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Anderson Elementary outlines behavior, attendance and literacy gains
Summary
Anderson Elementary staff told the Madison Consolidated Schools board that a combination of restorative behavior supports, attendance incentives and curricular intervention has improved preventive behavioral interactions and boosted early literacy metrics, and the school announced an inclusive playground donation.
Adam Jones, introduced as the interim principal at Anderson Elementary, told the Madison Consolidated Schools board on April 8 that the school is prioritizing student safety and well‑being, academic growth and staff recruitment and retention.
Jones said Anderson uses a house system, schoolwide behavior frameworks and coordinated community partnerships to strengthen school culture. "Our three main pillars are student safety and well‑being, academic achievement and growth, and staff recruitment and retention," Jones said during the presentation.
School staff described specific programs and results that they said support those goals. Carrie Dickerson, the school counselor, outlined attendance initiatives that include quarterly perfect‑attendance recognition, class prizes and community incentives; she said the number of letters sent for five days of unexcused absences fell from about 57 at the same point last year to 22 this year.
Remote presenter Lydia Rearen, identified as Anderson’s behavior coach, described Restart, a restorative, relationship‑centered support system. She cited the school’s data: interactions rose from 2,800 in 2024–25 to more than 3,600 so far in 2025–26 (a 28.9% increase), with nearly 2,000 interactions classified as preventative—about 58%—and only 50 crisis‑level (level‑four) interactions, or roughly 1.4% of the total. "This tells us that Restart is being used as intended," Rearen said.
Third‑grade teacher Melissa Bronner detailed literacy and assessment work tied to I‑Read and district benchmarks. She reported second‑grade on‑track rates improving from 26% in 2023–24 to 45% in 2025–26 and said first‑attempt I‑Read third‑grade pass rates rose from 33% to 67.7% this school year, with projected year‑end pass rates in the 80–90% range.
Jones and staff also announced a donation from the Bethany Legacy Foundation to install an inclusive playground this fall. Jones said the playground design was intentionally inclusive to reduce barriers for students with disabilities.
School leaders listed retention and recruitment strategies—targeted outreach to substitute teachers, stronger onboarding and ongoing professional development—and said retention metrics have improved compared with recent years.
The presentation concluded with thanks to the board for supporting district decisions that the school said have helped sustain programming and staff development.
