Points of Pride: North Scott School District

Remodeling at Ed White Elementary

When a person walks into Ed White Elementary, it is easy to notice the remodeling that is taking place.  In today's schools, not only are we physically remodeling, but we are instructionally remodeling.  North School School District is one district like so many in Iowa that are continually striving to improve practices, "remodeling" the delivery of instruction for our students.

DISTRICT DEMOGRAPHICS
Enrollment:  3200
Free and Reduced Lunch:  25-30%
Staff:  200 with 5 elementary schools, 1 junior high, and 1 high school

Joe Stutting, superintendent, and Sue Kane, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, proudly highlighted the North Scott Community School District Points of Pride. There are clear expectations for everyone in the North Scott Schools - students come first, teamwork is key, and customer service is valued.  Mr. Stutting focused on initiatives at the High School:  the School to Work initiative with a home construction program; Project Lead the Way in grades 7-12;  and the offering of dual credit courses.  When it comes to curriculum writing, the focus continues to be aligning Iowa Core standards within district curriculum.  The good news is North Scott District is off the watch list for reading and moving forward with its implementation of Partnership in Comprehensive Literacy, done in collaboration with the University of Northern Iowa. According to the UNI College of Education website, the PCL emphasizes several key points:

• Continuous development of teacher expertise through ongoing intensive professional development;
• Continuous collaboration between teachers, and between teachers and administrators;
• A systems approach that integrates assessment, teaching, and learning across all grades and units within a school.
• A powerful Response-To-Intervention (RTI) approach called the Comprehensive Intervention Model (CIM)
• Literacy coaching as a key leadership position to guide, facilitate, monitor, and improve the school change process.

Ed White Elementary

One district school where the Partnership in Comprehensive
Literacy (PCL) has been very successful is Ed White Elementary.  Instructional coach Laura Jacobsen is one who assists all teachers in the delivery of PCL. Interventionists provide explicit instruction directly aligned to classroom instruction to those students who are struggling. 

A data wall is used to track student progress at each grade level in reading.  Each card is a visual reminder of where a student currently is in reading based on assessment - below, approaching, proficient, and exceeding. Teaching teams look at the data wall and ask, "How do we design instruction to move a student forward?"  Common planning time allows for collaboration and discussion on instruction, assessment, and content.

Margaret Mead said, "We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet." North Scott School District is a great example of preparing students for a future that is unknown but filled with opportunities to grow and learn.

Ed White Principal Joe Langenhan, Assistant Principal Bernadette Brustkern, and Superintendent Joe Stutting