Sam Rayburn High School and Carter Lomax Middle School held celebrations at their campuses for recently being named international Model Professional Learning Communities at Work (PLCs) by Solution Tree.
During the celebrations, each campus received a Model PLC flag and a certificate of achievement.
“We are so proud of the hard work of the collaborative teams at Lomax Middle School and Sam Rayburn High School. Each of these campuses have worked hard to build campus-wide systems of support that allow teachers time to meet and plan for students’ learning needs,” said Marsha Jones, executive director of curriculum and instruction.
Rayburn and Lomax join the ranks of approximately 200 schools and districts throughout the United States and Canada that have earned a Model PLC distinction.
The recipients include Pasadena ISD (honored in 2020), which holds the title of the largest Model PLC district in the country, along with Milstead Middle School (2019 recipient), Morris Middle School (2020 recipient) and Miller Intermediate (2020 recipient).
Rayburn, which learned about their Model PLC status on May 14, 2021, is among only five high schools in Texas and 49 in the U.S. and Canada to be named a Model PLC.
“From day one, our mission has been to get all [Rayburn] Texans college, career and real-world ready and we are super honored to be a model for accomplishing those goals,” said Vanessa Reyes, Rayburn principal. “We were excited to celebrate together and continue he hard work. We know, in fact, that PLC is a process and we’re always looking to continuously improve.”
Lomax faculty and staff found out about their new Model PLC status during a surprise celebration.
“We were thrilled to be able to surprise our hardworking and dedicated faculty with the announcement that we were named as a nationally recognized Model PLC Campus,” Rebecca Dietz, Lomax principal said. “These past two years have been challenging in education, but this recognition validates that the Lomax faculty and staff continue to put student success first.”
Model PLCs are schools and school districts that successfully:
- Monitor student learning on a timely basis and build a collaborative culture.
- Create systems of intervention and extension to provide students with additional and support for learning.
- Build teacher capacity to work as members of high-performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.
Schools are recognized based on strict criteria, including demonstration of a commitment to PLC concepts, implementation of these concepts over the course of at least three years and clear evidence of improved student learning over that period of time.
Once measurable results are evident, the school must explain its practices, structures and culture and submit an application for consideration by the PLC Review Committee.
“These teams consistently use data to inform decisions and guide the teams' work,” said Jones. “These campuses are Model PLC campuses because every team (not some or a few) on the campus is dedicated to ensuring students have what they need to be successful.”
Recognized model PLC schools are listed on allthingsplc.info, where they share implementation strategies, structures and performance with other educators interested in improving their schools. The site was developed and is maintained by Solution Tree, a leading provider of educational strategies and tools that improve staff and student performance.
This information was posted as of 8/12/21.
