Breaking Through Barriers

Alabama has a total of 139 public school systems. Of those, two are charter schools, 67 are county systems and the other 70 are city school systems.

We have gems among all of them – Russellville City Schools is one of those.

Like many systems in Alabama, Russellville City began its new school year the first full week in August. After getting my two sons off for their respective first days of school in Autauga County, I took a ride up to Russellville City later that week.

Why?

Because Russellville City Schools is doing an amazing job in breaking down barriers for their students and community and they are achieving great things in doing so.

You see, unlike most school systems, 55% of their total school population (currently 2,507) is Hispanic/Latino, which means that MANY of their students come to the front doors of school not speaking one word of English and not familiar with our American way of doing things.

I wanted to see first-hand what Russellville City Schools Superintendent Mr. Heath Grimes and his amazing group of administrators and teachers were doing to help break down and break through the language and culture barriers as they help guide ALL of the school system’s students toward success.

Mr. Heath Grimes

Superintendent

“My goal alongside providing our students with an excellent education, is to make others aware of the unique challenges a district like ours faces. We hope that we are able to provide a model, but also make others aware of the need for much greater resources and support as well as the need for a much greater understanding.”

Every year the Alabama Legislature appropriates dollars in the annual Education Trust Fund Appropriations bill (ETF Budget) for English Language Learners, most commonly referred to as ELL.

Great you say, but hold on…

As with several line items in the ETF Budget, dollars are appropriated one-year in arrears, meaning that (for example) if Mr. Grimes - or any other local school superintendent - had a total of 600 ELL students LAST school year, but has 800 ELL students THIS school year, Russellville City is only going to be getting money based on the 600 students from last year, leaving 200 ELL students unaccounted for in dollars for this school year.

Moreover, while I know our school systems are thankful for the ELL line item, it is one of those ETF Budget line items that has NEVER been adequate enough to help compensate for the resources and supplies needed for Alabama’s ELL students. This is especially and uniquely true for Russellville City due to their very high numbers of ELL students. 

That means Russellville City has to use more local dollars to help off-set the lack in funding.

However, as is true for all of our schools, they don’t let a lack of dollars stop them for doing the very best they can (and then some) especially when it comes to providing much needed resources for ELL students.

Which brings me to West Elementary School…

When I pulled up with Mr. Grimes, I immediately noticed their motto on the outside of the school – “The Tradition Begins Here”.

Front of the school

Russellville City Schools are steeped in tradition. It is important to the community, it is important to the educators and it is important to their students, many of whom I came to find out are now the business leaders and owners, educators and others in their hometown, and have remained or returned to continue the tradition of educational excellence.

What I love about that motto being on the outside of the elementary school is that it is all encompassing – it says that your child is stepping through the doors that begin the tradition of Russellville City Schools. That is something that ALL students (no matter what) can take pride in.

West Elementary School houses kindergarten through 2^nd grade (and also has Pre-K on site too). With a little over 600 total students (not counting Pre-K), over half of their total student population is Hispanic/Latino. The kindergarten alone is 53% Hispanic/Latino.

Being a kindergartener is hard enough for many of our youngsters across-the-board, but add on the challenge of a language barrier (most come to West Elementary not speaking one word of English) and you can understand the angst for many of these sweet children (and families). 

West Elementary spends a lot of time reaching out to the community to make sure that families are informed and welcomed when it comes to their children's education.

First things, first. 

A home language survey is done on every student. Below, you can see one in English and one in Spanish. From information received on these surveys, an incoming kindergarten student is then screened using a proficiency placement test (WIDA-ACESS Placement test a.k.a. W-APT) which is specifically used for English Language Learners. Once placement and what services a student needs to receive are determined, an Individualized English Language Plan (IELP) is designed to help students who are speakers of other languages attain academic success.

