Friday, June 29, 2018

Letter To My Students...

Dear Vero Beach Elementary students,

I'm writing all of you to let you know how PROUD I am of your hard work this year. The State of Florida releases school grades each summer that don't always show the true impact that has been made on a campus.  We had a setback this year, and dropped a letter grade, missing the "C" by just 2%.  We will not let this define who we are!  We will grow stronger, work harder, and thrive.  We have made our best efforts with our lowest students to make gains, and we fell just short as a school, which cost us the momentum we have built in so many other areas.  However, this will not change our course and our destiny.  We are Little Indians, and this is just part of a bigger journey that we will take together on our way to an "A!"

Do not let this school grade discourage you.  Hold your head up high Little Indians, because you accomplished amazing things this year, including going up on the Science FSA and increasing in reading.  Just know there is so much that was not measured on that particular test, on that particular day.  For example, our entire school showed over a year and a half of growth through our iReady diagnostics in reading!  Our fourth grade accomplished almost 2 years of growth alone!  We read over 10 million words, just in the month of April. Our tribe has become a literacy legend and we will continue our love of reading into next year.  Our math proficiency on iReady went up 10% and we are building the foundation for huge gains next year.  You also surpassed the goal of doing 5,000 acts of kindness in just 15 days and earned our school the honor of being recognized as the school of the month by the national Think Kindness organization.   You were recognized as one of only twenty schools nationwide doing innovative activities to earn us a grant from Crayola to continue our project based learning.  YOU are more than a test!

What that score does not show is the change in our school climate.  Each day we start off giving high fives, fist bumps, and hugs to start us off strong.  As we enter our classes we share our Pledge of Allegiance and our Kids at Hope pledge.  The test score will not show that we believe, now more than ever, that we are talented, smart, and capable of success.  Remember, a test will not measure your potential!

What the letter grade will not show is that we have become a campus of caring and kindness.  We have lowered our discipline, learned to self-regulate, built meditation and social skills training for those of us that need extra reminders, and have become a true tribe of compassion.  It will not show how many students open doors for others, help each other when we are down, hold each others hands when we are scared, or comfort each other when we are sad.  The test doesn't show how many students are now earning our awesome PBIS glow parties and exciting celebrations we have each month.  They certainly don't show the fun that comes along with the improvements here at Vero Beach Elementary.

The letter grade will not show the great sportsmanship, hard work, and dedication that was put into our athletic programs, like the track meet that you participated in.  It doesn't show how you set goals and accomplished them through focus and determination. It will not reflect how many of you I saw consoling friends, cheering on other schools, and helping each other out at the basketball tournament.

The test will not show how so many 5th graders chose to challenge themselves this year by starting band in 5th grade.  It doesn't recognize how many of you are finding paths now, through exploration and choice, to passions that will lead you to life long learning.  It doesn't represent the amazing triumphs I witnessed as you explored technology, learning about coding, ozobots, spheros, virtual reality, bee-bots, and Lego robotics.

Finally, the test scores will not ever show the amount of love on our campus.  Our teachers and staff truly care about each and every single one of you.  We recognize you are more than a test score.

Students, I want you to know that as a principal, I'm committed to making this the best school in the entire district.  Your teachers and I are spending time this summer learning and growing while you are on break.  We are committed to constantly improve so you can get the best education as possible, regardless of your zip code, income level, or current situation.  As a kid who went to Title-One schools myself, I will tell you that this grade is just one measure of a school, but does not reflect potential of the kids for becoming successful in life!  We will show the entire community that we are one tribe, committed to VBE!

Students, hold your heads up high and say it proud, "Who are we?  VBE!  On our way, to an A!"  This setback will only lead to a stronger COMEBACK!  Please ask you parents to join us in our school-wide engagement pledge, VBE 180.  We need the entire community to support the long term turn-around of our school, starting with every family committing to bringing you and your classmates to school 180 school days, on time, and ready for the incredible learning that we have taking place.  We will make a 180 by a true collaboration!  Families and TRIBE unite this upcoming year as we set our place as THE top school in the district.  We CAN and WE WILL do this.



