School Zone
Message from Superintendent Pratt-Dannals: State of the Schools
Recently, I gave my first State of the Schools Address to the community and School Board regarding our successes and challenges during the past school year. The results show that we have seen positive measurable progress in our schools, and areas in need of additional focus were identified.
Progress was shown in all four categories of Reading, Math, Writing and Science; however, we still need to improve the performance gap in Reading, which remains our highest priority. I am proud of the increased number of students taking rigorous courses. We are dedicated to improving our district grade and the performance of our students.
Our focus on high schools has increased, including implementing Smaller Learning Communities that foster relationships within our schools, and Career Academies, which integrate academic and career-related curriculum. We are waiting on the state’s release of graduation rate information, but have seen improvements in our promotion rates.
Overall, we have made positive progress on 78% of our objectives. The Strategic Plan will continue to help us assess the effectiveness of our initiatives and actions and provides the School Board and me with a better understanding of how we should move forward.
We are committed to providing our teachers with the resources they need to assist their students with becoming successful. Additional professional development opportunities are being offered to new teachers, as well as reading competencies and ESOL training. Through the dedication of our students, the commitment of our teachers and the support of the public, we strongly believe that together we will be successful.
A special thank you goes to all of our Teachers, Principals, School Support staff and District employees for all of the hard work each of you do in order to ensure our students succeed, while under tough economic constraints.
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