Three Peaks Elementary is one of two Utah schools selected to represent the state as a National Title 1 Distinguished School for 2012.

Title 1 is a designation by the U.S. Department of Education that is determined by an enrollment of at least 40 percent of students in the free and reduced lunch program. Title 1 schools receive federal funding to improve curriculum, instructional activities, counseling, parental involvement, increase staff and program improvement.

Terry Pickett, Iron County School District director of elementary education, said in an email Three Peaks Elementary serves 503 students living in the rural northern area of Iron County. The percentage of minorities is 12.5 percent and 56.44 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch, he said.

Outstanding teacher achievement and ambitious parental involvement helped the elementary qualify for the recognition program sponsored by the National Association of State Title I Directors. The program provides an opportunity for Title I schools from every state to be honored for their educational achievements. Each state may select two schools for special recognition at the annual National Title I Conference.

Crystal Hopkins, who served as the president of the Three Peaks Parent Teacher Association two years ago, said she was excited to hear about the school's honor. She said Principal Tim Taylor and the teachers work diligently for the students, and parents are heavily involved with their children's education.

"We work together as a team to make it a good school for all the kids," Hopkins said, who is employed as a part-time teacher's aide at the school.

Her son, third-grader Carson Hopkins, said his teacher, Jason Niles, provides his class with writing practices that improves his literacy skills. He said the encouragement to write about events that happen to him have helped him choose his favorite academic subjects - math and reading.

"We really love this school, and we're happy that my kids are able to go to this school," Crystal Hopkins said.

Taylor said schools were required to achieve 89 percent of student proficiency in math and reading in accordance to this year's annual yearly progress of goals outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Three Peaks Elementary achieved 94 percent proficiency in math, and 90 percent proficiency in reading, which is above the state average, he said.

"I think we have dedicated teachers and caring, involved parents and wonderful support staff," said Kindergarten Teacher Harmony Langford about the school's academic success.

Niles credited the schools proficiency rates to the excellent reading center and the "awesome things happening" at the kindergarten through second grade levels that is a critical stage of education.

Fifth Grade Teacher Sherrie Mackelprang said the school is supplied with wonderful teaching materials, including the take-home library. She also attributed the school's achievement to the opportunities for professional development the district provides to help teachers be their best.

Second Grade Teacher Stacie Reber said the Three Peaks Response to Intervention and Instruction program, that assesses individual student skill, tailors the curriculum to fit the student's needs.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all curriculum," Reber said.

Becki Bronson, ICSD board member, said she attended a leadership training conference in September directed by President of the Utah School Board Association Richard Stowell. During the training, Stowell presented a study by Harvard University that documented the importance of teacher achievement and parental engagement as it relates to student achievement.

Bronson referred to a chart from the study that showed in situations where there is a high-achieving teacher and parental involvement, students have a 100 percent chance at success. However, in situations where the teacher engagement is average, but parents are highly engaged, students still have 100 percent chance at success, the study stated. In situations where there is neither teacher or parental engagement, those students have no chance for success even though it is possible for students to overcome those disadvantages, the study reported.

"The saving grace for that child is a high-achieving teacher," Bronson said. "That's what keeps that child from falling through the cracks."

(Artcile by: Cathy Wentz, Daily News)

Three Peaks Elementary School Exceeding the Adequate Yearly Progress for two or more years.

Three Peaks Elementary has an enrollment of 503 students. The minority rate is low at 12.5%, however 56.44% of their students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The students live in the rural, Northern portion of Iron County. They have a strong supportive PTA organization, and have consistently performed above state averages on the state’s Criterion Referenced Tests.

