Our Story

Mission Statement

The mission of Pike Road Schools is to create a culture of intellectual curiosity where all students have ownership over their learning and are inspired to think, innovate, and create.

At PRES, we are driven by 9 belief statements and a vision that our students are lifelong learners who use their knowledge, skills, and influence to make the world a better place.

    Our Beliefs

    • Intellectual growth occurs when learners are genuinely engaged in their learning. Thus PRES is committed to authentic assessment practices and providing lead learners room and time to design around the needs of their learners.
    • Students are more engaged when they solve real problems for a real audience. PRES accomplishes this through problem, passion, project based learning. Additionally, PRES partners with community stakeholders as well as organizations that connect classrooms around the world to learn about each other and make an impact globally.
    • Meaningful learning can occur any time and at any location. We have an off campus learning procedure for families who take trips throughout the year, which includes a process to hold families accountable to learning while away.
    • Learners will do challenging work when failure is embraces a valuable part of the learning process and they feel safe and valued. We believe in reassessment as we recognize THAT a child learns is more important than when the child learns it. Our focus on embracing failure supports the growth mindset and development of perseverance.
    • Community members are valuable partners and must be involved in their schools. We do this through a partnership with our PTSA to leverage volunteers in the community. One initiative along this line is Watch Dog Dads, which focuses on engaging father figures and promoting their presence on campus. A second initiative, new this year, is a growing partnership with grandparents in the community which is similar to Watch Dog Dads with a focus on grandparents in our community.
    • All members of the school community should treat each other like family. We support this belief through our focus on co-created school and classroom norms as well as intentional coaching regarding habits of mind and our restorative practices approach to discipline.
    • Teachers are mentors and encouragers who support learners and each other as they become better humans. We accomplish this through formal and informal opportunities for mentorship, creating time and space for teachers to be together, providing environments for teachers to be authentic and reflective without negative judgment from administration.
    • Teachers are designers, facilitators, and navigators who continuously work to improve the learning experiences designed for students. We support teachers through focused, high quality professional learning that is filtered through our mission.
    • Teachers are leaders who are highly respected as experts and have a global impact on teaching and learning. PRES accomplishes this through participation in various organizations, support for lead learners to attend conferences and present their learning among other educators, and robust participation on social media. #PikeRoadWay

    About the School

    Pike Road Elementary School (PRES) is a non-traditional public school that serves students in grades Pre-K through 3 in Pike Road, Alabama. PRES is in year eight at the founding campus of the Pike Road School System (PRS). The campus is located in the Town of Pike Road in East Montgomery County. The town of Pike Road has many elements of a suburban community while it is also largely rural. Although the current population is around 9,000, major growth is anticipated.

    This year PRES is home to roughly 950 Pre-Kindergarten through third-grade students as students.  The Historic Campus houses grades 4, 5, and 6. The students in grades 7 through 12 are now at the Georgia Washington Campus. The Pike Road Elementary School student body represents an ethnically and economically diverse student population. The demographics include approximately 61% Caucasian, 25% African-American, 7% Hispanic, and 7% Asian. Approximately 13% of the school population receives free lunch due to the families' participation in the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Pike Road Schools does not accept federal funding for the Child Nutrition Program, so the district only identifies learners for free lunch instead of free and reduced like the majority of school systems in Alabama. Roughly 11% of the student population are English Language Learners. Students must be residents of the incorporated town of Pike Road to be eligible to attend PRES.

    PRES is committed to the PRS mission to create a culture of intellectual curiosity where students have ownership over their learning and they are inspired to think, innovate, and create. It is a standards-based, learner-centered environment with a goal to design educational experiences with and for the learners at PRES. Teachers at PRES use innovative assessment and reporting to communicate specific areas of excellence or needed growth for each learner.

    Over the past few years, the faculty at PRES focused on refining the assessment practices at the school based on the research of Robert Marzano resulting in the designation of Priority Standards for Reading and Math in grades K through 3; the creation of Proficiency Scales for every Priority Standard; the creation of a Sequencing Guide for all Priority Standards; and a Standards-Based Assessment Handbook.