1. Art and Diseño

Requirements
Contact Us
Students entering the program from outside the Balmoral
Ridgeway geographical boundaries must complete an
Application for Optional Schools at the Shelby County
Schools Board of Education, 160 S. Hollywood, Room C106.
Parents of applicants must provide a copy of the most recent
comprehensive report card and a copy of the student’s current nationally normed or TCAP Achievement Test scores.
The principal and staff at Balmoral Ridgeway
encourage parents and prospective Optional
students to visit the school. Please call the school
office to schedule a guided tour.
Students must meet the following requirements:
• First- and second-grade applicants must take the Optional
Schools admittance tests. No other tests will be accepted
for admittance to these grades.
• Parents of applicants will be contacted about testing dates.
• First- and second-grade applicants must attain the 70th
percentile or above in total reading AND total mathematics
on the admittance tests.
• First grade applicants must have satisfactory skills and
behaviors and achieve mastery in all academic and support
subjects on their most recent report card.
• Applicants for grades three through five must score at or
above the 70th percentile on the Reading/Language Arts
AND Mathematics subtests of the current TCAP
Achievement Test or a nationally normed achievement test.
• Applicants for grades two through five must have a B
average or above in all academic subjects and satisfactory
grades in special subjects, conduct, and attendance
(including promptness to school).
• A total of more than 15 absences, late arrivals, and/or
early dismissals is considered unsatisfactory.
Department of Optional Schools and
Advanced Academics
(901) 416-5338
To remain in the Optional Program, students must maintain
the entrance requirements for grades, conduct, skills and
behaviors, academic and support subjects, and attendance.
Transportation is the responsibility of the student’s
parents/legal guardians.
Final approval is contingent upon the review of the
student’s final comprehensive report card.
Balmoral Ridgeway Elementary School
(901) 416-2128
Balmoral Ridgeway Elementary on
the Web
http://www.scsk12.org/schools/
balmoral.es/site/index.shtml
Board Members
Teresa Jones, Chair
Kevin D. Woods, Vice Chair
Shante K. Avant
Miska Clay Bibbs
Chris Caldwell
Mike Kernell
Stephanie Love
Scott McCormick
William “Billy” Orgel
Dorsey Hopson II, Esq., Superintendent
Shelby County Schools offers educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, creed, age, disability, national origin, or
genetic information. 12/14
International Baccalaureate (IB)
Primary Years Programme
World School
Balmoral Ridgeway
Elementary School
Grades 1-5
5905 Grosvenor Avenue
Memphis, TN 38119
Principal: Sharonda Beard
(901) 416-2128
An International Education
Balmoral Ridgeway Elementary School teaches students to
be critical thinkers with worldwide perspectives, which prepares students for future study and work in an increasingly
global community. As an International Baccalaureate (IB)
Primary Years Programme (PYP), Balmoral Ridgeway offers
an Enriched Academics Optional Program that promotes the
education of the whole child through an emphasis on intellectual, personal, emotional, and social growth.
The aim of all IB Programmes is to develop internationally
minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and
shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and
more peaceful world. IB Learners strive to be:
• Inquirers who develop their natural curiosity. They
acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and
research and show independence in learning. They
actively enjoy learning, and this love of learning will
be sustained throughout their lives.
• Knowledgeable by exploring concepts, ideas, and
issues that have local and global significance. They
acquire in-depth knowledge and develop
understanding across a broad and balanced range of
disciplines.
• Thinkers who exercise initiative in applying thinking
skills both critically and creatively to recognize and
approach complex problems and make reasoned,
ethical decisions.
Engaging Students in a Unique
Environment
Balmoral Ridgeway’s unique open-space classroom environment fosters a strong sense of community among the
school’s students, teachers, and staff. The open space environment promotes collaborative work relationships among
faculty members and students while providing a learning
environment conducive to an interdisciplinary approach.
Knowledge gained from various subjects is interwoven and presented within a concept-based context. The lack of hallways
provides more space for instructional use and creates greater
accessibility to the school’s many amenities. Without traditionally
defined rooms, teachers can redefine the nature of their roles,
shifting from dispensers of knowledge to facilitators of learning.
