National Blue Ribbon Schools Program

Prairie Trail elementary School is located in central Iowa, a suburb of our capital Des Moines. We are a rapidly growing community who embraces change. We believe that our teachers have the greatest impact on our students. Therefore, we work tirelessly to meet our students' diverse needs. We have created a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) process that focuses on the individual student. When a student shows a need, we perform a diagnostic assessment to identify the specific need, identify the additional instruction through an intervention, and then frequently monitor to ensure that the student is closing the gap. Our teams work collaboratively with all critical partners to make sure that there is a tight alignment with the additional instruction.

We believe in the importance of also meeting our students' social emotional needs.This is accomplished through our emphasis on creating strong relationships with our students from the very beginning and building on those throughout the year. We provide multiple opportunities for our students to show off their strengths through classroom and whole building roles. Our students rise to the occasion of whatever is asked of them.