Most Sincerely,
PROUD Principal
Cindy Emerson

Friday, June 22, 2018

5 Steps to Engage Families in Developing Our School Improvement Plan Goals

It is always my intention to lead with honesty, integrity, and full transparency.

As a learning environment, we felt compelled to share our data and create a parent and community deep data dive. We focused on the following 5 Steps to Engage Our Families In Developing Our School Improvement Plan Goals. 

Step 1. Invite the Families Into the Process

It sounds so simple, but so many of our parents shared that this is the first time they have ever been invited to a school during the planning stages of the upcoming year.  We want our families to be a true partner in the experience at Vero Beach Elementary, so it's vital that they feel valued and a part of decision making. Just by asking them to come to our school through social media and our weekly connect message, we were able to get a cross section of our families to our campus.  We advertised the event as a coffee talk and deep data dive and they showed up!







Step 2.   Determine the Shared Values 

 As a principal, it's important for me to listen to what my families want for their child's education. The skills our parents value were shared at our meeting.  These attributes are so much deeper than something that can simply be measured by a standardized test.  Here are just some of the qualities and skills our families shared that they felt were necessary for their children to be successful in life.  This helped us determine our focus to ensure that we are moving in a direction that matches the values our families desire.

Collaborator
Creative
Kind
Problem-solver
Organized
Social Skills
Good work ethic
Independence
Design Thinking
Compassionate
Civic Duty
Mentorship
Ability to advocate for themselves
Career driven
Confidence and self-esteem empathy
Pride 
Focus

Step 3.  Share the Data With the Families and the Community. 

Be raw, be real, and be honest.  Sharing the true picture of what is taking place isn't always easy. However, the true reality will help create action and get multiple points of view on what can be improved upon.  We saw that our parents have incredible insight.  We showed them the trends that have been taking place on our campus over the past 5 years, the most recent academic and behavioral data, our projection of our school grade, and a deep look at what should be celebrated out in the community and a look at what should be an opportunity for improvement next year.


Step 4.  EMPOWER THE PARENTS!

As we discussed the importance of math and literacy fluency, our parents became even more empowered.  They WANT to know how to help and they want to hear ways that they can support what is taking place at school.  Our literacy coach, foundational literacy support, and math coach did data shares and break out sessions.  Our families left with resources they can use at home; including apps, games, flash cards, and strategies to increase their child's fluency.







Step 5. Share the Story

If you don't share what is going on at your school, someone else will!  Take time when you invest in your families and community to share that message.  Hopefully by shining light on the collaboration and partnership it will encourage other families to dive in too.

After sharing a message on Twitter, one of our families retweeted it too.  We are so lucky to have parents that are so deeply committed to our school!







What worked?

As a school, we allowed ourselves to be humble and honest about our data.  We knew that we needed to bring in our stakeholders to create action.  We invited every single parent to come to the school to digest the data with us and come up with our school improvement plan goals TOGETHER.

That's when it really hit us, we can't do this alone.  We need our families involved on a much deeper level then we have involved them in the past.  We need them to help  us understand the barriers they are up against and we need them to  understand what it will take on an individual basis to truly turn this school into an environment of innovation.  We need our families.

The result was something I can only describe as magical.  Our parent partners that came listened to us share our data, helped us problem solve and determine goals for next year, and stayed to hear ways they can support math and literacy at home.






Working together, the school improvement plan goals 
will continue to align with our District's Strategic Plan:

1.  Increase student achievement by improving instruction in all areas.
2.  Increase family and community engagement at Vero Beach Elementary


Finally our parents, students, and staff helped us develop some ideas on how to increase parent participation at school. We agreed that this will need to be a joint effort to help our students reach their true potential.  Some of the ideas shared were:

1. Being more intentional about getting the information out about the programs that already exist.
2. Take a bus into the community and deliver books and ice cream to our families to increase literacy.
3. Start a "Rad Dads" task force to bring more men into our school.
4. Send connect messages with information about events that are coming up a week in advance AND the day of the event.
5. Room parents program.  Parent Buddy List with a "text tree."
6. Adult English speaking classes for our parents.
7. Start a parent outreach program.
8. Utilize competition in classes to increase parent participation, classes with overall increases earn prizes.


In the end we are committed, as a tribe, to do whatever it takes for our students at Vero Beach Elementary!