1.             Teaching and learning based on approved state curriculum

Three Peaks Elementary School students have performed exceptionally well on the state CRT, which measures the USOE Core Curriculum. An example of their academic achievement is highlighted below.  Please consider the results of this past spring’s CRT results:

                                                Language Arts (Goal 83%)                     Math (Goal 45%)

                                                  2011            2010                               2011           2010

All Students                                 90%             83%                                94%           83%

Asian                                          N<10            N<10                             N<10          N<10

African American                         N<10            N<10                              N<10          N<10

American Indian                          N<10           N<10                               N<10          N<10

Caucasian                                    90%            84%                                95%          85%

Hispanic                                      94%             67%                                88%           60%

Pacific Islander                            N<10            N<10                             N<10         N<10           

Economically Disadvantaged         91%            80%                                 93%          79%

Limited English Proficient              91%            64%                                 82%          55%

Students with Disabilities              79%            58%                                 86%          64%

            It is impossible for students to perform well without first mastering the core curriculum.  Teachers at this school spend time each summer attending the state core academy.  The school has “Early Out” each Wednesday.  Week 1 = district staff development; Week 2 = school staff development; Week 3 & 4 = teacher preparation and PLC. 

2.             Use of research-based instructional strategies

Three Peaks Elementary School is just five years old.  Their teachers and paraprofessionals have been trained in “Early Steps, Next Steps, and Higher Steps,” by Dr. Kathleen Brown from the University of Utah.  They have been training in “Discovering Intensive Phonics”.  Leslie Adams is in her second year of training the teachers in “LETRS” a research based model similar to the research base for the new USOE Common Core Curriculum.  Monthly Data Teams meet to monitor every at risk student in the school.  Adjustments are made to optimize the effectiveness of interventions.

3.             Opportunities provided for all students to achieve

Three Peaks Elementary School has a “Leveled Library” and “Take Home” Library including 3117 sets of six-pack readers.  These libraries include approximately 18,700 books.  Each set is leveled based on a coordination of two leveling systems (Fountas and Pinnell, or University of Utah Reading Clinic Leveling) System.  A “Take Home Library” has been designed to send home readers at the independent level for every child.  The classrooms provide whole group instruction for all students, and small group instruction is provided as all students are divided by similarities. Trust Land money is used to staff these libraries for efficient drop off and pick off crates of books daily.  A reading specialist works full time with teachers and paraprofessionals teaching, modeling, and monitoring reading instruction.  Every teacher has a document camera, and a smart board to facilitate instruction.  They have been trained in this technology and use it on a daily basis.  Every classroom is equipped with an Audio Enhancement system to protect the teachers voices from unnecessary strain, help students with Central Auditory Processing problems, and maintain the attention of all students.  Attention is the mother to memory!

4.             Coordination of Title I program with other programs

In the twice a month Data Team Meetings, regular education classroom teachers, special educators, reading specialists, speech therapists, the principal, and at times school counselors meet to discus the unique needs and progress of every child.  Trust land money, Title I funds, Special education services are dove tailed to provide a cohesive, unified effort to respond to interventions, correct deficiencies, and monitor progress.  K-3 literacy program aides, and Optional Extended Day Kindergarten all work towards common school goals to improve student achievement.

5.             Implementation of sustained research-based professional development

School training takes place two times a month every month of the school year.  Grade level data teams (PLC) meet twice a month to analyze student progress for every child.  We have adopted the RTI (Response To Intervention) model with four points of focus (1. Academic At Risk Learners; 2. Self-Management Learners; 3. English Learners; and 4.  Advanced Learners).  DIBELS-Next is used to monitor progress in literacy and RLA Reading Level Assessment and ERSI, is used to diagnose at-risk students. 

6.             Established partnerships with parents, families, and the community

Three Peaks Elementary School is unique in many aspects, they utilize windmill electricity, solar panels, and ground source heating to be environmentally green.  They have partnered with Rocky Mountain Blue Sky for a grant that installed a windmill three years ago, and recently installed a solar panel project through Johnson Controls.  They are progressive in their thinking and the renewable energy is just an example of how pervasive this attribute is.  Three Peaks has a strong and active PTA organization.  A fourth grade teacher monitors the power exchange with the electrical grid and teaches students about these energy sources.

(By: Terry Pickett, ICSD Elementary Director)