Kelly Schofield

Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning

Des Moines Public Schools

Kelly Schofield serves as the Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning for Des Moines Public Schools, which serves more than 32,000 students. Prior to moving into administration, she taught at various grade levels, over a 16-year period,in elementary schools in Henderson County, NC.

Kelly served as a Lead Teacher and then principal at Dana Elementary in Dana, NC from 2007–2015, as well as principal of Hanawalt Elementary in Des Moines from 2015-2018.

While at Dana,her school was nationally recognized as an Exemplar School by Partnership for 21st Century Learning, earned Title 1 recognition for closing the achievement gap,was awarded the National School Change Award,and received a Crayola Champion Creatively Alive Children grant for innovative professional learning initiatives. Kelly has delivered presentations at the state and national level,addressing topics on student achievement, arts integration, family engagement, mathematics instruction, leading school improvement, and student leadership. While in North Carolina, Kelly served on a State Math Team that designed and facilitated learning for teachers across the state.

You can follow Kelly on Twitter at @schofield2007. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn.

Des Moines Public Schools’ Curriculum Journey

In 2018-19, Des Moines Public Schools, with support from EL Education, piloted EL Education K-5 Language Arts in one elementary school. Although the initial implementation was challenging, teachers were wowed by students’ engagement and growth. In 2019-20, Des Moines implemented the curriculum across all K-5 schools in the district. In 2020-21, the district implemented EL Education 6-8 Language Arts, along with a new Illustrative Math curriculum.
The district partnered with EL Education for professional development support including a summer professional learning launch for all teachers (held virtually in the spring of 2021 for middle school teachers), a monthly coaching cohort with district coaches, and on-site or virtual walkthroughs with building leaders. In the coming year, many schools have signed on for additional coaching from EL Education, paid for with ESSER funds. That shift will allow the district to focus deeply on math as they implement the Illustrative Math curriculum in all elementary schools this year.