Lake Superior Elementary School - Superior, WI

Lake Superior Elementary is a small semi-rural school in Superior, Wisconsin. The entire school staff is focused on fostering a community that is committed to building better academic and social results for students, regardless of barriers or background. The school and local community provide regular experiences for students to be engaged in their learning, learn from each other, and create connections to our local community and natural environment. One example is our upper grades partnerships with the National Estuarine Research Reserve. This partnership is designed for environmental scientific research and learning on the Lake Superior watershed. These experiences engage students in learning and connect them to our local environmental concerns.

A key element for our school in closing the achievement gap is through systematically building our teachers' instructional capacities. This has been accomplished through professional development that utilizes shared leadership and embedded ongoing instructional coaching. The District Curriculum Director for Superior Schools created and supported a comprehensive plan for a distributed leadership structure. This plan, deeply involving teachers in their own instructional improvement, is the foundation for the high quality of teaching that Lake Superior Elementary provides for students.

Lake Superior teachers are dedicated, caring, and hard working. Our staff are core to improving our students' positive academic and social results. Staff have committed to ensuring all students are learning the essentials and demonstrate daily caring for every student. This has built a community, tradition, and culture that accelerates learning for all.