Clear Creek ES Named Model Professional Learning Community

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Clear Creek Elementary School becomes the seventh Bartow County school to be named a Model Professional Learning Community for its sustained success in raising student achievement.

“I was ecstatic that we received this distinction after our initial submission of data,” said Clear Creek Elementary School Principal Kelly Wade. “It validated all the hard work our staff and students have done to make this recognition possible.”

The school’s successful implementation of Professional Learning Communities was a major contributing factor in the improved achievement of its students. Professional Learning Communities are schools and districts in which educators recognize the key to improved learning for students is ongoing, job-embedded learning for the adults who serve those students.

The three big ideas of a Professional Learning Community call upon educators to:

1. Focus on learning.
2. Build a collaborative culture.
3. Create a results orientation.

“Our willing and able staff took on this challenge, met it head on, and became proficient in those three big ideas,” Wade said. “They have been open and willing to try a different approach, and as a result, they have seen great success. They are the reason we are able to earn this prestigious recognition.”

Schools are recognized based on strict criteria, including demonstration of a commitment to PLC concepts, implementation of these concepts for at least three years, and clear evidence of improved student learning over that period. Once measurable results can be seen, the school must explain its practices, structures, and culture, and then submit its application for consideration by the Professional Learning Community Review Committee.

“We will continue to grow and refine our practices as they relate to the three big ideas,” Wade said. We are well on our way to producing several extraordinary A-Teams.”

Clear Creek Elementary School, Pine Log Elementary School, Emerson Elementary School, Cass Middle School, Adairsville Middle School, Cloverleaf Elementary School, and White Elementary School now join the Bartow County School System as they celebrate Model Professional Learning Community School and Model Professional Learning Community District status.