Floydada Collegiate ISD Students Take Lead on Path to Success  

Turning a low-performing school around and charting a new path to academic success doesn’t come down to one thing — and it doesn’t happen overnight. But if Gilbert Trevino, superintendent of Floydada Collegiate ISD, had to pinpoint a moment when he knew change was possible, it was when he saw the A.B. Duncan Elementary TEAM Playbook. 

Change came under the leadership of Monica Smith, the school’s principal and a former teacher in the 600-student district northeast of Lubbock. Smith got right to work on a plan to transform the culture at the D-rated elementary campus in Floydada when she took the helm at the end of the 2019-20 school year. By developing routines and procedures with widespread support from staff and parents, Smith implemented a plan that brought the Texas Education Agency accountability rating from 68 in 2019 to 89 in 2022. 

“The handbook provided a minute-by-minute vision for each part of the school day, and it established systems that enabled teachers, students, and staff to know what they should be doing with a high level of detail,” said Trevino. “Once I read through the handbook, there was no doubt in my mind that, under Mrs. Smith’s leadership, we would turn the campus around.” 

Culture for Student Success 

One of the first things Smith did was sit down with lead teachers on the campus to get feedback about needed changes. This led to the creation of the handbook with detailed routines and procedures that were scripted and then rehearsed by staff before the start of the school year.  

“Get the buy-in from staff to create a culture for student success,” said Smith. Everyone on campus had a voice, from the bus drivers to the teachers.  

Smith intentionally built a positive campus culture through monthly staff luncheons and T-shirts, emphasis on routines, and regular reviews of procedures. Through the handbook and dedicated meeting times, teachers had a unified system for handling behavior and tracking progress, making collaboration and support between grade levels more seamless. 

At the heart of the transformation at A.B. Duncan Elementary was the student data folder initiative. Each student, from kindergarten through fifth grade, tracked their own academic progress in folders with graphs and goal sheets. This helped the students visualize their growth in reading, math, and other subjects. Teachers guided students regularly to review their data, helping them understand where they excelled and where they needed to improve.  

“When you put the students in the driver’s seat and give them that responsibility,” Smith said, “they become self-motivated.” 

The Whirlwind Way  

The data folders didn’t sit on a shelf in the classrooms until the next time students filled them in. Instead, they were used during student-led conferences where students could verbalize their academic progress and areas for growth directly to their families, using the folders as a reference. 

Participation in parent conferences went up dramatically when the students took center stage according to Smith. With their data folders in hand, they confidently shared their academic journey with their families, even reflecting honestly on their behavior. 

“The big thing in this was to engage parents in the academic process,” said Trevino. 

As a district in the collegiate system, leadership also built in college and career awareness. 

“We have so many people, students and definitely their parents, who cannot see beyond the city limits,” Trevino said. “That’s something we try to do. We try to change how we educate our students and offer opportunities to bring the outside world into Floydada and let them dream beyond the city limits.” 

Students regularly articulate what they are learning, reflect on their progress, and confidently discuss their academic success with the adults in their lives, said Trevino. 

When Smith tells the students over the loudspeaker, “Whirlwinds rise,” you can hear echoing loud and clear through the hallways, “To the skies!”