Transforming a School Step by Step Lewisdale Elementary School, Maryland When Melissa Glee-Woodard became principal of Maryland’s Lewisdale Elementary School four years ago, it was struggling. The school was in the dreaded “school improvement” process because of the performance of multiple subgroups of students, and it needed change. Change is what it got. But not the dramatic “fire-all-teachers” change that has been making the papers. Rather, Glee-Woodard inspired teachers, parents and students with a new vision. The staff began focusing on student data in a meaningful way. Targeted professional development addressed areas of weakness in the instructional program. And new summer programs ensured that students kept their academic success going even when school was not technically in session. As a result, Lewisdale has made AYP every year Glee-Woodard has been principal. The National Association of Elementary School Principals recently honored her for her transformational leadership. She joined us for a conversation about the school and its journey. Public School Insights: How would you describe Lewisdale? Glee-Woodard: Lewisdale Elementary School is located in an urban setting in Prince George's County, Maryland. We are in the backyard of the University of Maryland, College Park. It is a working-class neighborhood. 80% of our students are Hispanic. 17% are African-American. All of our students walk to school each and every day; we are a neighborhood school. Our parents are very actively involved. Anytime that you are outside in the morning, you will see a lot of parents either walking their children to school or dropping their children off in cars.
Public School Insights: I understand that since you came to Lewisdale, the school has greatly improved, with a big shift in culture. What was the school like when you arrived?
―The shift in culture had to do with the vision...and changing the mindset‖ Glee-Woodard: The shift in culture had to do with the vision that I brought to the school and changing the mindset of 1) students, 2) parents and 3) teachers.
I can distinctly remember at one of my first staff meetings someone saying that, ―Well, our kids speak Lewisdale is also a Title I school. 84% of our students English as a second language, and our kids come from qualify for free or reduced meals. And 54% of our stupoverty.‖ And just changing the mindset to one of, dents speak English as their second language. So that ―No matter the type of background that our kids come gives you a general idea of the demographics and the from, we can help them achieve academically.‖ Also, type of community that we serve here at Lewisdale. imparting this vision to the parents and letting them know that we think that their child can succeed, no We also have a very good teaching staff. 98% of matter what the obstacles are. And letting the stuteachers stay at Lewisdale Elementary School. We do dents know that, too. I constantly tell the students, not have a high turnover rate. So we have a lot of ―You are going to college.‖ Many of them do not have veteran teachers who have a lot of skills and talents to that kind of encouragement at home, so I feel that at bring to our school. We also have very, very active the school we have to provide it to them. community partnerships that provide resources for our students. We have a very strong partnership with the There was also a shift in looking at data. Before, data University of Maryland, and one with Kaiser Permanente. So we try to bring as many resources as possi- were not made public. They were not shared openly. But now we have data charts across the school and in ble to the students of Lewisdale. the cafeteria. We have individual student data conferences with parents from pre-K all the way up to fifth grade—―This is your child's reading level. This is the number of kindergarten words that your child knows. This is your child's math assessment score. This is where they are and this is where they need to be.‖
―We have a lot of veteran teachers who have a lot of skills and talents to bring‖
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