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Spicewood Elementary School in Marble Falls ISD is considered one of the top public elementary schools in Texas. Educators credit teachers, students and community support. Students from Dani Harmon and Elle Miller's fourth-grade classes, pictured front row from left, include: Eliana Bammel, Chace Benton, Jackson Davis, Brody Freeman, Witter Leifeste, Jett Mekaelian, Jevin Orosco, Jillian Webb; and back row from left include: Miranda Huntley, Chloe Chorn, Harlow Nelson, Mason Prouty, Elise Winters, Athena Gridley and Piper Williams. Contributed photo
A Marble Falls Independent School District campus has risen to the top of the crop in the state for its success.
Spicewood ranked number 427 out of the more than 6,000 schools in Texas, according to U.S. News and World Report. The designation places the campus in the top 10 percentile of elementary school.
The news entity utilizes a combination of state assessment data, enrollment, student-teacher ratio and factors such as lower socio-economic status.
“Teachers are pivotal to academic achievement. Teachers cover the curriculum, tutor, fill in missing skills, and build lasting relationships,” Spicewood Elementary Principal Kara Gasaway told The Highlander. “Our teachers have a heart for students and never give up on them. They truly live the district’s vision to love and inspire.”
Programs, including intervention activities, play an important role.
“Spicewood is very blessed to have amazing intervention teachers. Our dyslexia teacher and math/reading intervention teachers work dil- igently to fill academic gaps,” Gasaway shared. “Our ACE (Afterschool Centers on Education) coordinator works well with teachers to help students complete work and meet with classroom teachers after school.”
Educators reinforce student leadership roles.
“We are building leadership capacity in students, which also builds academic con- fidence. All of our 5th graders can be ‘Principal for the Day,’” she said. “In this process, our fifth-graders help our younger students with their academics.”
The campus’ foundation around learning involves reading, writing and arithmetic.
“This semester, we invited families out to our Literacy Night. At this time, all activities are centered around a novel that the entire school has read,” she continued. “Next semester, we will be hosting a math/science night.”
Ultimately, parents remain in step with educators and focus on the same goals for student achievement.
“Families are everything. We work in tandem with parents to help students. We try to incorporate academic nights throughout the year,” she said. “Parents are always invited to assembly on Friday mornings, to Pastries with the Principal once a quarter, and to any particular time they can eat breakfast or lunch.
“We like to think that parents are our allies, and together, we can inspire students to succeed.”