'Lots of little things' made the difference in Montrose Elementary becoming fully accredited

Dr. Cassandra Willis has a full roster of activities to motivate her students – monthly attendance celebrations, a holiday “pop-up shop,” book vending machines, and a school-wide kickball game with a professional kickball player.

These initiatives may seem minor, said Willis, who has been the principal of Montrose Elementary since fall 2022, but they impact the young students in ways that really matter – boosting their excitement for learning, their motivation to come to school, their confidence that they can succeed.

“It seems like something so small, but it keeps attendance numbers up and it just keeps the building calm,” Willis said “Things like that help keep kids engaged and excited. And once you can get kids engaged and excited, then you can get them learning. It’s just a formula for success.”

The school building is fairly calm but still bustling with some pent-up excitement, since it’s lunchtime on the second-to-last day before winter break, and also “Pajama Day” as a part of the school’s winter spirit week. It can often be difficult to retain attendance during these last few days, but Willis said that initiatives like their holiday market keep students coming to class.

The winter “pop-up,” set in a classroom, is open to all students, who can buy different trinkets as a treat for good behavior and attendance.

“Every kid in the building comes to shop for whoever they want, they tell us and we help them shop. Some of them will double back because we have gifts left,” Willis said. “So we don’t have many behavior problems this time of year because kids are really super excited to come in here.”

Near the classroom pop-up is a large sign in the hallway that reads, “Montrose is Fully Accredited! Go Mustangs!” The elementary school became fully accredited this year for the first time since the 2019-2020 school year (accreditation was waived during 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 due to the pandemic). In 2022-2023, and for several years before 2019, the school was “Accredited with Conditions” or “Partially Accredited.”

In Virginia, school accreditation rankings are based on a number of different factors: academic achievement in English, math, and science; achievement gaps existing between student groups, demonstrated improvement in academic achievement; and chronic absenteeism. This year, 206 schools in Virginia and 11 schools in Henrico County were “Accredited with Conditions,” meaning they failed to meet some of the state expectations for achievement, improvement, and attendance.

During the 2021-2022 school year, Montrose struggled to meet several of these expectations. Chronic absenteeism spiked to 23.93%, meaning a quarter of the school was absent for 10% or more of each school year. Only 44% of students passed state assessments in English, 37% passed in science, and 34% passed in math – well below the state benchmark of 70-75%.

But the 2022-2023 school year saw marked improvements. Science test pass rates rose to 74%, and the school also saw slight improvements in English and math, with pass rates of 49% and 45%. Chronic absenteeism decreased to 13.83%, below the state benchmark of 15%.

While other schools will put a lot of focus on certain student groups that need extra help – English Learners, minority students, etc. – Willis said that her focus was on the entire school. Montrose is labeled by the Virginia Department of Education as a “high poverty” school, with 75.6% of students classified as economically disadvantaged and 90% eligible for free or reduced meals. The school is majority-minority, with 74.6% students identifying as Black, 8.7% white, 8% Latino, and 7.4% as multiple races.

“I focused on every single student in the building, because for me, every single student needed our attention,” Willis said. “We pay close attention to those who may need more support to make sure kids don’t fall through the cracks, but we looked at every single child.”

Willis particularly honed in on science and literacy. Last year, she brought in more community partners to help students with science. She also brought in more people to read to the students, and the school librarian created a “secret society” for readers to get students more engaged.

But apart from that, Willis said she didn’t have to hire much more staff or partner with more community organizations. The key was using the resources the school already had and concentrating on what was making the most impact.

“Montrose had already had a lot of community partners and people wanting to help, but what we did was kind of make the requests more specific so that we would not have things here that we don’t need,” she said. “Everybody wants to give school supplies, and we do need school supplies, but we don’t need 100 companies or 100 people to give it to us.”

The school partners with several government programs and nonprofits, including 21st Century Community Learning Centers, an after school initiative part of the No Child Left Behind Act, and Communities in Schools, a nonprofit that helps increase attendance among at-risk students.

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Motivating staff members was one goal Willis wanted to accomplish by leveraging community partnerships. Every staff member received a new school jacket and t-shirt from Republic Services Charitable Foundation, and the company also helped keep the teachers’ lounge stocked with coffee and other essentials.

“You know, when you look at that in isolation, it doesn’t seem like a big deal,” Willis said. “But with all the things together, they really do make a significant impact.”

Engaging students was also hugely important for Willis. Montrose already had quarterly parties to celebrate attendance, but last year she made them monthly. She held more pop-up shops for students and organized an end-of-the-year market called the “dads’ table” for students’ fathers. Republic Services helped Willis put on a kickball tournament – which generated much enthusiasm from the students.

“Now that may seem so simple, but the kids were so excited about the upcoming kickball game, they just did everything they needed to do to get to that kickball game, they were just so excited,” Willis said. “They even had a professional kickball player that’s in a league that lost to my fifth-grader. We still have the trophy and the crown.”

Putting the fun in learning is important for elementary schoolers, but so is maintaining a “calm environment,” Willis said. Student behavior is another component that factors into school accreditation. In 2021-2022, Montrose reported 92 misconduct incidents, 38 of which were a safety or endangerment concern. In 2022-2023, misbehavior decreased to only 35 incidents, 16 of which were a safety concern.

Using fun events as a reward for good behavior, Willis said, was a great way to lower misconduct, and worked twofold to also motivate students to attend school. Like many other schools, Montrose struggled with attendance once in-person classes resumed after the COVID pandemic. Families lost their jobs, and even loved ones, causing school attendance to be less of a priority.

“During the pandemic, families held tight to their kids. A lot of my community experienced loss from COVID firsthand,” Willis said. “So we had to massage that and understand some people’s reluctance to come to school.”

To increase family involvement, Montrose still lets parents walk their students to class in the mornings. Willis set up more events and celebrations that include families and hopes to conduct more home visits to encourage attendance, with fun elements like food or gifts brought to the homes.

But Willis still wants to set realistic expectations for families that may be struggling, creating attendance initiatives that are encouraging instead of punitive.

“Barriers are different, your barrier may not be my barrier,” she said. “Sometimes it may be as simple as mom works at night and so she’s coming in right at seven and isn’t able to get a kid up. So we try to look at it as what each family needs and work to kind of support them through that.”

Keeping trust and positivity within parent-school relationships is crucial, she said, because attendance will only increase if families feel supported and welcome, not ashamed or reluctant.

“Poverty is still real, people losing their homes is still real,” Willis said. “Just because their attendance is not where it is, I don’t want them to feel like they cannot come to the school. Because families will feel like that. If you are always contacting them for something they feel is negative, then that severs the relationship.”

It’s a whole “team effort” from staff at Montrose, Willis said, to work on so many components – attendance, behavior, literacy, family engagement, science and math. But it starts with something simple – fun. Students will remember the parties, the games, the kind staff, and the positive school atmosphere on the mornings they get up and may not want to go to school. The learning and growth that comes from that is what they will take with them once they leave.

“The beauty of being in an elementary school is you can leverage the magic of school,” Willis said. “They’re eight, they’re seven, so you can kind of get them moving with just the magic.

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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.