When teachers are not isolated from each other, they can collaborate and implement instruction as a team.
Balmoral Ridgeway strives to develop curious, creative, and
caring citizens. Teachers at our school are mindful of students’
individual needs, diversity, and character development. The
school’s classrooms are child-centered, offering interest centers
and topical activities that promote the inquiry method of learning. The focus of student learning involves meaningful and relevant experiences that will lead them to international awareness
and an inquiring nature that will last a lifetime. Inquiry is the pedagogical approach in the PYP which allows students to be actively involved in their own learning and to take responsibility for
that learning.
Teachers and staff at Balmoral Ridgeway encourage students
to acquire all of the traits in the IB Learner Profile. An IB
Learner is knowledgeable, a thinker, principled, open-minded,
caring, an inquirer, balanced, a communicator, a risk-taker, and
reflective.
Equipped for Excellence
Balmoral Ridgeway has a rich tradition of providing students
with a quality education. Balmoral Ridgeway’s faculty and staff
are all highly qualified in Tennessee. Teachers at Balmoral
Ridgeway have an average of 10 years teaching experience, and
over eighty percent (80%) hold a master’s degree or higher.
Diversity is evident at our school, where you will find teachers
from Bangladesh, Germany, Panama, as well as the United States.
Our students’ races and ethnicities are also wide-ranging; at
Balmoral Ridgeway you will find students identifying themselves
as African American, Caucasian, Asian, Syrian, African, and
Hispanic, among others. The school’s staff includes a music
teacher who is a well-known local musician, having performed
with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and others.
Several of our teachers are recipients of multiple grants from
organizations such as DonorsChoose.org, AutoZone, Inc., and
Rotary International. Teachers at the school have served on various Shelby County Schools’ curriculum writing teams and as
instructors of summer programs such as STEM Summer
Academy and Cougar Technology Camp. The school employs
an interventionist who has over 45 years teaching experience to
assist students in both reading and math. Our school believes
that achievement levels can consistently be improved and
achievement gaps eliminated.
In addition to the school’s open classrooms, Balmoral
Ridgeway is unique in its commitment to developing lifelong
learners by engaging students in interactive learning activities that
teach them to solve real world problems. As students learn to
construct knowledge through practical applications, they begin to
understand that their ideas, solutions, and contributions can make
a difference in the global community. The Balmoral Ridgeway
faculty and staff believe that building students' confidence
and giving them the opportunity to experience success fosters
a love of learning that will continue to benefit students
throughout their entire lives.
Every classroom is equipped with computers for student
use, a SMART Board, and a document reader. Our media
center is the heart of our school where you will find one of
the most stellar and up-to-date book collections in the
District. Individual classroom libraries provide added access
to the six transdisciplinary skills.
Responsive Classroom® practices are an integral component of our school routine. Students participate daily in
morning meetings, where they greet their teachers and classmates, share, and work on group decision-making and listening skills. Individual students are recognized for their academic progress and for demonstrating one of the “IB Attitudes”
through the IB Student of the Month program.
Balmoral Ridgeway teachers utilize The CAFE Book:
Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment and
Instruction to guide their literacy program within the classroom. The CAFE system is based on research into the habits
of proficient readers. CAFE is an acronym for
Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding vocabulary. The CAFE system allows teachers to prepare their
instruction based on individual goal-setting conferences with
students, posting of goals on a whole-class board, developing
small-group instruction based on clusters of students with
similar goals, and targeting whole-class instruction based on
emerging student needs.
One parent’s thoughts about Balmoral
Ridgeway Elementary
“Since my daughter has been a student at Balmoral Ridgeway, I have
watched her grow and blossom into a smart, well-rounded child. She
has done extremely well, and I credit her success not only to our
involvement as parents, but also to the well-trained, dedicated teachers
and staff. Everyone knows my daughter and cares about her. Their
number one priority is to see her excel academically and become an IB
Learner.”
– DeJuanica Hampton