Welcome to Mississippi Elementary, where our motto is "Aim High, Work Hard and Everyone Learns!

  • Mississippi Elementary School entranceLess than a mile from the Mississippi River, Mississippi Elementary is located in a quiet residential neighborhood in southwest Coon Rapids. The school was built in 1961. Our excellent staff is focused on meeting the needs of each student. Our motto is "Aim High, Work Hard, and Everyone Learns!" We believe that all students are capable of learning, and we regularly encourage and challenge them to work hard and do their best.
     
    We value our relationships with our Mississippi families, and greatly appreciate the many wonderful parent volunteers who give their time every year. Mississippi Elementary is an excellent school doing great work for students!
     

    Mississippi at a Glance:

    Principal: Rachel Grillo
    Grades
    : Kindergarten through grade five
    School Day: 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
    Enrollment: 470 students
    Middle School attended by Mississippi students: Coon Rapids Middle School
    High School attended by Mississippi students: Coon Rapids High School
     

    Mississippi Offers:


    Our Principles and Core Values:


    The Mississippi Staff holds the following principles and core values.
    • Children have the right to a safe and bully-free environment.
    • Children need to be held responsible for their actions.
    • Children should be treated with dignity at all times.
    • All school staff, including teachers and administrators, are responsible to create a warm, welcoming, and positive learning environment.
    • Adults should work to build and maintain positive and trusting relationships with students.
    • Family involvement impacts a student’s success.
    • Teachers must teach, model, practice, and positively reinforce and review routines and expectations regularly.


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      Catalyst Certified School

      • Mississippi has been a Catalyst certified school every year since 2012-2013. We value relationships with our Mississippi families, and greatly appreciate the many wonderful community volunteers who give of their time every year. Mississippi Elementary is an excellent school doing great work for students!

         

        Mississippi is proud to be a Catalyst Certified School!   

         

        What is The Catalyst Approach?

        The Catalyst Approach is a comprehensive professional development and implementation model developed by creative partners Nancy Burns and Jacki Brickman, and is based on their observations in more than 50,000 classrooms and school-wide common spaces. It includes a suite of courses, coaching components, leadership development, and systems support that accelerates deep implementation of skills that lead to the creation of improved classroom and school leadership, relationships, and culture.

         

        How did The Catalyst Approach come to Mississippi?

        In August 2011, our staff learned the foundational skills from Jacki Brickman, one of the co-founders of The Catalyst Approach. We were one of only a couple schools in Anoka-Hennepin implementing at that time. Since then, we have continued to receive training and coaching from the Catalyst team as well as internal coaches. New staff are provided training during their first year in our building. We have seen a tremendous impact on the culture of our building as a result of building-wide implementation. As a result of the positive impact seen by schools, all Anoka-Hennepin elementary schools have been implementing Catalyst strategies.

         

        How do you become a Catalyst certified school?

        The Catalyst Approach includes a set of foundational strategies to promote student attention, engagement, understanding, and independence during each lesson. When a teacher can proficiently demonstrate all the foundational skills during the course of one lesson, they earn individual Catalyst Certification. When 80 percent of licensed teaching staff earn certification, then the building earns schoolwide certification. There are many different certifications based on the context (including small group, 1:1 teaching, etc.). Paraprofessionals can also earn certification by demonstrating a set of key strategies specific to their role. Staff members and the building renew certifications annually to keep these strategies fresh.

         

        Advanced Training and Coaching

        Mississippi staff know there is always more to learn when it comes to helping students thrive, especially as the world around us continues to change. Many staff continue to attend training from The Catalyst Approach and participate in coaching to push their skills to the next level. Some staff have also worked through an extensive process to become Certified Catalyst Demonstration Teachers, which means they invite other educators to see them using the skills in their classroom.

      Parking Lot Safety

      • Building Security and Student Arrival/Dismissal Information

        Goal: All students start and end their day on time, safe, and supported by adults.
         
        Building Security Procedures:
        During the school day, visitors will need to go to door #1 on the east side of the building, press the green call button in the entry, swipe their state identification, take the printed visitor badge, and wait to be "buzzed" into the building.
         
        Student Arrival:
        • All students may enter the building at 8:45 A.M. and proceed to breakfast or their classroom.
        • Bus Drop Off: Bus companies are scheduled to drop off at 9:00 A.M.  Students will be released from their buses at 9:00 A.M.
        • Parent Drop Off: Parents are asked to use the South Parking Lot and students may enter door #4 at 9:00 A.M.
        • Walkers and Bike Riders: These students may enter at door #1 or #4 at 9:00 A.M.

        Student Dismissal:

        • Adventures Plus: Students who will be going to A+ after school will be led to the cafeteria.
        • Bike Riders: May exit out door #3.
        • Bus Lines: The line leaders for the buses will lead the students to the bus as their bus arrives.
        • Parent Pick-Up: Students are led to door #4.  It is important that cars exit as soon as their children have been picked up.
        • Walkers: All walking students must exit door #4 at dismissal.

        Parking Lot Safety and Procedures:

        Our goal is for safe and efficient drop off and pick up of your child.

        • In the morning: You may start dropping off students at 9:00 A.M.
        • In the afternoon: Students come out of the school shortly after our 3:45 P.M. bell.  Please wait in the car line and patiently pick up your children.  This process can take about 10 minutes.
        • Use the entire curb area for pick up and drop off.  The first car in line should be all the way up to the garage.
        • Do not get out of your driver's seat.
        • Do not let your child cross the parking lot alone.
        • Do not park on Flora Street and walk your child through the Flora Street entrance.

         

        Parking lot map
         

      Schoolwide Behavior Plan

      • Schoolwide Behavior Plan

        At Mississippi, we have a Schoolwide Behavior Plan.  All students, parents, teachers, and the principal sign this policy at the start of each school year. View the full Schoolwide Behavior Plan.
         

        Mississippi's School Rules

        As part of the schoolwide plan, we have five rules that are taught, modeled, and expected buildingwide:
        • Be respectful
        • Be cooperative
        • Be responsible
        • Show integrity
        • Appreciate diversity  
         

        When the Group Comes First

        Adults in a school must balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the group. The following strategies may be used at times when the group needs to come first, when a student is hindering the learning of the group:
        • Observation:
          • Partial removal from the group.
          • The student is separated from the group but continues to mentally participate, observe the learning, and observe appropriate peer behavior which allows him/her a chance to recover.
        • Reflection Break:
          • Separation from the group (mentally and physically) in a space that is designated for formal reflection. This area is clearly marked. This allows the teacher an opportunity to reform the group while providing the student a chance to reflect and recover.
          • The student fills out some form of written reflection (Stop and Think sheet) and returns to the group when they are ready. This reflection time is as much for the individual as it is for the good of the group.
        • Buddy Room Reflection Break:
          • Separation from the group in a different environment (another teacher’s classroom) allows the teacher an opportunity to reform the group while providing the student a chance to reflect and recover when the child is unable to do so in the classroom without preventing the learning of the rest of the class.
          • This reflection time is as much for the individual as it is for the good of the group.

         

        Our goal is to keep students as functioning members of the group so the focus stays on learning.