The data doesn't always reflect the impact

MEDICAL LAKE — Principals at a recent Medical Lake School District board meeting shared student learning data and optimistic plans for improving their individual schools.

Lyra McGirk, a 12-year teaching veteran of alternative schools, and director of Medical Lake’s alternative school, Endeavors, was more pragmatic in her assessment.

“We have students that come to us with trauma,” she said, noting that the number was “significant.”

As a result, the school’s goals are often different than mainstream high schools; the data doesn’t always reflect results.

McGirk shared a story with the board about...