What separates McIver Elementary School from a host of schools serving like student populations? Principal Jacqueline Wilson boils it down to creating a cohesive environment among the faculty and a solid connection with students’ homes. Wilson also maintains an open-door policy, keeps up with the McIver alumni association, and draws upon civic organizations to provide incentives for her pupils.

The efforts seem to have paid off. In 2002, Halifax County’s McIver Elementary had 84.5 percent of its students at or above grade level, up consistently from earlier test results. The school serves 219 students from pre-K to fifth grades, about 91 percent of them qualified for nutrition subsidies for breakfast or lunch. About 96 percent of the students are black. They don’t offer excuses about minority or poverty, though, and Wilson does a lot of communicating to keep the school’s progress going.

Daily welcome at the door

Wilson has set the tone for McIver. Her priorities are picked up by faculty as well as students. Take the daily greeting that Wilson offers students as they step off the bus in the morning. She makes it her personal responsibility to be there, creating a physical presence and an impression in the minds of her pupils. She extends this approach to the school day, making announcements before and after school, circulating through the classrooms to visit throughout the day, and stopping to get some first-hand information about what is going on there.

According to Wilson, the enthusiasm extends to the staff as well. “The staff at McIver takes great pride in their work. They truly exemplify the ‘team concept.’ McIver has strong parental and community support,” she said.

Among the community-support elements are McIver alumni. A former high school, McIver now serves the children and grandchildren of some of its graduates. Every year, Wilson said, the McIver alumni association donates money to the school.

But a number of students at the school have parents who never finished high school. According to responses to the North Carolina Education Alliance survey, these parents are “at a disadvantage to help their children with their studies.” Other difficult factors, not necessarily unique to the school, are the number of single-parent households, and the number of children being raised by grandparents.

Strategies for staff and students

Wilson lists teamwork as a recurring theme for success at McIver. Improvement, in her estimation, results from a combination of elements: sticking to the standard course of study, testing on a six-week interval, continuing staff development in reading, writing and math, and active pursuit of feedback. Wilson said her staff makes use of the disaggregated data from test results to direct and plan instruction. And like her personal greeting to each student at the bus, she monitors the school program closely.

A high degree of personal supervision by the principal does not mean that staff plays a secondary role. Survey responses credit teachers, as well as teachers’ assistants, with much of the progress McIver has made. Teacher assistants, Wilson said, play a particularly important role. Along with regular teachers, classroom assistants work with students who have exceptional educational needs. These are students whose needs do not fit into regular classroom lesson plans. Staff training and development takes place throughout the year, and includes all classroom personnel. Weekly sessions between teachers and assistants allow for information sharing and planning.

Communication is the key

Teaching practices in place at McIver don’t seem unique, when compared to other schools. The standard course of study governs lesson planning at McIver, as in many schools. All schools make an effort to identify pupils with special, or acute difficulties. And many schools, like McIver, have the support of local organizations. For example, the Kiwanis Club recognizes a “student of the month” from McIver, and the local Chamber of Commerce supports a mentoring program called “lunch buddies.”

Similar community support is extended to many schools in the state. Because of close connections with past students and civic groups, Wilson describes McIver as “a community school providing facilities for community use.” This attitude couples with the participation of parents and grandparents, who “visit the classrooms frequently” and support the school’s annual fund drives.

McIver also has a low teacher turnover rate, and just one recent departure. Wilson’s response to survey questions on staff commitment reflect her belief that staff morale is high. “I feel teachers at McIver are generally happy,” she said.

Palasek is assistant editor for Carolina Journal.