Raccoon Grade School Superintendent Misty Johannes credits a good working relationship between parents and teachers as key to their good test schools that led the district to being named one of only 18 Blue Ribbon Schools in the state.
Johannes says the district has been eligible for the award in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school year, but it wasn’t until this year that she sat down with five other staff to fill out the lengthy application. She pointed to some of the keys sited in the application for their success.
“We focus on how important our parent communication and connections were. It’s important that we bring those parents and children into the school for events like Reading or Science Nights. We are always looking to improve our curriculum and trying to get that updated. Teachers are always trying to make improvements in their classroom and that’s why our scores have always been high and this award is very special because we are in the top 15% of school’s in the nation closing that achievement gap in Math and English.”
Johannes doesn’t feel they would be as successful without the parents.
“We know that the parents are helping with the homework at night. Parent and teachers have to have that communication to work together. If you don’t have that I feel our scores wouldn’t be as strong because it takes all of us to help our kids.”
Johannes feels parents are comfortable calling the teachers or even herself to get help to assist their children.
Johannes says former Superintendent and now Regional Superintendent of Schools Matt Renaud was responsible for setting up the district for their on-going success.
The Blue Ribbon School Program is conducted by the US Department of Education. There are 325 Blue Ribbon Schools across the country, including 18 in Illinois. The Okawville Grade School in the West Washington School District has also been honored with the award.
