Students proof of NSE's success

SANDPOINT — As far as the Lake Pend Oreille School Board is concerned, Northside Elementary’s students are evidence enough of its success.

Even so, that didn’t mean Principal Perky Smith-Hagadone didn’t come to the Tuesday board meeting armed with a litany of statistics supporting the school’s success over the past few years. Thanks to an attentive staff with an eye for personalized education and a community of extremely supportive parents, Northside Elementary has established itself as one of Idaho’s top schools, she said.

“Northside is a little school with a big heart, and our parents support us unendingly,” she added.

Indeed, many parents made the trek to Kootenai Elementary to support Northside as Smith-Hagadone gave her “State of the School” address. Along for the ride were several Northside students, who presented their thoughts on what made Northside a top school.

Prior to the student presentation Hagadone-Smith gave a quick rundown of recent achievements. For the past two years, the school has qualified as one of Idaho’s five-star schools, which indicates high achievement in reading, language usage and mathematics. Furthermore, five-star schools can demonstrate a relatively small gap between the top-performing and low-performing students.

In fact, Northside Elementary’s performance was good enough for the Idaho State Board of Education to recognize it as one of 15 select schools across the state. According to Smith-Hagadone, the school’s test performance ranks it the ninth highest-performing school in Idaho.

That ranking is supported by the school’s academic achievements. The most recent numbers indicate 97 percent of Northside students are at or above expectations when it comes to math, 98 percent meet language usage requirements and a full 100 percent surpass reading standards. Altogether, the school saw a 12-point jump in growth this year, Smith-Hagadone said.

There are a few recent developments that have enhanced the Northside education experience even more, Smith-Hagadone said. A $70,000 donation allowed the school to purchase 90 iPads, which she said have been instrumental in improving academic performance. Meanwhile, a broad range of school programs and four physical education sessions a week keep the students busy, physically active and emotionally supported. Parental support and volunteerism have also been instrumental in keeping the school charting high performance, she said.

“They’re so engaged with what we’re doing,” she said. “They’re a part of the team.”

There are a few goals in line for Northside’s future. As with all other Idaho schools, staff members are busy implementing Common Core State Standards. Administrators are also preparing to write grants that will hopefully fund a summer tutoring session.

According to trustee Joan Fish, however, everything she needed to know about the school was expressed by its articulate and whip-smart students.

“Watching all of you and your faces, I have seldom seen such joy in a teaching community,” she said.