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Clovis Municipal Schools credit Ron Clark methods with reenergizing teachers and boosting student engagement
Summary
District staff and teachers said sending educators to Ron Clark Academy last year led to a schoolwide "house" system, a points app and classroom practices they say have renewed teacher enthusiasm and increased student engagement; no purchase of materials was required, they said.
Staff and teachers from CLOVIS MUNICIPAL SCHOOLS described adopting strategies from Ron Clark Academy over the past year and said the practices have reenergized educators and increased student engagement.
A staff member opened by describing "the Ron Clark experience and the impact that it's brought to Clovis Municipal Schools over the last calendar year," saying it produced "improved student engagement through total physical response" and more interactive instruction. The district, another staff member said, organized an initiative last year to send educators, administrators and downtown personnel to Ron Clark Academy training to identify techniques to bring back to local classrooms.
Teachers who attended the training described classroom and culture changes. "Being able to bring back some of those strategies and use them in the classroom has been renewing as a teacher," one teacher said, adding that students have begun to show shifts in behavior and academics. Several speakers described staff who returned from training with renewed enthusiasm: "Teachers that have gone and come back, they no longer wanna retire," one teacher said.
School leaders said the district is emphasizing a "house" system that assigns every student to a campus house so they have a peer family whether or not they participate in sports or music. The house system is tied to a house app that displays students' pictures, tracks house points for school spirit, academic effort and integrity, and shows which house is in first through fourth place. The app is visible on screens in school foyers and projected into cafeterias, and parents can log in to receive instant notifications when their child earns a point.
District staff framed the instructional shift as raising expectations: teachers are "teaching to the highest" student in a classroom to challenge peers and help struggling students strive to reach higher levels. Speakers said assemblies and house activities are being used to build belonging across elementary and middle schools, and one teacher described the change as a shift in educator mindset toward inspiring future generations rather than merely delivering lesson plans.
Speakers emphasized the district is not buying a product to adopt these practices. "Ron Clark's not selling a system or a product," a teacher said; instead, presenters said, the district is cultivating practices already present among faculty and asking staff to pour that learning into students.
The presentation centered on implementation and culture change rather than any board action. Presenters said the program has been rolled out across schools through training and local activities; no formal motion, vote or binding district policy was announced during the remarks.
What happens next: district staff and teachers indicated continued rollout and use of the house system and app to sustain engagement and teacher development.
