Cottonwood Elementary School

Why Cottonwood Elementary School was nominated

Cottonwood Elementary and its district are part of the national Opportunity Culture initiative, in which schools extend the reach of excellent teachers and their teams to many more students, for more pay, within regular budgets. The school has achieved high-growth learning results for its students; it posted the 10th-highest growth in the state in the math proficiency rate among medium-size schools, and the 18th-highest growth in the literacy rate. It received Certified Opportunity Culture® School status, Level 1, signifying a focus on student access to instruction led by Multi-Classroom Leader® teaching teams and incorporation of small-group, high-dosage tutoring into daily schedules. The foundation of the Opportunity Culture model is the Multi-Classroom Leader role, an excellent teacher who leads a small teaching team, providing instructional guidance and frequent, on-the-job development, while continuing to teach part of the time. The school uses this and other teacher and paraprofessional team roles to reach more students with excellent teaching.