East Ridge Elementary: Journey to Inspire and Serve Students
When Principal Peggy Elliott joined East Ridge Elementary School, the campus struggled with student behavior and classroom management issues, resulting in low academic performance and high discipline referrals. The school’s leadership wanted better for its students, staff, and community, so the team committed to growing relational capacity by implementing Capturing Kids’ Hearts (CKH) Processes.
“CKH Processes have transformed East Ridge Elementary and have equipped us to improve socially and academically, as well as enhance our campus culture,” Principal Elliott said. “I have observed our staff ‘leading’ more than ever — with a strong sense of empathy, responsibility, respect for others, integrity, and teamwork. These behaviors have improved relationships from staff-to-staff, staff-to-students, and staff-to-parents.”
As Elliott focuses on building a positive culture, she challenges her team to commit to the Capturing Kids’ Hearts basics like greeting at the door, following a Social Contract, doing Launches, giving affirmations, and modeling leadership behaviors.
The Impact of Greeting at the Door
Putting a special emphasis on building relationships means every day, staff greeters — teachers and paraprofessionals — are strategically stationed at the school’s front door and along the hallways as students make their way to class.
“Starting each day right is very important,” Elliott says. “Our team greets students and parents by opening car doors with a smile and a ‘Good Morning!’” Elliott even plays music over the school speakers as students arrive.
The East Ridge Elementary team also gets creative by dressing up in costumes and inviting student-athletes to participate. “Students are greeted by human tacos on Tuesdays, teachers in pajamas on pajama days, pineapples, astronauts, our (school) mascot, cheerleaders, football players, volleyball players, and basketball players.”
Using CKH Processes to Inspire and Serve Students
East Ridge Elementary teachers and leaders are not the only ones implementing CKH Processes. Elliott and her team are also intentional about empowering students to lead. “Our teachers choose a star student each week to be the door greeter, line leader, the leader of Good Things, as well as other jobs,” Elliott says. “As the door greeter, students shake hands with visitors, point out the Social Contract, and share positive things happening in the classroom.” All students serve as a star student several times throughout the year, giving them opportunities to lead their peers in different ways.
The school also uses campus announcements for schoolwide inspiration. “Every morning, the students and principal together launch the entire school with this message: East Ridge Elementary friends, you are awesome, you are amazing, you are important, you are unique, you are kind, you are smart, and you are loved.”
A Glimpse of the Impact
As a testament to Elliott and her team’s dedication to CKH Processes, East Ridge Elementary retained 96% of teachers from the 2021-22 school year. As well, discipline referrals from 2020-21 decreased by 67%.
Capturing Kids’ Hearts Founder Flip Flippen says, “a team cannot rise above the constraints of its leadership.” So, what does this mean for Elliot and other campus leaders? Simply put, they model the CKH Processes themselves and show others, by example, that building relational capacity at their school is a top priority.
Click here to learn how you can use CKH Processes on your campus to grow relational capacity, lower discipline referrals, and improve academic performance.