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Fort Leavenworth’s deputy superintendent of schools was awarded the M. Claradine Johnson Excellence in Education Award Oct. 4.
Geri Parscale has been with the post schools for 10 years. She’s worked as a teacher, principal and professional developer for 25 years in Kansas, working in rural, urban and suburban education.
Parscale and a handful of educators in the state were presented the award for their work with the AdvancED, North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement and AdvancED Kansas. AdvancED is an accrediting organization that provides districts and schools with research-based methods for improvement.
“I’ve always been zealous for school improvement, with a focus on working with parents and teachers and kids and administrators,” Parscale said.
Fort Leavenworth uses AdvancED accreditation in addition to the state’s required Quality Performance Accreditation and the No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress.
“AdvancED is internationally known as a tool to recognize excellence in schools, so I think that’s important to our military families, so families know that our district adheres to very high standards,” Parscale said.
Post schools not only work toward these two forms of accreditation, but students typically score well above the state standard during assessment testing.
The district’s Professional Learning Communities — groups of educators who meet during the district’s half-day Fridays — have been recognized by a nationally renowned educator, Dr. Richard DuFour. Educators at Fort Leavenworth have building curriculum instructional specialists to help children learn. This year, they’re also implementing Cyber-TEAMS, which stands for Technology, English, Arts, Math and Science Education. The district received a $2.5 million Department of Defense Education Activity grant for its initiative, going above the commonly known Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) terminology by integrating English and arts.
Parscale said it’s an exciting time to be in education, with requirements constantly changing. As of September, President Barack Obama offered states more flexibility to opt out of No Child Left Behind, provided they meet an established state standard, known as the common core standards.
Kansas officials plan to apply for a waiver for the No Child Left Behind law.
Parscale said, while all this can be confusing, Fort Leavenworth schools make it simple by focusing on one thing — student learning.
“The waiver still doesn’t change our focus,” she said. “I think that’s so very important to have that focus on the child — so when outside forces change, we stay focused.”
Parscale has also served on accreditation teams for AdvancED for outside districts, most recently in Towanda, Kan.
“It helps us, because we do learn from other school districts,” she said. “If we can take ideas to help our children learn, I think we strive to work collaboratively, and AdvancED helps us do that.”
Parscale has a bachelor’s from the University of Kansas, a master’s from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, an education specialist degree from Pittsburg State University and is working on an educational doctorate degree from Baker University.
She and her husband, Dave, live in Troy, Kan., with their two sons.
Fort Leavenworth’s deputy superintendent of schools was awarded the M. Claradine Johnson Excellence in Education Award Oct. 4.
Geri Parscale has been with the post schools for 10 years. She’s worked as a teacher, principal and professional developer for 25 years in Kansas, working in rural, urban and suburban education.
Parscale and a handful of educators in the state were presented the award for their work with the AdvancED, North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement and AdvancED Kansas. AdvancED is an accrediting organization that provides districts and schools with research-based methods for improvement.
“I’ve always been zealous for school improvement, with a focus on working with parents and teachers and kids and administrators,” Parscale said.
Fort Leavenworth uses AdvancED accreditation in addition to the state’s required Quality Performance Accreditation and the No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress.
“AdvancED is internationally known as a tool to recognize excellence in schools, so I think that’s important to our military families, so families know that our district adheres to very high standards,” Parscale said.
Post schools not only work toward these two forms of accreditation, but students typically score well above the state standard during assessment testing.
The district’s Professional Learning Communities — groups of educators who meet during the district’s half-day Fridays — have been recognized by a nationally renowned educator, Dr. Richard DuFour. Educators at Fort Leavenworth have building curriculum instructional specialists to help children learn. This year, they’re also implementing Cyber-TEAMS, which stands for Technology, English, Arts, Math and Science Education. The district received a $2.5 million Department of Defense Education Activity grant for its initiative, going above the commonly known Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) terminology by integrating English and arts.
Parscale said it’s an exciting time to be in education, with requirements constantly changing. As of September, President Barack Obama offered states more flexibility to opt out of No Child Left Behind, provided they meet an established state standard, known as the common core standards.
Kansas officials plan to apply for a waiver for the No Child Left Behind law.
Parscale said, while all this can be confusing, Fort Leavenworth schools make it simple by focusing on one thing — student learning.
“The waiver still doesn’t change our focus,” she said. “I think that’s so very important to have that focus on the child — so when outside forces change, we stay focused.”
Parscale has also served on accreditation teams for AdvancED for outside districts, most recently in Towanda, Kan.
“It helps us, because we do learn from other school districts,” she said. “If we can take ideas to help our children learn, I think we strive to work collaboratively, and AdvancED helps us do that.”
Parscale has a bachelor’s from the University of Kansas, a master’s from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, an education specialist degree from Pittsburg State University and is working on an educational doctorate degree from Baker University.
She and her husband, Dave, live in Troy, Kan., with their two sons.
