Spec. Rafael Hernando III Middle School in the Socorro Independent School District is the only school in El Paso and the first school in Region 19 to be recognized as a national model Professional Learning Community (PLC) at Work™ by Solution Tree, a leading provider of comprehensive professional development to schools and districts around the world.
Solution Tree praised Hernando III Middle School’s success in raising student achievement as a PLC school at the SISD Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 23.
Susan Rabel, director of Educational Partnerships at Solution Tree, congratulated the school’s “amazing team” for focusing and refining their instructional strategies over the last four years to create opportunities for every student to succeed. She also thanked SISD Superintendent Nate Carman, Ed.D., district leaders and the board of trustees for providing teachers with the support and resources they need to ensure student success.
“You all have walked the walk at Hernando and you have the results to show for it,” Rabel said. “Principal Hairston and her team have transformed their school by building a strong foundation for their collaborative team and also creating the time and space necessary for planning and individualized student support.”
Solution Tree's Evidence of Effectiveness Committee pointed out that while 7th-grade math state scores experienced a dip from 81% to 62% in 2021-22, Hernando III Middle School showed a 19 percent overall improvement in math, according to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness program, or STAAR.
PLCs are schools and districts in which educators recognize the key to improved learning for students is ongoing, job-embedded learning for the adults who serve those students. The three big ideas of a PLC call upon educators to concentrate on three areas: focus on learning, building a collaborative culture, and creating a results orientation.
Schools are recognized based on strict criteria, including demonstrating a commitment to PLC concepts, implementing these concepts for at least three years, and having clear evidence of improved student learning over that period. Once measurable results can be seen, the school must explain its practices, structures, and culture and submit its application for consideration by the PLC Review Committee.
Hernando III Middle School Principal Valerie Hairston said the school is one of 75 model PLC schools in Texas, the only second model PLC middle school with similar demographics in the state, and the only model PLC school in the region.
Hairston said the PLC designation is a testament to the staff’s hard work and dedication to their students.
“We’ve invested a lot of professional development for our entire staff through Solution Tree and the PLC model,” Hairston said. “It is a collaborative model designed to ensure that all of our staff and all of our teachers are working together to establish the best curriculum, interventions and extensions for student learning again with the idea in mind that we’re capturing all students.”
Published March 3, 2023
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