West Elementary honored with distinguished character award

By: Derrick Forsythe, Correspondent
Posted 2/9/21

Four years into its ongoing efforts to foster a supportive environment for students and staff, Wright City West Elementary continues to reap the rewards of its dedication. The school recently was …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

West Elementary honored with distinguished character award

Posted

Four years into its ongoing efforts to foster a supportive environment for students and staff, Wright City West Elementary continues to reap the rewards of its dedication. The school recently was recognized as a State School of Character, earning a distinct honor that has been bestowed upon only 56 of the 1,050 elementary schools in the state over the past five years.

“It was a pleasant surprise to kind of affirm all the work we’re trying to do for our kids,” said Principal Patrick Wallace. “It was super affirming of everything our staff does to help our students, so we’re really excited about it.”

Only 84 of the 2,145 schools across all grade levels in Missouri have received this status.

After being recognized last summer with two of the Promising Practice Awards for the school’s Houses and Kindness Club organizations, it was suggested that West Elementary apply for this additional honor.

“We felt like we’ve been on this journey for four years and are doing a lot of good things for kids and have seen evidence of it,” said Wallace. 

A team of 12 staff members embarked on the task to complete a thorough application process that included documenting a number of evidence-based criteria. Among the considered fields were academic achievement and decline in behavioral concerns. 

“They’re going to send us feedback based upon our application and send us some ideas for how to move forward,” said Wallace. “We’re going to look at that and keep doing whatever we can do to get better — keep trying to identify areas we can improve upon.”

The school has refined its efforts to demonstrate and encourage positive character since the inception of this initiative, building the framework upon 11 social-emotional principles. Evidence of having met criteria in each of those 11 categories had to be demonstrated through a rigorous evaluation process.

“It’s been a work in progress,” said Wallace. “We really involve as many staff as we can. Our leadership team really helps drive and analyze what’s going well. We really do have a shared approach to this. This is an award for the whole school to make this happen.”

Wallace says the implementation of strong character and values into the school proved beneficial this year with the new challenges presented by COVID. He notes that discipline referrals have been down and compliance has been strong as it relates to students wearing masks and abiding by social distancing recommendations.

“We really felt like the three years of work leading up to this really paid off when it comes to a year where there’s constant change,” said Wallace. “We have to do the right thing now, not only because its the right thing to do, but also because it keeps you and your classroom safe. Our kids have been doing an amazing job of that.”

West Elementary will be recognized at the National Character Forum, which will be held virtually this year, for both its Promising Practice and State School of Character Award. It will also receive a banner to signify its accomplishment.

Wright City West Elementary

X