• Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 603,488
    Student Enrollment: 829
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 18%
    White/Caucasian: 41%
    Hispanic: 25%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 6%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 10%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:24
    % Reduced Lunch: 46%
    % ELL Learners: 3%
    Founded: 2006
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Shawn Halland
  • CONTACT:
    7351 N. Campbell Road
    Las Vegas, NV 89149
    702-799-3430
    slh372@interact.ccsd.net
Thompson Elementary
Las Vegas, NV
We have high expectations, but we are willing to do whatever it takes in order for our students to find success.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
We have a robust parent volunteer network; parents are in our schools helping teachers and students every day. We have a great school PTA that supports student success and family involvement. The PTA holds monthly activities that engage families in the school community in a variety of ways. Our parents consistently attend parent conferences each winter and work with teachers to help their children succeed. Parents meet with school leadership on a monthly basis in order to facilitate meaningful two-way communication.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
We've recently implemented twice yearly "Thompson Tributes," when we invite the students to spend an evening at school and engage in fun and exciting activities as well as food and dessert as a way to honor and recognize so many of our students outstanding citizenship and work habits. Staff and parents collaborate to give back to our students as a thank you for all their hard work!
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Hard work pays off! Over time school leadership has worked to ensure that we "had the right people on the bus," to paraphrase Jim Collins. As that become our reality, we've worked really hard to make changes that we felt would lead to better outcomes for our students. Our philosophy is simple: We do what's best for kids! If that means making changes or working just a little bit harder, we'll do it. We have an extremely passionate staff of teachers and support personnel that don't shy away from the work it takes to improve. We don't jump on bandwagons or try to catch the latest fad in education. We analyze critically to see what might lead to better teaching and learning in our classrooms. Then we do the work it takes to make it happen!
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
We are continuing to find ways to decrease the achievement gap between our lower performing subgroups and our higher performing groups. In addition, based on our recent SBAC results, we have we seek to increase the quality of our math instruction, resulting in an increase in student performance.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
An intense focus on high quality teaching in every classroom that disregards traditional "excuses" which prevent too many schools from sustained improvement and success. We are proud of our accomplishments, but not w
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The one initiative we've focused on for the past several years is ensuring there is great teaching happening in each classroom, teaching that meets the rigor required for our academic content standards and engages all learners in the teaching and learning process. We believe there is no magic program or formula for success when it comes to helping all students achieve. Rather, we have worked to build a system of support across the school setting, starting with effective core instruction, robust tier 2 support, an dedicated RTI framework that strives to catch students up as quickly as possible, and and effective school-home partnership. It all starts with having effective teaching happening in every classroom, and we continue to try to find ways to improve ourselves to make sure this is our school's reality.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Title 1 funds were used to fully fund one licensed teacher, one intervention specialist who assisted with tier 2 instructional support, and additional mobile learning devices so students could access our online programs such as Dreambox and i-Ready. The additional teacher allowed us to decrease class sizes in the fourth grade.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
The most critical professional development activity focuses on consistent collaboration within and across grade levels. Our professional development areas of focus have changed over the years, but we have focused on having a clear and consistent curriculum, effective teaching strategies, and data-driven instruction. Regardless of the focus area, through teacher buy-in and collaboration we have seen sustained improvement over the past several years.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Data has become embedded in our instructional program. Teachers use benchmark data at least three times per year to determine instructional effectiveness. More in-depth data is also used to diagnose specific student needs and set ambitious goals for students. Data is used to track student progress on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. Teachers use data from common assessments to identify effective instructional strategies within and across grade levels. Data driven decision-making forms the basis of all decisions related to student success.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Over the past several years we have worked to create a learner-centered school culture that promotes and celebrates hard work, accepts nothing but the best effort from ourselves and our students, and works to engage all our learners on a daily basis. We have a diverse student body, and we work each day to live up to our motto: Service, Challenge, Excellence. Parents are welcome partners as we collaborate to help all our students succeed. We have high expectations, but we are willing to do whatever it takes in order for our students to find success.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 603,488
    Student Enrollment: 829
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 18%
    White/Caucasian: 41%
    Hispanic: 25%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 6%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 10%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:24
    % Reduced Lunch: 46%
    % ELL Learners: 3%
    Founded: 2006
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Shawn Halland
  • CONTACT:
    7351 N. Campbell Road
    Las Vegas, NV 89149
    702-799-3430
    slh372@interact.ccsd.net