Students of Graveraet Elementary School in Marquette are pictured. (Photo courtesy of Graveraet Elementary School)

MARQUETTE — At the Marquette Area Public Schools board of education meeting on Monday, Graveraet Elementary School’s Principal Kristen Peterson updated the board on the school’s operations and success.

Designations of 2021 National Blue Ribbon School and Michigan Reward School have been given to Graveraet. According to MI School Data, the elementary school has an overall index score of 92.25 out of 100, a point increase of 3.36 since the previous school year.

Peterson presented Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress data designed to gauge students’ understanding of subject areas. With all of the scores from the 2023-24 school year of all Graveraet students combined, the MAPS school pulls ahead of the average score of similar schools by student characteristics as well as the state of Michigan average at 57% compared to 51% and 38%.

Peterson also said her school has been working on the shared MAPS goal of a multi-tiered system of supports. As with other MAPS schools, Graveraet has professional learning communities that meet twice a week led by instructional coach Lori Smolinski.

“I never want to be a principal in a building again without an instructional coach because we can talk about what we need, we can talk about a problem, we can talk about possible solutions and the coach makes it happen,” Peterson said. “It’s beautiful.”

To continue ensuring success for the elementary schoolers who attend Graveraet, staff takes part in a continuous data-based decision-making system. This includes benchmark testing, assessments and grade level meetings in September, January and May; mid-point meetings in November and March; and intervention, progress monitoring and problem-solving efforts in October, December, February and April.

All data collected in this process is collected and saved for future meetings.

Every two weeks, problem-solving meetings are held where the administration uses a tiered delivery system to determine what kids need what amount of intervention. Tier one includes universal support for all kids, tier two includes targeted intervention for some kids and tier three requires intensive and individual intervention for a few kids.

“If a student is needing some support, the teacher has that opportunity every two weeks for us to meet and take a look at that,” Peterson said.

Due to these processes, Peterson showed that by spring 2023-24, kindergarteners were in the 84th percentile for achievement in reading followed by first-graders in the 77th percentile.

“I’ve never seen that number before in all my years of working,” she said, “and if you look at first grade, we had no students that were in the red — that is unheard of.”

In terms of social-emotional health and behavioral health, Graveraet administration is working towards getting 90% of the student body to be successful rule followers to decrease the number of negative incidents in the building. At the end of the 2023-24 school year, 79% of students were successful at following the school’s behavior expectations.

To achieve this, Peterson and staff have begun rewarding positive behavior. One example is the star ticket drawings. When a student displays an example of positive behavior, they may receive a star ticket. Once a month, these tickets are drawn and the winners get to have gym time and ice cream sandwiches with Peterson.

Students are also called to the office for positive behavior where they receive a certificate and the chance to be principal for the day.

Other initiatives include social emotional learning family night, calming corners, the think-feel-do cycle chart, bullying awareness day and a sensory-friendly room to help students. The kindergarten grade even has a classroom pet: a bunny that helps students regulate emotions.

In closing, Peterson said, “I took this job because I had love I wanted to give to other children. Many of you know that I lost my son five years ago and I was like, ‘I need to take this love and give it to other kids’ and what I didn’t expect is the love in return. This has been a place where we have community and connection and … I feel really honored to be part of the MAPS district and to be leading this building.”