SMHS presents curriculim improvement plan

With Saratoga Middle-High School (SMHS) in their second year of failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), SMHS Principal Linda Butler had to come up with an improvement plan based on the scores students earned.

The current seventh, eighth and ninth graders showed significant room for improvement especially in English Language Arts (ELA), and Butler believes that reading and writing is a vital area for improvement. Butler presented the intervention plan at Monday’s Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD#2) Board of Trustees meeting, the first of the school principals to present such a plan.

The plan analyzed attendance, which is exactly where it should be for middle schoolers at 95 percent attendance, Butler said. However, ninth graders and eleventh graders are at 91 and 92 percent, respectively. Tenth graders were closer to the target 95th percentile at 94 percent, and twelfth graders at 93. Butler said the high school attendance rates present “a little bit of concern” for her, since scores need to be evaluated alongside things like truancy and free and reduced lunch.

“We have a little over 50 percent that are not proficient in English,” Butler said of the current Saratoga seventh graders. “We have to do something about that. We have to address it.” The current eighth graders are doing a little better, though there are still holes in performance, Butler said.

“I worry about my freshmen,” Butler said, noting that many of the current freshman scored below basic when they were tested last year. “We need to focus on reading. We need to make sure that our students know how to read and write well … that’s what we’re prepared to do as a staff.”

The reading intervention plan for middle schoolers will ultimately work on moving SMHS from partially meeting expectations, which is the current achievement status for the school, to meeting expectations. At least 50 percent of middle school students will be placed in Language!, a literacy curriculum for struggling readers and writers, during their academic opportunity hour. This will include things as basic as phonics, and some high school students may need to focus on multi-syllabic words as well. Other intervention programs include Accelerated Reading, which requires students take short quizzes on books read, IXL, a skills based curriculum program and Read Naturally, which develops reading fluency in students. Basically, the point for reading at SMHS is directed instruction.

Another part of the plan is scheduling for the second semester, mandating that every student participate in an academic opportunity hour either for enrichment or intervention. Butler noted that this time can also be used to help the gifted and talented students stay challenged, as it is important to her to pay attention to the students in good standing as well.

While there is an intervention program in place for math that similarly models the reading plan, math scores were overall much better than reading, and Butler said that it should improve with practices already in place by the teachers. Butler has spoken with curriculum director Larry Uhling in order to include middle school grades in the adoption of a new ELA curriculum.

Uhling announced at the CCSD#2 school board meeting that the process for adopting a new ELA curriculum, which is now for grades K-8, will begin this week. The board will be attending the Wyoming School Board Association (WSBA) annual conference this week to discuss new policies and strategies, including funding for the school lunch program and habitual tardiness.

The bus camera bid, which has been under discussion by the board for at least a year according to superintendent Jim Copeland, was also awarded at the meeting. The bid was given to Elder Equipment Company out of Casper in the amount of $95,795.76. Security cameras will turn on automatically when the bus turns on, and they are mandated by the state, Copeland said. Uhling, also the facilities director, announced that the bidding process for the bus barns in Medicine Bow and Encampment should begin soon, with bids to close in January so that work may begin by spring, once weather improves.

Copeland announced the Wyoming High School Activities Association Sportsmanship Award Letters, acknowledging CCSD#2 students that were noticed for their sportsmanship this past month. Copeland named Cheyenne Tomkins, of Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (HEM) Volleyball, Cassidy Little, of Encampment Volleyball, Kylie Theesfeld, of Saratoga Volleyball, Sierra Loftice, of Encampment Volleyball, Paige Powell, of Encampment Volleyball, Haley Soles, of Saratoga Volleyball, Darby Bowen, of HEM Volleyball, Alicia Zaragoza, of Saratoga Volleyball and Allen Fairbanks and rest of SHS football players and coaches.

The next CCSD#2 Board of Trustees regular meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m on Dec. 16 in the Central Administration Office.