SPRING VALLEY – Spring Valley Elementary is one of 98 schools statewide to earn Wisconsin Schools of Recognition honors for the 2023-24 school year from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

According to a news release, the awards celebrate the exceptional efforts of educators, students, families, and school staff in ensuring educational success for all students, especially among those facing economic challenges.

The Schools of Recognition Program, first launched in 2003, recognizes Title I schools for making significant strides in student growth and achievement. After a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DPI resumed the tradition of highlighting excellence in education.

“We are incredibly proud of Nicole (Lamb, principal), her staff, our students and their families,” said Spring Valley Superintendent John Groh.

Spring Valley falls in the “High Progress Schools” category (along with River Falls Public Montessori). Schools were honored in one or more of the following categories:

• High Achieving Schools (15 schools): These schools rank in the top 10% statewide for academic achievement in reading and mathematics and demonstrate small or closing achievement gaps.
• High Progress Schools (24 schools): These schools show significant growth in student outcomes or graduation rates, with measurable progress in closing gaps.
• High Impact Schools (70 schools): Serving a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, these schools have above-average achievement when compared to similarly situated school.

To be eligible for any award, schools must:

• Receive federal Title I funding
• Meet or exceed expectations on the most recent School Report Card
• Not be currently identified for Comprehensive, Targeted, or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (CSI/TSI/ATSI),
• Be above the bottom 20% statewide for chronic absenteeism and achievement
• Meet or exceed 95% test participation across all students

Lamb said the DPI makes their selection based off information obtained from a school’s state report card score, which are issued once a year. SVE’s overall summary score was a 77.6, which “exceeds expectations.” Its growth score was 85.9.

“They focused on growth, in particular student value added growth,” Lamb said. “What that means is that this is something they see over time; we’re making strong gains across the board. Our kiddos that maybe struggle a little bit more in reading and math that they are tested on. They are closer to being proficient, meaning they have mastered the grade level skills and standards that our Wisconsin Forward exams are testing.”

Lamb emphasized that this is an all-school award.

“I am so proud of the students, the staff and the community. It’s a big, big deal. It takes a village. I just want to make sure to congratulate everybody,” she said.

She’s also thrilled the school has seen significant improvement in its chronic absenteeism rate. After Covid, many schools saw an uptick of kids not being in school.

“It’s important for kids to be at school,” Lamb said. “If we’re missing a lot of days at school, that makes learning hard. We’ve noticed that our attendance has been really, really good. We’ve had big improvements this year and last year.”

Lamb attributes that to sharing information with families on why it’s important to be at school where they can be supported.

Lamb said academic excellence isn’t new to SVE. She’s been there for 15 years, four as principal. The staff has a renewed focus on its Tier 1 instruction, which is the instruction that all kids are getting in the classroom every single day.

“We use summative and real time data to really look at what kids are learning and look at what we need to do to strengthen our instructional strategies as educators to help them with what they are struggling with,” Lamb said. “We have been very intentional in making sure that the Tier 1 instruction is strong.”

They’ve also focused on consistency in Tier 2 instruction, which is a second dose of Tier 1 with “a little more on top of that.” Teachers are able to help students with a skill or parts of a skill they didn’t get the first time.

“We’re filling in those gaps. I think that speaks to the development and growth the students are making,” Lamb said. “We’re not compartmentalizing our student learning; we’re looking at them as more of a cohort of growth. Building blocks year to year, grade level to grade level.

“It’s very much a team approach too. It’s everybody, it’s all hands on deck. The grade level teachers, the interventionists, the paraprofessionals, the special education teachers, the encore teachers. It’s really that balance too of academic learning and making connections with their kiddos and building a classroom with their kiddos that they can take those academic risks if they’re more comfortable.”

As a longtime educator, Lamb lives to see those lightbulb moments in students when they succeed and realize it. It’s tough to put into words, she said, describing it as sheer joy and exhilaration. She loves when students come into her office to read to her or show her what they’ve learned.

“We pride ourselves on making connections and helping our students grow as a whole person. The connection piece of it and seeing the child as the whole person that they are, helps us help them learn and grow,” Lamb said. “As a principal that sees the growth, it’s a really proud, proud moment. You can see that they’re super excited about their successes and the ownership that they’re taking in it. They want to learn and grow and get better and share those accomplishments with everyone.”

Lamb is humbled by the honor received and motivated to keep improving.

“Once you start to achieve the goals we set for ourselves as educators at Spring Valley, you want to continue to raise the bar. We want to continue to help students learn and grow. We don’t want to keep things status quo,” Lamb said.

She credits the staff at SVE and in the entire district who show enthusiasm for continuing education, professional development and curriculum development for their success.

“It makes us more hungry to help our students learn and grow and continue to see successes,” Lamb said. “My hope is there are other ways to be recognized through DPI. I am hopeful that the higher recognitions are ones we are able to attain down the road. This is not just a one and done deal.”

She is grateful for a supportive school board, superintendent and community.

“We are very lucky to be in a community that values and support our schools. Its wonderful to know that,” Lamb said.