By DREW LAWSON
Staff Reporter 

District principals present school improvement plans to board

 

Last updated 11/5/2020 at 12:03pm



MEDICAL LAKE – Principals and assistant principals from Hallett and Michael Anderson Elementary schools, Endeavors High School, Medical Lake Middle School and Medical Lake High School presented their plans for improving their respective schools to the board Oct. 27.

Each principal discussed successful achievements their schools saw in 2019-2020 and gave areas their schools need to improve in.

Hallett Elementary principal Kristen Kuster shared that third-through-fifth-graders trended upwards in success in math, while fourth-graders in 2019 grew as fifth-graders in 2020 and first-graders in 2019 grew as second-graders in 2020.

Second grade is trending upwards for reading, and classroom and playground referrals were “significantly” down from 2018-19 to 2019-20.

Kindergarten reading growth has trended downward the past three years. Kuster also shared that the school needs to grow in support for Title students in reading.

She added that the school will also continue to work with staff on strategies for positive discipline approaches. Her presentation emphasized “prevention rather than reaction” as a social-emotional strategy.

Michael Anderson Elementary principal Darlene Starr praised her staff’s response to COVID-19 shutdowns and reported positive growth from fall to winter in 2019-2020 in math and reading for first grade, math and reading in third grade and reading in fifth grade. Data was measured from fall to winter due to a lack of state testing in spring due to COVID-19.

Starr shared that areas of concern continue to be kindergarten learning growth and growth among students with disabilities.

Middle school principal Sylvia Campbell and assistant principal Matt Ziegenfuss reported that 82% of eighth-graders were in “Tier 1” for reading. They also shared that the Bite2Go program currently has 24 students, only down one, despite a loss of sponsorship and the need to get food to some students not on campus.

Campbell and Ziegenfuss reported “areas of focus” being students with disabilities, improving instruction and improving community involvement.

High school principal Chris Spring and assistant principal/athletic director Justin Blayne shared that 98% of students graduated on time with 2020, while the lone exception was able to finish high school by the end of the summer. 94% of freshmen were on track to graduate as of June, while 86% of students achieved “green zone” attendance.

Spring and Blayne identified needed areas of growth in inclusion and Smarter-Balanced Proficiency Data, which last came in spring 2019. English/language arts scored at 75%, and the school’s goal is 80%. Math scored at 41%, and the goal is 46%. Science averaged 52%, and the goal is 57%.

High school teachers have also indicated that they need more training in Google Meets and breakout rooms, while only 30% of parents feel they receive regular progress monitoring updates.

Medical Lake Endeavors staff have focus goals of having a “clear and shared focus” to raise graduation rates, positive impact student performance and increase parent and community involvement, which would in turn positively impact student engagement, principal Lyra McGirk told the board.

Endeavors had an October enrollment of 28 students in person. The 4-year adjusted graduation and retention rate in 2020 was 53.8%, the same number it was in 2018. In 2019, the rate was 60%.

Superintendent’s Report: Ames provides in-person learning update

The district will continue to follow its phasing-in plan for bringing students back in-person, where every two weeks a new grade is brought back if health and safety guidelines allow it, through second-graders’ return, which would be Nov. 9.

However, that may change after second-grade, depending on circumstances, superintendent Tim Ames told the board.

“You may not see this rigid, every two weeks plan. You might see a plan where you bring back more grade levels than just one every two weeks,” Ames said. “Now there’s conversations about third grade, then you begin to talk about fourth grade and the secondary schools.”

He added that middle school and high school students are being discussed in the same conversation space in terms of bringing back in-person learning, with a caveat being middle school students aren’t testing positive for COVID-19 as often as high school students regionally.

“Right now schools are doing extremely well mitigating COVID,” Ames said. “I have to compliment our COVID response team…they can track it down within hours.”

The district has a COVID-19 case tracker on the front page of its website, which currently shows no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among in-person students or close contacts with those who test positive within the last 14 days.

“We’re well-practiced at following protocols,” Ames said.

He said one issue with eventually bringing all students back in-person could be staffing and space problems. Following COVID-19 distance and classroom size protocols would spread students all over the school and could potentially spread staff thin. As a result, some districts are going with a hybrid model, a design Medical Lake could consider.

“We’ll figure out where we’ll go with that,” Ames said.

Drew Lawson can be reached at drew@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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