American: 0%
  Other: 2%
  

  Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18.7
  % Reduced Lunch: 50%
  % ELL Learners: 0%
  Founded: 1939
• PRINCIPAL:
  Nancy Grant
• CONTACT:
  4011 Highway 48
  Cunningham, TN 37052
  (931) 387-3208
  nancy.grant@cmcss.net