Burton Elementary School - Rexburg, ID

Burton Elementary is part of the Madison School District in Rexburg, Idaho. This school is 80 miles southwest of Yellowstone National Park. The principal attributes student success to "amazing families, students, and teachers working together for the success of each student." Burton Elementary focuses on each student, individually. A school-wide program named "walk-to-read" ensures every student receives reading intervention at their instructional level, every day. This program is supported by the special-ed and Title I program in the school.

Burton Elementary also focuses on building a love of reading in students. The library consistently offers new titles and is heavily supported by the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The librarian has secured over $60,000 in grant money to refresh our library books. Incentive programs motivate students to read and find favorite authors. Because the students met their reading goal last year, the principal was covered from head to toe in green slime in front of the student body.

Kindness is the social-emotional focus at Burton Elementary. Every rule and procedure can be traced back to being kind. This positive focus on our school culture has provided for a stable learning environment. The community has rallied behind the school. Last year the PTO raised over $4,000 to buy a kindness t-shirt for every student in the school. The kids wrote kindness poems at the end of the school year and the principal read each poem over the intercom. Kindness is the glue that holds Burton Elementary together.