Joint District Stakeholders Committee

March 6, 2021

Dear District 2 and District 157 Families,

The Joint District Stakeholders Committee held its most recent virtual meeting on Wednesday, March 3 from 7 PM to 9 PM. The Committee agenda for that meeting was to:

  1. Review i-Ready Winter Diagnostic results 

  2. Evaluate  i-Ready results

  3. Discuss possible next steps for learning recovery

  4. Review student responses from the student survey (administered the week of Feb. 8) 

Topic #1: Address Learning Loss

During the month of February, Committee members shared multiple ideas on how to address learning loss. These ideas were prioritized based on a set of criteria ranging from the immediacy to support students, to the frequency of the idea and possible expenses. 

Outcomes:

The main ideas that the team reviewed were a Learning Recovery Summer Boot Camp and ways to support parents when working with their students.

The Summer Boot Camp will be designed to support student skill recovery in reading, math or both. The Camp will have three sessions, all during morning hours, to support choice. Students will be identified through i-Ready data, student performance data and teacher input. This project is still being planned and coordinated. 

In addition to planning the summer camp, principals shared interventions that are currently being implemented. These interventions include:

  •  small group to individual sessions

  •  after school homework help 

  •  assigned leveled readings in i-Ready

  • school wide number identification strategies and reading recovery steps 

The ideas on how to support parents when working with their students were to reestablish a “Parent University” along with sending out simple academic (reading, numeracy or game) suggestions for parents to do at home. 

Next steps:

Continue to coordinate Summer Boot Camp and formalize approach to “Parent University”, with a more conclusive picture of the program details to be shared in April and May.

Topic #2: Review student survey to inform Social/Emotional Learning approach

The Committee also reviewed and discussed the results of the recent student survey focused on dimensions of social and emotional learning elements (e.g., self-esteem, classroom management, etc.).

Outcomes:

The Committee saw that students at all grade levels provided similar responses in areas of agreement (strengths) and disagreement (areas needing attention). Students in all four schools reported that they feel positive about self-awareness and social awareness. Areas needing attention include responsible decision making and self-management. 

Next steps: 

A  summary of the survey results will be shared with the community in April. Evaluation of SEL programs are taking place within the next month to help determine which program is most effective for District needs.

A note on Committee representation:

District 2 and District 157 is proud of the members of the Committee. We have 8 student members from Nippersink Middle School and Richmond-Burton HS. In addition, the following table identifies the adult members on the Committee. Each person on this team has committed hours of personal time to better understand learning and SEL programming. They have provided a variety of ideas to consider when planning student academic and emotional support. Their collaboration in this project is greatly appreciated.

Parents

Board Members

Support Staff

Teachers

Administration

Amanda McClellan

Marcy Garrison, D2

Ellen Kneller

Lisa Tate

Dr. Tom Lind, Superintendent

Dawn Weinfurther

Jennifer Read, D157

Jessica Bis

Stacy Peterson

Belinda Veillon, Director of PD and Grants

Donna Saranzak

Elke Kleisch, D2

Bob Sly

Stephanie Oslovich

Dr. Jackie Miller, Director of Special Ed

Mary Shufelt

Tracy Highley, D157

Kaycee Kaywood

Mike Baird, Principal, R-B

Abi Quentral-Quezada

Chris McBride

Tim Molitor, Principal, NMS

Alie Stansbury

Colleen Koscielniak

Lisa Kuhl, Principal, RGS

Christina Caruso

Chris Pittman, Principal, SGE

Nancy Bowerman

Dr. Patrick Enright, Assistant Superintendent

Dani McCallister

Ron and Sara Nagel

The next meeting is April 14th. The Committee will continue to review ideas on learning recovery along with action steps to address learning recovery and social-emotional learning.

Sincerely, 

Patrick Enright, Ed.D.

Assistant Superintendent