Parkway Elementary was presented with the 2023 RISE School Award during the Board meeting on September 21. Sandy Shepard, Lead RISE Regional Specialist with the Arkansas Department of Education, bestowed the award to Principal Lindsey McBride, Assistant Principal Leslie Smith, and a team of teacher leaders.
R.I.S.E. (Reading Initiative for Student Excellence) focuses on strong instruction and collaboration to build a culture of reading. Only 47 schools in the state have earned the Rise School Award since 2018.
Schools must complete a rigorous application process to be considered for the award. A team of literacy specialists check that the minimum requirements are met (which include fewer than 40% of students scoring In Need of Support on the 21-22 state assessment), then score the application on an initial rubric based on the 3 Goals of RISE. Specialists then spend a day at the school conducting classroom visits, collecting teacher and principal feedback, and scoring a second rubric.
Highlights from the literacy specialists visit to Parkway include:- PES is using core curriculum with fidelity.
- Paraprofessionals and dyslexia interventions are knowledge about curricula.
- Intervention groups are realigned each week based on formative assessments and data collected by teachers.
- Instruction is systematically delivered and scope and sequence followed precisely.
- The culture of learning at Parkway is strong and intentional.
Congratulations to the team at Parkway Elementary for earning such a prestigious award!