05/16/05
Jill Bock
MATTHEWS - Nothing could make a child happier in elementary school than getting back an assignment with a gold star at the top.
Gold stars still symbolize success in school and for Matthews Elementary School, the Gold Star Schools Program Award honors it as one of the 12 best schools in Missouri.
Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and State Farm Insurance, the program uses criteria established by the U.S. Department of Education in selecting the honorees.
According to Cindy Amick, director of curriculum and instruction for the New Madrid County R-1 School District, the criteria recognizes those schools which are dramatically improving and have 40 percent or more of its students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The school must show dramatic improvement over the past three years in reading and mathematics to high levels on the Missouri Assessment Program tests.
Also schools selected must perform in the top 10 percent of all schools in the state on the MAP in reading and mathematics as well as adequately meet the yearly progress requirements.
“To be a Gold Star School, a school not only has to meet high performance standards, but it also as to provide evidence that it is meeting criteria shown by research to promote school effectiveness and the best in education practices. They look at curriculum and instruction and the family and community partnerships,” Amick said.
Matthews Elementary is doing many things right, Amick noted. In particular the teachers at Matthews and throughout the district have sought to improve MAP scores and assist students in their yearly progress.
Working with the elementary schools in the R-1 District, Amick said the district has compiled information to create curriculum guides for teachers. Using the state’s Show-Me Standard and grade level expectations, teachers are encouraged to align their classroom curriculum to best prepare students to meet educational expectations at the state and national level.
“We encourage the teachers to go through each grade level, study the goals and make sure they are breaking them down to that classroom level,” she explained. No longer is a teacher expected to simply follow a textbook from beginning to end, but rather use the textbook as a tool keying in the grade- level expectations students must meet, she explained.
“They can key in on the skills and not teach lot of things keyed in on before,” said Amick. “If every grade level does that from kindergarten on - the students are ready for the next level and the next teacher can key in on the next goals.”
But Amick will be the first to admit, it isn’t just the curriculum which earned Matthews Elementary the honors.
The school with 161 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade and its 22 full-time teachers and seven part-time teachers enjoy a close-knit atmosphere she added. Also she had high praise for Jim Bates, who is in his 12th year as principal at Matthews.
“He has a real active role in the teaching process. He is in every classroom every day and in the halls constantly,” she said. “He provides positive reinforcement for the faculty and the students.”
When the school received the banner proclaiming it a Gold Star School, Bates said he tried to explain to the students what the honor meant. They may not have understood the criteria they had to meet or about state and federal standards, but they knew they had done well and the word reached the community and the families.
While the teachers and students worked hard, Bates added there is another essential to the small school’s success. “It seems as though the students, parents and school all work together to help the students achieve as much as they possibly can. To be successful, you have to have the teachers who care, the students who want to achieve and parents who care,” he said.
And there may be more honors coming Matthews Elementary School’s way. Amick has nominated the small school for national honors as a Blue Ribbon School. “We won’t find out until fall on that,” said Amick. “But wouldn’t it be awesome if they won win that, too?”
source documentation: Sikeston Standard Democrat 5/16/05 (archives http://news.mywebpal.com/templates/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=865&show
=archivedetails&ArchiveID=1108030&om=1
*Letter to D.E.S.A. under Missouri Sunshine Law!
*DESA Rejects
*Natl. Blue Ribbon
*Gold Star
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