• Category 2

    Selected in 2023

  • Grades: pre k - 6
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 6,424
    Student Enrollment: 277
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 7%
    White/Caucasian: 50%
    Hispanic: 34%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 7%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 56%
    % ELL Learners: 11%
    Founded: 1961
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jody Blessen
  • CONTACT:
    4900 S 79th Street
    Ralston, NE 68127
    402-331-0540
    jody_blessen@ralstonschools.org
Seymour Elementary School
Ralston, NE
We strive to develop the self-directed, self-reliant, and self-appraising learners!
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
The Seymour Elementary success story begins with strong positive relationships between our students, staff, and community. Our staff works hard to build and focus on these relationships every day. It is a point of great pride and ensures a welcoming, safe, positive learning atmosphere for all students at Seymour Elementary. We strive to develop the self-directed, self-reliant, and self-appraising learners!

Last spring, Seymour students scored above the state average in ELA, Math, and Science. Our students work hard in setting goals. Students monitor their growth through digital tools and conversations with their teachers. We continue to have students work toward self-directed learning and taking ownership of their growth and progress. We also focus on improved attendance and recognize positive attendance with many celebrations throughout the school year. These attributes and many others have contributed to our school's success at Seymour Elementary.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
Several contributing factors have helped promote positive change at Seymour Elementary, including strong collaboration in the PLC process with highly effective teachers, a focus on engagement, and building strong positive relationships with our students.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) teams keep standards in focus, plan for engagement, and help us know each student’s individual needs. The goal is to strive and make sure grade-level targets are met and communicated to our students. Teachers work tirelessly in their PLC teams to provide the best Tier 1 instruction for all students. Our skilled and effective staff know how to reach all learners and plan for necessary interventions for our students.

We hold students to high expectations, and they rise to the occasion. Students set goals throughout the year and self-reflect on their performance. Our Student Leadership Team takes pride and ownership in leading the way for their peers.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
Title 1 funding supports us with human resources, family activities, and professional development. Being able to hire reading interventionists and other support staff has been a huge benefit for Seymour.

We invite families into school to build and foster those home-to-school relationships. During designated Title 1 Family Events, families learn how to support their child at home with academics, social and emotional needs, and problem-solving skills.

This past summer, staff leaders were able to attend a PLC Conference to help them grow as a team. Learning new engagement strategies has strengthened our instructional practices. We continue to self-assess and reflect on our instructional practices. By promoting rigor through higher-level questioning, our students are challenged to think critically. Through various professional development opportunities throughout the year, we learn and discover new strategies to meet the needs of all students.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
We have been working on the best and most effective practices in the PLC process. During our PLC planning, we work hard to build background knowledge for our students and provide them with real world connections.

We have common plan time each week when staff can collaborate and analyze data to improve student performance. Strong instructional practices with student engagement and higher-level thinking have helped close the achievement gap.

We have attended professional development on the science of reading and received training on staff implementation of a new reading curriculum. Professional development on lesson preparation, building background, strategies for engagement, interaction with students, lesson delivery, practice and application, and assessment gives strong benefits for all students. Our district leadership toolbox team continues to unpack the state standards within our curriculum to ensure that we are in vertical alignment for student growth and proficiency.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
Our school's success is built on positive relationships, an effective staff, and student leadership. By expecting and looking for the positive, we have developed a climate and culture in which students take ownership in guiding the way for their peers. We have an ultimate goal for every student - developing them into self-directed learners.

We directly teach expectations and recognize our students when they lead positively. At our monthly Leadership Assemblies, we showcase student leaders in front of the entire student body. At the beginning of each day, we incorporate morning meetings and also keep our life goals in focus through the Seven Habits of Happy Kids.

The Student Leadership Team creates and plans monthly activities for our school. Our Sixth-Grade Ambassadors have jobs throughout the school in which they model positive behavior and take pride in a job well done. Students leading the way for other students makes Seymour a wonderful place to learn and grow!
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
Our Ralston community and families are the support we need to make our team whole. Our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) supports our students and teachers and even provides scholarships for former Seymour students ready to take the next steps after high school. Our families attend family events, and they volunteer their time as guest readers or speakers in the classroom. We are partnering with families to place a priority on improved attendance. Improved student attendance leads to student success!

We also partner with our Ralston High School to offer a mentoring program for our elementary students. It has built some wonderful relationships in our school community.

Our school business partners help support different activities and provide incentives for student celebrations. They certainly have a hand in student growth at Seymour.

The Ralston Board of Education gets involved and continues to provide us with what we need to support our students. We love our community!
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2023

  • Grades: pre k - 6
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 6,424
    Student Enrollment: 277
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 7%
    White/Caucasian: 50%
    Hispanic: 34%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 1%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 7%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:20
    % Reduced Lunch: 56%
    % ELL Learners: 11%
    Founded: 1961
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Jody Blessen
  • CONTACT:
    4900 S 79th Street
    Ralston, NE 68127
    402-331-0540
    jody_blessen@ralstonschools.org