The Education Foundation of Bloomington (EFB) presented Prodigy Awards to four Bloomington Public Schools (BPS) staff teams. The awards recognize teamwork among BPS employees to improve the educational environment. Winning teams receive $500 to be used in a classroom or to benefit students.

This partnership had a shared goal of ensuring American Indian students feel seen and valued through culturally grounded learning. The teams co-designed lessons with cultural accuracy and instructional quality. They successfully piloted integrated American Indian Education and Computer Science lessons across grades K-5 at two elementary schools last year. This year the team plans to expand to at least one grade level in every elementary school with the intention to embed the work into the district’s social studies curriculum for long-term sustainability.

This Kennedy High School team is recognized for helping staff identify academic trends and social-emotional needs of students in real time, ensuring no students fall through the cracks. They’re taking a data-driven approach to identify students to join BARR classrooms where strong collaborative relationships are built. Some of the results include:

• 76% of returning BARR students improving their cumulative GPA from 9th grade to trimester one of their 10th grade year
• BARR students receiving three or more Fs decreased 57%
• BARR student attendance is higher than overall 9th grade students

This team is recognized for its responsiveness and commitment to meeting the diverse and evolving needs of their students and families. Last school year, the team went above and beyond their expected roles to address hurdles faced by families like health and sensory barriers, personalized flexibility, and the social and emotional safety in response to Operation Metro Surge. This team ensured students didn’t lose a single day of instruction and made school a consistent safe place in a time of uncertainty.

All BPS schools offered a Flexible Learning Option during Operation Metro Surge, a period of time that impacted many students' sense of safety. Throughout the district, BPS staff adapted to teaching two or three groups of students during this time. The Kennedy staff adapted at a larger scale than most schools in the district, with 350 students (more than 20% of its student body) participating in the Flexible Learning Option, leaving the hallways and classrooms quieter than normal. This staff is recognized with a Prodigy Award for coming together with a selfless attitude centered on the success of each student, and ensuring that students in Flexible Learning remained connected to their classroom and school community.