BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— McRae Elementary Principal Tammy Winkler highlighted the school’s accomplishments during the May 4 Clay County School Board meeting.
The principal said the culture at the school is based on high expectations for both students and teachers.
“We have high expectations for everybody on our campus,” she said. “We focus on standards, and we provide targeted support in small groups.”
Winkler added that she encourages strong collaboration between teachers, coaches, and staff.
Everybody loves McRae
The principal said that this year, the school focused on improving reading proficiency for its fifth graders.
“That group was the lowest proficient group when they were in fourth grade,” she said. “Last year, they scored at 54% proficient, so we really targeted them for additional support.”
She added that anyone walking into a McRae fifth-grade class this year would commonly see three or four adults in the room working with children.
Winkler said the emphasis paid off, with the group improving from 54% proficiency last year to 69% this year.
McRae’s leader said her team also targeted the students in the bottom quartile of math proficiency, noting that the group had decreased in learning gains in the 2021-2022 school year.
“Using that same plan,” she said, “lots of adult support, looking at data, deciding who needs more support, and giving them small-group support.”
Although the principal did not quantify the proficiency increases of the low-performing math students, she did say their proficiency improved.
Winkler pointed to what she said is one of the strengths at McRae: school morale.
“You can tell everybody loves McCrae,” she said, adding that the school has scored in the top quartile in the district’s climate and culture surveys.
“We call ourselves the Hidden Gem of Clay County,” she added. “We had high proficiency rates in math with 69%, and last year, we experienced increases in everything: (English Language Arts), learning gains, and lower quartile learning gains.”
She added that 90% of McRae’s kindergarteners are working on grade-level material this year.
She said that of all the Title 1 schools in the state, McRae ranks in the top two percent.
Recovering from the pandemic
Winkler acknowledged that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the school lost its pre-pandemic A grade and dropped to a B.
“We had a school-wide goal of earning our A back,” she said. “I promised them a party and all kinds of incentives.”
She said that last year, the school got to within 0.002 points of regaining its A grade.
“I don’t know that you can’t get a higher B than that, right?” she added, “so I had promised the party, and so we had practically an A celebration party at the beginning of the year.”
Winkler said the pandemic also impacted school attendance.
“Our attendance had dropped to about 85%, 86%,” she said. “So, we messaged that school’s important. We need your child to be here every day. We provided pizza parties and incentives. We sent letters home to parents making sure that they knew that we were concerned about it, and we asked for their support. And it’s worked. Our attendance is up.”
Winkler said that she set a goal of 88% attendance for the year, and students exceeded that standard by one percentage point. She added that attendance for the third quarter is 93%.
Teachers and assistants
Winkler also briefed the board on professional development for teachers, lauding the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling program, commonly known as LETRS.
LETRS instructs teachers in structured literacy—sound-letter sequences, language structure, comprehension, and vocabulary—and why and how to plan to teach them.
“We have a high participation in the LETRS program,” she said. “The LETRS program is the best professional development for reading I’ve ever been a part of.”
She added that she completed the program this year alongside participating McRae teachers.
Winkler also praised McRae’s teaching assistants, telling board members that virtually all are seeking teaching certifications.
McRae kids are the best
Winkler said the school’s clubs allow students to make a difference in the school and community.
“We have Robotics, Safety Patrol, and Math Club,” she said. “We have a new 4-H club that is the largest in Clay County. We have our K-Kids that perform service projects for our school and around our community.”
Winkler said the school’s Battle of the Books team took third place in the county.
“We have a new chess club,” she added. “Maybe they’ll teach me how to play. I don’t know.”
The principal said the school’s Striders running club meets three days a week, its chorus is wonderful, and McRae just launched a crocheting club.
Winkler said her plans for next year include increasing the number of teachers in the LETRS professional development program.
“We’re going to continue to focus on attendance and involving our parents in their child’s education,” she added, “through parent nights, data chats, and regular communication.”
The principal concluded by declaring that her school’s biggest strength is its student body.
“I tell everybody,” she said, “McRae kids are the best. We have a wonderful school, wonderful teachers, great support staff, and we work hard every single day at McRae.”
