Discovery Elementary (2020)

School Information

School District: Box Elder
School Address: 820 N 500 W , Brigham City, UT 84302, US
School Phone: 4357344910
School Fax: 4357344912
Principal: Todd Barrow
Contact E-Mail: todd.barrow@besd.net
Web Address: http://www.discovery.besd.net/

Demographics

Number of Students: 465
Percent Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 38%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 6%
Percent of Special Education: 19%

Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

White: 78.28%
Black: 0.2%
Hispanic: 16.62%
Asian: 0%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 0.2%
American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.4%
Multiracial: 4.3%
Other: 0%

Discovery Elementary started its PLC process around 2008. It started out very top heavy with teachers meeting in the library with supervision. This was critical for learning new habits, and the teachers learned how to collaborate, and what to talk about and what topics should be avoided. They did not feel they were able to try new things, or deviate from the mold of a PLC. It was the principal's thing and the teachers did not have ownership, they were being compliant.

Over time they saw the value, and the Collaborative Teams started to have essential standards, create common assessments, and respond to student needs. Slowly the responsibility was put back on the teachers, and with more learning and experience they saw the value of doing the work. They were given the opportunity to own their data and their meetings.

With support from the Box Elder School District, teams made huge leaps as they identified essential standards as a district, found common ground for expectations of learning, and created common assessments. A PLC is no longer a meeting that we hold weekly, but who we are. Teachers meet together regularly. When they get their assessment results they can’t wait to look at it and make plans for their students. Teams then adapt their lessons to support each other and improve classroom instruction.

The COVID-19 Pandemic took hold right after Discovery Elementary was named a Model PLC school in 2020, and like most schools, Discovery struggled to navigate the new challenges that came along with the pandemic. In the years since designation, despite having different principals and seeing various teachers move on that were here for the first recognition, Discovery has emerged again as a school that shows continuous upticks in student growth and achievement.

In the 2023-24 school year, Discovery's Guiding Coalition, after getting input from all teachers and the Community Council approved a change in our school's mission. It isn't a big change, but a change that reflects our continued commitment to the PLC process. Our new mission is:

"We ensure that all students at Discovery Elementary learn at high levels".

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Our school district allocates 1 hour per week for our collaborative meetings. This time is set aside to focus on helping all students learn at high levels. Our teachers have moved passed having a PLC meeting once a week, and have become Professional Learning Communities, using their collaborative meetings, common prep times, and times before and after school. Our teachers give weekly common formative assessments. They monitor the progress of students that need additional time and support. For students that are below grade level, daily data is taken on them to measure progress toward goals. The principal and instructional coach meet with each team every other week to look at the evidence of learning for students that are struggling, and see if changes need to be made to their interventions. It doesn’t stop with them looking at the data, teachers are committed to the PLC process, they immediately are planning for what needs to be retaught, who needs additional time and support and how to do it.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Our system of intervention is consistent in best practices. We are expanding best practices to meet the needs of all students.

Math-

Each grade level has time scheduled with a paraprofessional to provide Math extensions. During the lesson each day the teacher assesses students based on the objective to make sure that they have mastered it. Students that mastered the essential standards move on to the extension activities with the paraprofessional, while students that continue to struggle, stay in the classroom to work with the classroom teacher to build mastery. If all of the students showed mastery the teacher keeps students that are struggling in general and helps them to build their basic skills.

Reading-

Our reading interventions are also built into the master school schedule and we are able to provide small group instruction that is targeted specifically for each student. We use an assessment to identify areas of concern for each student. Students are then grouped according to their concerns and meet with a teacher or paraprofessional 4 times a week for 30 minutes to focus on that skill. Groups are progress monitored weekly and that data is used to determine the progress the student is making and allows us to identify when it is time to reassess and rearrange groups dependent on need. Students who do not need small group intervention in reading set reading goals specific to them and use that time of the day to work on their goals.

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

Our school district is very supportive of the Professional Learning Communities in our buildings. As a district, our focus has been on our SEE initiative; 1. Strengthening PLCs. 2. Expanding Student Connections. 3. Elevating Employee Appreciation. BESD has also had training for team leaders and principals on being effective Professional Learning Communities.

Strengthening PLCs is the first one because it is so critical to all that we do as a school, and district. As a school, we have tried to Strengthen our PLCs, by training our teachers in PLC strategies, through attending PLC Institutes, district PLC trainings, doing book studies, and focusing our school professional development on the process. Teacher teams collaboratively plan lessons, and teach different elements of the process. The principal and instructional coach also attend collaborative meetings to help coach teams on effective PLC practices. Our results have improved steadily over the last few years as a result of our focus. Our teacher teams have become more interdependent and are working toward out Mission Statement “Everybody Leads, Everybody Learns, Everybody Loves.”