TRHS Honored at a PLC Model School

Solution Tree, an education company that does Professional Learning Community training, recently named Tongue River High School as a Model Professional Learning (PLC) at Work Community School on March 27. In 2022, Tongue River Elementary also achieved the award.

SCSD#1 Superintendent Pete Kilbride had this to say about PLC.

Solution Tree sends out trainers that do an evaluation of the school, the class schedules, the building. They also chat with the teachers and give advice on how to restructure things to take into account student’s needs, Kilbride added.

In 2022, Tongue River Elementary School achieved the PLC Model School honor as well. Then TRES principal Annie Griffin attended a Professional Learning Communities at Work® Institute and returned to TRES with strategies for improving collaborative team time.

Kilbride talked about this year’s designation,

Kilbride, who is retiring this year, said that this was a really nice thing to go out on. He added that it is certainly attributed to their administrative staff and mentioned that the students are the number one reason they received the award. It is because of the results they show on the WY-TOPP and ACT tests. “You have to be operating as a profession learning community,” Kilbride said and added, “That means

Wyoming, although small in population, has a commitment to education. Kilbride displayed a map of the United States provided by Solution Tree, showing which states had PLC Model Schools.

TRHS Principal Colby Lynch explained how his school has worked to achieve the honor. He said that about four years, they were reviewing student data and found….

TRHS signed up to be a part of Solution Tree through the Wyoming Department of Education. Then the school came together as a team, committed to making sure that kids had everything they needed to be successful.

He said that one of the Solution Tree trainers urged them to apply for the PLC Model School award. The judges for the award take into account the results of the WY-TOPP, ACT scores and graduation rates over a three-year period, so there has to be a long-term commitment to excellence in the school. Parents play a huge role in student success as well, and he gives them a lot of credit.

“We became the sixth high school in Wyoming to become a PLC model school. We celebrated that with our students at Monday madness. The credit goes to them, they produced the results and they really stepped up. We’ve got great kids that come from great families. that step up to the challenge. A lot of fun to be a part of and a lot of fun to celebrate.” Lynch added.

Janessa Blain, TRHS music teacher and a part of the leadership team, whose music class posed for the photo under the banner, added this about the award.

In Sheridan County, SCSD#1 schools have received the honor twice, and SCSD#2 schools have received the honor seven times. SCSD#1 and Sheridan County can be proud of TRHS for being named a PLC Model School.