• Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Core Beliefs

    Fort Smith School District Mission Statement

    Equip all students with the skills to be productive members of society.

    Ballman Elementary Mission Statement

    All Ballman Bears Belong, Learn, Lead

    Ballman Elementary Vision Statement

    We are a community preparing our students by equipping them with critical thinking skills, and respect for core values of honesty, loyalty, and compassion.  Students will work toward their maximum potential today to be prepared for tomorrow.

    Collective Commitments For Staff:

    1. We commit to being accountable for our role in the PLC process and to the culture of our school. 

    1. We commit to building relationships with the Ballman community (all) members. 

    • Team meetings

    • Developing CFA’s

    • Analyzing data to guide in interventions and extensions

    • “Our” Kids

    • Dojo 

    • Facebook page

    • PTA

    • Curriculum and event nights

    • Newsletter

    1. We commit to providing meaningful celebrations for professional and student growth. 

    1. We will meet individual needs by monitoring and using evidence of student learning, gathered from assessments to improve our instruction.

    • “Bear Growl” - shoutout

    • Awards Assemblies

    • Classroom recognition

    • Facebook

    • District Superintendent's Star

    • Different grade levels communicating about CFA’s outside of instruction

    • CFA-skills assessed across content

     

    Ballman Elementary Values

    (Behavior)

    Engaged students have fewer behavior problems
    Set procedures and be consistent
    Create positive relationships for positive behavior
    Active, relevant learning contributes to positive behavior
    Positive incentives will improve behavior

    (Learning for Students)

    All students can learn and make progress
    Active involvement creates productive learners
    Provide a safe environment for active learning
    Build positive teacher/child relationships
    Children learn from each other

    (Instruction)

    Assessment drives instruction
    Differentiated instruction is necessary to meet all student needs
    Students deserve to be challenged  -  Set high expectations
    Essential questions and instruction must be meaningful
    The pace of instruction is determined by the pace of learning

    (Learning for Adults)

    Adults are life-long learners
    Learn from our mistakes and experiences
    We learn from each other
    We choose our own paths
    If you think you can, you can.  If you think you can’t, you can’t.