A native and former student in the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township in Indianapolis, Indiana, Candace (Ewing) Nortey now serves as the assistant principal of Snacks Crossing Elementary School. Her previous experience as an instructional coach and kindergarten teacher at the school has been a significant asset to her new role, allowing her to help lead the school as a whole while maintaining a direct impact on students. (Ewing) Nortey was instrumental in Snacks Crossing's achievement of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in Spring 2011 for the first time.
As a classroom teacher, (Ewing) Nortey differentiated instruction and was always eager to roll up her sleeves and participate in hands-on activities right with her students. To fire up their interest in reading, she had them create a series of summer reading videos which have helped increase standardized test scores schoolwide. Ewing involves parents in nighttime Parent Universities, game nights and family reading nights. She also partners with local churches to secure tutors.
(Ewing) Nortey's students -- many who entered kindergarten without preparation -- saw test scores grow to more than 80 percent on the Northwest Evaluation Assessment (NWEA) when the average is 65 percent. Students for first and second grades score at least 75 percent.
(Ewing) Nortey helps teachers at all grade levels, veteran and new teachers alike. She disaggregates data throughout the building and has led the staff to employ data-based instruction building-wide. Beyond the classroom, (Ewing) Nortey is a trusted mentor at the district level. She also presented at both the Literacy and the Best Practices conferences as well as worked on a writing curriculum with the Indiana Partnership for Young Writers that had an impact statewide.
