Ross Elementary

Why Ross Elementary was nominated

Ross 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. Under Principal Susan Hendricks, Ross moved from being an “F” school in 2019 to receiving a “C” overall and a “B” for growth in 2021–22. The foundation of the Opportunity Culture model is the Multi-Classroom Leader role, or MCL, an excellent who leads a small teaching team, providing instructional guidance and frequent, on-the-job development, while continuing to teach part of the time. Under Hendricks, Ross creatively used resources to take this role schoolwide and give MCL teaching teams the support of advanced, higher-paid paraprofessionals, to provide more small-group instruction. The school culture has shifted as well, leading to strong teacher retention rates after the school previously had very high turnover—all helping to provide students with greater access to excellent instruction., Ross Elementary School implements the innovative staffing model, Opportunity Culture, which organizes teachers into teams led by excellent teachers and supports pay increases within the current school budget in order to extend the reach of instruction to more students.