Montclair Elementary went from an F school to an A. Here's how they did it

When Montclair Elementary's Principal Elizabeth Greenberg started at the school in fall 2023, it had received an F grade from the Florida Department of Education the previous academic year.

The first order of business for Greenberg, her new Assistant Principal Nichaka Tribbey and new Curriculum Coordinator Shenika Johnson was hiring about 75% of the elementary school's staff. Montclair, which has about 360 pre-K through fifth-grade students, has about 60 employees.

The shake-up paid off. At the end of the 2023-24 school year, Montclair's grade improved to a C. The next year, 2024-25, the school received a B grade.

And just last week, the school earned an A grade from the FDOE for the 2025-26 academic year. Montclair was one of 19 Escambia County Public Schools district schools to earn an A. In fact, the school district also earned its first A this year.

"When you earn a grade of an F, there's a lot of morale that needs to improve, a lot of systems have to improve. So when we came in and were able to hire teachers and staff, we looked for candidates who were committed to change," Greenberg said.

"We can teach people the curriculum aspect of things, but we really focused on hiring positive, energetic people committed to changing, improving and strengthening what was happening here. The people we hired were committed to making a difference at Montclair."

During interviews, Greenberg said administrators shared goals for Montclair's success:

• Strengthening the school's culture and partnerships
• Developing teacher and student leaders
• Improving student achievement.

Montclair principal says you have to persevere to create change

That first year, Greenberg recalled Montclair administrators, faculty and staff working closely with the ECPS School Transformation Office and FDOE staff.

"We were under state turnaround at that point, meaning the (FDOE) Bureau of School Improvement and our district office worked with us. They provided coaches to plan with teachers on a weekly basis, model in classroom, completed walk-throughs. But we really listened to feedback they gave us, and we made sure our teachers were aware of the improvements that were happening on a regular basis," Greenberg said, noting that first year Montclair also prioritized small group instruction for some students.

Tribbey said that on any given school day, a Montclair visitor could-and can still-find an administrator in a classroom working with students.

"You may see Mrs. Greenberg doing fourth-grade writing with small-group instruction. I was working with fourth-grade ELA small-group instruction and Ms. Johnson would work with math and science in fifth-grade small-group instruction," Tribbey recalled. "Our RTI (response to intervention) coordinator helped with intervention for kindergarten through second grade."

Greenberg said the method was very effective the first year and is still used.

"It also helps with student engagement because our kids pay attention better in a small group. And when there are other adults in the room to assist, it helps the teachers not feel overwhelmed with performing small-group instruction," she said.

The next year, 2024-25, the focus was on accountability and helping students and teachers set and achieve goals.

"It was important that students took ownership of their learning, so goal setting was based on the students' observations of their progress," Tribbey said.

It worked, not only for the students, but also the teachers. The day after Montclair learned it earned a B grade for the 2024-25 academic year, Tribbey said they received phone calls and emails from teachers who were confident Montclair would be an A school the next year.

Greenberg said the teachers were proud of their success but always reflected on what they could do better.

"When we would have these walk-throughs that very first year with the state, they couldn't even get out of the school before we would have teachers texting and emailing, ‘What was their feedback?' ‘What can I do differently?' So, we have really built the culture that feedback is not a negative. It's going to help us get better," Greenberg said.

"That's the only way you learn and grow. That's something we're trying to teach our kids as well, because you can't give up on hard things. You've got to persevere."

Montclair students bought into school's success

The changes have had a profound impact on Montclair's student body, the administrators say.

"Kids will look at you and say, ‘I'm going to be a Level 4. I got this!' And some kids will come up and not announce it to everyone but they'll say, ‘I know I struggle in reading, but I'm going to make that gains score.' It is emotional because of how hard they've worked. They work so hard," Greenberg said.

When Montclair students return this fall, a celebration is planned for earning an A grade. Montclair administrators and teachers, however, strongly suspected the school had earned that A before 2025-26 classes ended in May. They were able to track test scores in real time from the FDOE.

"Over the years, our (learning) gains scores and our low quartile scores have been high, which has notoriously improved school grades. Our proficiency scores were coming in high this time. They were coming in above 50%. Math, I think, was almost 70% and so when the proficiency scores are coming in high, we were like, ‘Whoa, wait a minute!'" Greenberg said with a smile.

"When you set out, you don't necessarily say, ‘We're going to be an A.' All we wanted to do was maintain and show improvement."

Montclair found the 'formula for success'

When asked if earning an A grade in three years was a consideration in fall 2023, Johnson said, the timing was right for Montclair.

"For us, it doesn't seem like it was a short time. I say that because you could see the progress in small increments throughout the years," she said. "You saw those little bits of improvement, those little bits of the culture change and the students taking accountability over time. Though it was three years, it felt like it was the appropriate amount of time for our progress."

Administrators also tout support from the parents, the community and school partners – the Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast, which has after-school and summer programs at Montclair, the YMCA of Northwest Florida's Y Reads mentoring and reading remediation program, Ready Pals and Christ Church.

The school also received a donation from the estate of former Montclair teacher Jane Blessing. The donation was used to upgrade the school's media center.

"We had like 16 books per student, but we now have about 20 books per student. We have moved up the age of our collections. You like to have collections within 10 years (old) and we are now within the 10-year mark," said Stacy Ross, Montclair's librarian, who noted the school also added more nonfiction books.

"That really makes a difference when you're trying to get a child to read a book. You want to make sure that they have something that looks and feels like them and is fresh and new."

This year's A grade was not a surprise to parents.

"I am incredibly proud. I have been able to witness firsthand what the teachers, the support staff and the administration have been doing together to support students – whether it's events at night, after hours, Saturday school," said Leslie Mickles, a Montclair Elementary parent and Boys and Girls Club vice president of financial advancement.

Mickles' daughter, Ava, will be a first-grader at Montclair Elementary this fall. She has attended the school since pre-K.

"Whatever it is, they have gone above and beyond to support those children. That really is the testament – everybody working together to do their part is how Montclair was able to earn that A," she said, adding the A grade is the result of hard work and great leadership.

"Greenberg and Tribbey have done an extraordinary job of selecting the right staff, staff who genuinely have a love for teaching and caring about children, that's the foundation. When you have people who have the mindset of ‘I want our children to be great,' and then they set goals, work together to reach those milestones, that's the formula for success."

Mickles said she chose Montclair Elementary for her daughter because it is in their district and is a well-structured school that holds students accountable and works to make sure students achieve learning gains.

She added that having the Boys and Girls Club on campus is a bonus.

"I know during the school day Ava is going to get the support that she needs, and then after school, she's going to get the support she needs. That was my primary reason for sending her there," Mickles said.

She also noted that the Boys and Girls Club also fills in gaps.

"For a lot of our children who attend Montclair, their parents are working parents, sometimes working more than one job, and they need help - helping their child with homework, helping their child with making good decisions as it relates to building good character, teaching them about community, and that's where Boys and Girls Club fits in," Mickles said. "We're the gap that teaches them about community, friendship, those social skills that they may not be able to get to during the school day or maybe Mommy and Daddy may be too tired in the evening to deal with."

Mary Lett is the Youth Development Reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. She can be reached at mmabins@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Montclair Elementary went from an F school to an A. Here's how they did it

Reporting by Mary Lett, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal

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This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 5:07 AM.