Tuscaloosa County School System

Big Sandy Elementary Becomes First School in Alabama Recognized as a "Model Professional Learning Community at Work" 

June 10, 2020

Big Sandy Elementary has been named a “Model Professional Learning Community at Work,” by Solution Tree, a provider of educational strategies and tools to improve staff and student performance. BSE was chosen for the honor based on its sustained success in raising student achievement, through the school’s successful implementation of the Professional Learning Communities at Work process. Big Sandy is one of about 200 schools and districts in the United States and Canada, and the first school in Alabama, to receive this honor.

Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, are schools and districts in which educators work to improve student learning through ongoing, job-embedded learning for the adults who serve those students.

“We are honored to receive this recognition and believe we are on the right track to continued improvement,” Big Sandy Elementary principal Mrs. Glynis Rhodes said.

“Our entire faculty and staff have worked the past three years to become a Professional Learning Community in an effort to do what is best for all of our students.”

Schools are selected for this honor based on strict criteria, including demonstration of a commitment to PLC concepts, implementation of these concepts for at least three years, and clear evidence of improved student learning over that period. Once measurable results can be seen, the school must explain its practices, structures, and culture, and submit its application for consideration by the PLC Review Committee.

Model PLC Schools have the opportunity to share implementation strategies, structures, and performance with educators across the country, interested in improving their schools.

The Tuscaloosa County School System is extremely proud of Big Sandy's faculty and staff for this achievement, and their committment to the PLC process, ongoing professional learning, and improving student learning.