Math interventionist helps boost Danville-Neel’s state report card grade

For the Enquirer

The teaching staff at Danville-Neel Elementary knew they had a lot of work to do when they heard they received a C on the state report card two school years ago.

Not only did they improve, but they scored 17 points higher last school year – marking the most growth of any school in the Morgan County Schools district – and are listed among the top 25 improved schools in Alabama for the 2023-2024 school year. In math, they saw the greatest improvement of any school in the state, resulting in them being recognized by Gov. Kay Ivey in her State of the State address this month.

Principal Tara Morrow said they could not have achieved such success without the assistance of dedicated teachers like Math Interventionist McKenzie Henderson.

“She was a huge part of that,” Morrow said. “She is the unofficial math coach for this school, and she is phenomenal.” Henderson, 42, grew up in Hartselle and graduated from Hartselle High School in 2001, where she was a gymnast and played on the first state championship softball team at the school her junior year. She attended Wallace State Community College for two years before transferring to Athens State University to earn her bachelor’s degree. She then earned her master’s degree at the University of West Alabama.

Inspired to teach But even before she graduated high school, Henderson knew what her destiny was just from watching some of her family members.

“My mom was a teacher, and I spent my summers and every opportunity I could going to her school,” Henderson said. “I was always around it. Just different people in my family were teachers, but my mom was the inspiration for me to become a teacher.” Henderson said her mother, Mitzi Peek, began her career teaching at Decatur City Schools but finished her career teaching the last 10 years at F.E. Burleson Elementary School in Hartselle.

Although her talents in math instruction were vital in increasing Danville-Neel’s math proficiency last school year, Henderson said math was not her favorite subject while she was a student.

“I would probably say I was more of an English person; I liked to write,” Henderson said. “My first teaching job was teaching the talented and gifted program here and then I transferred to West Morgan Elementary to teach sixth grade math when I was 22 years old. I actually loved it and had really great administration there and great teachers to work with that helped me. It really wasn’t until I transferred back to Danville-Neel four years later and I was in third grade that I figured out what I really liked. I really liked the third-grade curriculum and the (Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative).” In her 20 years of teaching, Henderson said her favorite thing about the education field is the relationships educators develop between their students and their families. She said being the math interventionist for grades kindergarten through fourth has allowed her to stay in touch with many families throughout the years.

One such example is a former student who had to repeat the third grade twice.

“Another teacher had him, but he came to me his second year,” Henderson said. “Just the growth he showed from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, knowing how hard it was for him his first year of third grade. I guess that kid stands out because I built such a great relationship with him; I knew anything I would give him, he was going to give me 110% on.” Henderson said the student later struggled in fifth grade and his family remembered her dedication to his learning, and so they contacted her to tutor him the rest of the school year.

“Once they are mine, they’re kind of always mine and for that parent and that kid to come back and ask specifically for me to help him again,” Henderson said. “That’s why that kid sticks out.” Route to improvement During the 202223 school year, Danville-Neel Elementary received a 77 on the state report card and both Henderson and Morrow said it was a new low for the school. Morrow said her school had consistently maintained a B average before that school year and said the COVID19 pandemic disrupted learning for three years and the result of the disruptions was eventually a C on the report card.

“It was a wake-up call for us,” Morrow said.

Henderson said not being in school hurt foundational math building skills for young students and there was “no consistency” during this time as several math teachers had come and gone at Danville-Neel during the pandemic years.

Following Henderson’s suggestion, teachers at the school began teaming up and teaching classrooms together at least once a week, ensuring no student was left behind and every question was answered. “We had it to where a teacher taught all the math for the fourth grade and so we changed it to where two people partnered up,” Morrow said. “I think that was huge and McKenzie coached those teachers because neither one of them had taught just (strictly) math.” With an improved grade of 94 on the state report card, both Morrow and Henderson agreed that Danville-Neel is now back on track.

Henderson lives on a farm in Danville with her husband, Kirk, and their two daughters: Callie, a senior at Danville High, and Kinley, a freshman at the same school.