For the third time in recent history a lower elementary campus within the Poplar Bluff School District has been named a Missouri Gold Star School.
Eugene Field is one of only eight schools in the state to receive the prestigious designation for performing at high levels while serving a significant proportion of disadvantaged students, based on Free and Reduced Lunch rates.
“Congratulations to the students, teachers and staff members at each of these schools for earning this recognition,” stated Commissioner of Education Dr. Karla Eslinger during the final days of the 2024/25 school year. “These schools demonstrate that academic excellence is possible while striving to help their students find their path to success. We’re so proud of their hard work.”
Lake Road first earned the title in 2018, followed by Oak Grove the subsequent year. Both schools went on to earn the coveted Blue Ribbon declaration. This year’s Blue Ribbon schools are expected to be announced by the U.S. Department of Education this fall after the state certifies performance targets for the most recently administered state assessment.
Aligned with the national criteria, the 2025 Missouri Gold Star School program is based on Missouri Assessment Program scores for two consecutive years. Schools nominated must be in the top 15 percent of public schools in the state based on the performance of all participating students in English language arts and mathematics, as well as in the top 40 percent of schools ranked by the combined performance of subgroups.
A total of 71.76 percent of Eugene Field students scored proficient or advanced on the 2024 MAP test, representing nearly a 17 percent improvement over the previous year, while 64.37 percent scored proficient or advanced on the ELA portion of last year's test and 77 percent in 2023, surpassing state averages on all counts.
“This is 10-15 years of very intentional, reflective work for the entire building,” explained Kristen Spain, Eugene Field principal. “It’s unpacking the standards and really understanding through vertical teaming that first grade is your foundation so that second can take them further; every grade has such an [integral] part of this.”
According to Spain, Eugene Field’s transformation hearkens back to 2010/11 when the district became a Professional Learning Community, collaborating in recurring cycles of collective inquiry to improve student success. The following year, the elementary implemented the school-wide positive behavior support program, establishing a common language for expectations in all settings of the facility.
Spain, who was an intervention teacher prior to assuming her leadership post, further attributes the co-teaching model to the school’s success, with interventionists and special education teachers pushing into classrooms to instruct students in need in small groups or one-on-one. She also credits the refocus room instated in more recent years for providing students with a calm place to reset under the guidance of a restorative instructor.
In 2016, Eugene Field became a Lighthouse school under The Leader in Me cultural initiative, based on Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," successfully earning four recertifications under the framework thereafter. Eugene Field was also one of two schools in Missouri, both within the Poplar Bluff School District, to be named a 2020 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Distinguished School for closing the achievement gap between student groups.
Having been employed at Eugene Field since 2012, but only entering her sophomore year as building leader, Spain credits her predecessor Jennifer Taylor, now R-I assistant superintendent of personnel, for being a visionary. “She saw this before we saw this,” Spain said.
“The staff and I feel very fortunate to have been led by her for the last 15 years; to be under her guidance and leadership with her ability to have the vision and to instill the belief of shared leadership among her team,” the principal continued. “To believe in us before we believed in ourselves and to have helped launch us to where we are today; none of these things would be started without her having led the way.”
The Missouri Gold Star Schools program was established in 1991 to affirm the hard work of students, educators, families and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content.
###
Cutline: Eugene Field Principal Kristen Spain is shown visiting with first grade student Kaylynn Williams on the first day of the 2024/25 school year.