Doxey Elementary credits community, coaching and home visits for schoolwide lift

Doxey Elementary Principal Hansen told the Davis County School District Board at a work workshop that the school has completed a series of physical and instructional improvements and is pursuing next-step classroom coaching and anti-bullying efforts.

The presentation, introduced by elementary director Ruth Ann Keller, said the school has new landscaping, a new sign, fresh paint and carpet, artificial turf on playgrounds and “rebranding” efforts staff say have helped lift morale and community pride. "Once a dragon, always a dragon," Principal Hansen said of the school community.

Board members were shown a district-produced video and a set of stakeholder survey results that shaped the school’s priorities. The school identified bullying prevention and greater parent engagement as areas for growth; staff said they would mark October as Bullying Prevention Month and participate in Unity Day by wearing orange.

The presentation described Doxey’s instructional priorities as moving from a focus on school culture (what the district calls a high-reliability schools foundation) to “level 2” work: effective teaching in every classroom. Principal Hansen said the school has scheduled coaching cycles for every teacher and currently employs roughly 1.5 full-time instructional coaches who work on district-adopted instructional elements and with the CKLA literacy curriculum.

Principal Hansen also described ongoing collaboration with nearby Wasatch Elementary, conducting “instructional rounds” in which teachers visit each other’s classrooms to collect observational data and support job-embedded professional development.

Board members asked about the school’s home-visit program. Hansen said visits are organized by the school office manager, sometimes take place on porches or lawns for convenience and are conducted in pairs after staff training; counselors will sometimes accompany teachers. The principal said staff aim to visit every family before a September deadline and that visits have coincided with improved attendance compared with the prior year. The school reported an enrollment “just over 300” students.

On compensation for home visits, Principal Hansen said federal programs funds helped start the effort and continue to provide monetary support; she said the school would continue to fund the visits if federal support were not available, because she considers them essential.

Board members and Superintendent Linford praised the school’s community engagement and culture. The presentation concluded with an invitation to an ice-cream social celebrating the school’s progress and a statement that staff intend to keep prioritizing coaching and instructional improvement.

For context: remarks about Doxey appeared during the work workshop’s Student Growth and Achievement segment and were introduced by an elementary-level district administrator.