Williams Elementary honored for spike in performance

In 2004, only 7 percent of students at Williams Elementary School passed the state's reading test. Only 8 percent were proficient in math. Last school year, those numbers were up to 43 percent and 61 percent, respectively.

Williams, 1030 J St., was named a National Title I Distinguished School by the National Title I Association for its gains in student achievement. Only two schools per state receive the award each year.

Smith Elementary School in the Washoe County School District also received recognition. Both schools will be honored at the National Title I Conference in January in Nashville, Tenn., and again at the Nevada Department of Education's conference in April at the Rio.

Title I schools have a high poverty rate and receive extra federal funding. More than 220 of the Clark County School District's 357 schools are Title I. About 96 percent of Williams students are on the free lunch program.

Principal Brenda McKinney joined Williams in 2004 at a time when teachers could not wait to transfer from the school, McKinney said.

But that trend has changed.

More than 90 percent of the current staff has been at the school for five or more years.

Michele Haldeman, a learning strategist, joined the school in 2002 and has seen the worst of it. There was no plan in place to improve learning, she said.

"Everybody was kind of doing their own thing," Haldeman said. "... Feeder (middle) schools did not want our kids back then. Now they can't wait to get them.

"The quality of instruction has greatly increased. ... We built a comprehensive approach to supporting our teachers. We got teachers working together collaboratively. Now, teachers don't leave our building."

Intermediate resource teacher Kevin Batista has been at Williams since 2006. He said the "morale of the school is what's changed the most."

"I find it comparable to a sports franchise," he said. "A new manager comes on board, where before everyone had their own individual agendas. Once they bought into the system, people were naturally filtered out."

Batista said the school - and the district as a whole - focuses more on data-driven instruction.

"We can look at a child's (test) score and focus on strengths and weaknesses," he said.

A big improvement also came in the way of increased parental involvement, Batista said. He and other teachers have gone door-to-door to communicate with inactive parents. The school also created a parental resource center that provides educational resources for parents.

McKinney said her school still faces "some incredible challenges," especially with funding constantly in question. But she is confident in her staff and the direction of her school.

"We always set our bar relatively high," she said.

The district's magnet office has already approached Williams about becoming a magnet school, which would bring in students from across the valley and likely improve test scores even more. Magnet schools are some of the top-performing schools in the district. McKinney said she is considering a theme of journalism and technology for the magnet program, which could start as early as next school year.

"I should have retired two years ago," McKinney said. "But I love this staff; I love their drive. They're 500 percent on board for the kids."

With only three years at Williams, fourth-grade math and writing teacher Rasheed Malik is a relative newbie to the school. Malik was born and raised in Las Vegas and said he enjoys being a role model for them.

"I grew up in these same streets," he said. "I teach math, and I also show little boys how to wear their belts.

"I'm the new guy, and they just made it so easy to work here. In some buildings, the administration really micromanages you. Mrs. McKinney trusted me. That helps so much.

"Here I have the freedom to be a teacher."

Williams Elementary School is a partner school of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 702-224-5524.