Duncan Elementary School is one of four elementary schools on the Fort Hood military base, the largest military installation in the world. The base is a city unto itself, and the school provides a safe haven for children experiencing the challenges of military life. Duncan staff are united in their recognition that military children have specific needs that can and must be addressed through a rigorous academic curriculum and a caring environment. As a result, Duncan is a model caring school community. Staff members routinely treat students with genuine respect and love. Through Deployment Groups (a 2009 Promising Practice) students receive support as they share their feelings about their parents being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. Since almost every student has had the experience of being the new kid at school, staff members work extra hard to make new students Duncan Dragons as quickly as possible (a 2010 Promising Practice). In addition, professional learning communities assess new students’ gaps in skills and content and ensure that students are quickly given appropriate remediation. The caring of staff members was never more apparent then during their response to recent shootings on the base. The school went into lockdown, with staff and students huddled in darkened classrooms for hours. “We came together as a family to make sure that everyone was taken care of,” noted one school counselor.

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