English

Spanish

Ms. Deanna Hollimon, Me and Mr. Heath Grimes

I met up with West Elementary School Principal Ms. Deanna Hollimon to tour the school with her and Mr. Grimes. As I spoke with the teachers and interacted with the students, I could  see and sense that any initial angst a new student may have felt the very first day had already given way to happy calm. The childrens’ smiles alone told me that. 

Students were all smiles talking to the Principal

Ms. Leslie DeLeon 
Rivera

West Elementary is also fortunate to have an EL Aide on staff  to help with translation for students and families as well as the school. 

Ms. Rivera shared with me that coming to West everyday does not feel like coming to work at all because she loves the school and the students so much.

Breaking through the barriers…

I asked Ms. Hollimon, "How does a child who does not speak our language maneuver around the school?"

Common, matching animal signs and stickers let children identify correctly where they belong. You don’t need to immediately know the language to know that if you are a goldfish and you see the goldfish, you are where you are supposed to be. Same with duck, mouse, etc.

And, there's no need to guess which is which, Girls or Boys – Chicas or Chicos! 😊

Here are Language Intervention teachers, Ms. Linda Holcomb and Ms. LeJoy Winston preparing those IELPs for this year’s students. Note the volume of paperwork…and their smiles despite the volume. After briefly talking with them, it was amazing to learn about all of the things that are done/being provided at West Elementary for ELL students to achieve. With most, if not all ELL resources, primarily being infused with local dollars.

   
What also impressed me beyond belief was when I walked into Reading Coach Ms. Donna Bolton’s room. Look at the progression of proficiency in Reading and Math for Kindergarteners last school year – Fall, Winter, Spring. 

These scores represent this school year’s 1^st graders of course - How AWESOME?!!

Awesome for sure! 

Just look how proud first grader Maria was to show me her writing work!

Maria - 1st Grader

I absolutely loved walking around the school and getting into the classrooms. 

From the “This is How to Write” lesson in Ms. Amy Hamilton’s 1^st grade class (with the added bonus of a classroom volunteer helping the students along that day) to the flexible seating while you work in Ms. Chasity Parker’s 2^nd grade class…there was no shortage of learning going on.

I also got to witness this wonderful interaction below between two young boys in Ms. Kelly Pouncey’s 2^nd grade class. One English speaking, the other not…the communication was clear – “Let me SHOW you.” ❤❤

As the school day was winding down, Ms. Hollimon wanted me to meet this precious little girl named Dorle. 

First, Dorle hugged Ms. Hollim0n and then without skipping a beat she went on to tell me how much she loved 2^nd grade, had a great first week of school, and about her older brothers who were in the band at the high school.  As she was talking to me in her Russellville Tigers t-shirt, with this bubbly and exuberant personality, I was thinking how she would be my number one pick as a perfect Russellville City Schools mascot. So, you can imagine that I was a little shocked when Ms. Hollimon told me that when Dorle first came to West Elementary just two years ago, she was shy and introverted, did not speak any English at all, and was struggling academically. Now, she was excelling in school, happy all the time and a friend to everyone – talk about breaking barriers!

Dorle and Me

Speaking of the end of the day…every child, whether they be a bus rider or a car rider has a teacher “buddy” to ensure they are not alone and they get on the right bus or into the right car with the right person. 

It was more than obvious that no matter where you look at West Elementary, everyone on staff makes it a priority to ensure the students feel loved and cared for in a super welcoming learning environment. There’s no doubt they will do whatever it takes to help each child succeed.

Ms. Deanna Hollimon

Principal

“At West Elementary, we strive to provide the best instruction and resources for our students.  We embrace the diversity represented among our students and make efforts daily to meet their needs academically, physically, socially, and emotionally.  We work as a team while involving our parents and our community.  The success of our students depends on our ability to stay at the forefront of best practices in education, and our teachers are dedicated to doing just that each and everyday.” 

What really resonated with me is that language was not really a barrier at all, it was just the beginning of the best that is yet to come for these students – each and every one of them.

As my visit came to an end, I realized that Russellville City's next generation of tradition, excellence and success had been smiling back at me all day long.