Jefferson Elementary School - Mankato, MN

Jefferson Elementary School is a family. We see our staff, students, and community as part of our family. Everything we do is in support of this family. We celebrate each other's successes, and we support each other through challenges. Our amazing PTO works very hard to create a family feel at events and functions they plan and host. Most importantly, our Jefferson students are the heart of this family. We routinely remind each other of the importance of loving our students.

We believe very strongly in the significance of every person feeling welcome and valued when they walk through our doors. This mindset drives our work to close academic achievement and behavioral data gaps, and provides us the motivation needed to never give up on our kids. Jefferson staff have engaged in a great deal of learning the past few years to better understand culturally relevant teaching practices, embrace a collective efficacy mindset, and emphasize the importance of equity and access in creating the climate we believe all kids and families deserve. We have also dedicated significant time and effort to creating and maintaining high fidelity PLC and RTI frameworks. Finally, a commitment to the Continuous Improvement Process, in all aspects of what we do, plays an extremely important role in the successes we celebrate. In the end, everything we do with and for our students and families connects back to our district mission of Assuring Learning Excellence and Readiness for a Changing World. We work hard every day to hold ourselves to that mission.