To: Michael Green
From: Jake Hall
Date: 5.17.24
Re: May 2024 Board Report
Learning Assistance Program (LAP)
Columbia Elementary and North Fork are the final push for LAP services using every spare moment to analyze data and try to shore up any potential holes. Benchmark assessments start next week. We are excited to see the growth that students have made this year.
Family and Community Resource Center
The FCRC and Woodland School District were recently covered in the news for our partnership with the Assistance League to get shoes out to families! We were featured in the Columbian, the Reflector, and several local news agencies.
Thanks to very generous support from Red Canoe Credit Union, IQ Credit Union, and Fibre Federal Credit Union, we will still be able to offer our Back To School Bash, free to all Woodland Families, on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at Woodland High School from 3 pm - 6 pm. We will provide a meal, backpacks and school supplies, local resource tables, games on the lawn, and raffle prizes. It’s one of our most cherished events, and we’re so thankful to be able to continue!
Throughout the year, our district has had an average of 9 students in foster care. We also have 143 students currently identified as homeless.
Our FCRC Coordinator, Jon, would like to issue a warm farewell with a heart full of gratitude and appreciation. He thanks everyone for the opportunity to be part of this incredible community and this important work and is excited to welcome the next coordinator.
Health
Along with our usual daily health room happenings, we are preparing for end of year health-related tasks. These tasks include making parent contact to update all care plans, notifying families of immunization requirements for next school year (TDAP for all 7th graders), preparing reminder mailers for students with care plans/medications/medication orders.
Highly Capable Program
We have completed assessing students referred to the program as well as screening all 2nd and 4th graders in the district. Our Multidistrict Selection Committee (MDSC) includes administrators, school psychologists, and teachers. The MDSC looked at students’ educational portfolios thoroughly and identified students who are highly capable for the 2024-25 school year. Letters have been sent to families for consent of placement of their child into the highly capable program. Families whose child was referred but not identified as highly capable were sent a letter explaining the MDSC decision and the appeal process.
6th grade HI-C is currently designing and programming “Sumo” robots that can seek out other robots and employ a strategy to push them out of the ring. They must do this while being able to stay within the ring themselves. This is a fun and engaging robot engineering and computer programming challenge for our students.
Lewis River Academy
Most of our 3rd - 8th grade students are taking the SBA the last 3 weeks of May. Our students are working on completing their at-home learning programs for the year.
In LRA’s program, 4th and 8th graders study Washington State History. In April 2024, LRA had an exciting, interesting, and very informative field trip to Olympia for lively tours of the Washington State Legislative Building (Capitol building) and the beautiful grounds with the groundskeeper! We thought this would be a memorable, real-world connection with the content they are learning. The next week, we walked to the local, historic Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens and had a guided tour of her historic house. We enjoyed the gardens and small museum.
We are looking forward to the Reptile Guy’s program at LRA in June and our end of year family Bar-B-Que at Horseshoe Park!
Multilingual Education Program
The Multilingual Learners' Department is busy preparing for our Latino Family Resource Night on May 30th from 5-7 at WMS in the Commons. You are invited to drop in and visit with families!
CES is now serving nine newcomers -- a record high! As we finish out the year, we are also busy supporting SBAC testing, translating, and continuing to develop vocabulary in our language learners. NFES is anticipating the arrival of WIDA ACCESS scores on May 20th and we look forward to seeing the growth students have made in speaking, listening, reading and writing. WMS is also working hard to support the needs of nine newcomers and the teachers who are working with them. At WHS, our beginning students are learning to create slideshow presentations about their favorite holidays. They are learning how to use technology, research skills, and practicing their English writing and oral abilities. Our advanced students have been doing an in-depth book study that focuses on classism, racism, and identity.
Student Engagement
This school year we revamped our attendance letters to in keeping with OSPI's guidelines. We also took steps to involve families earlier in the day when there were attendance concerns. This update in our system has been beneficial. Now families are notified early in the day so we can work as a team together to clarify and problem solve. Our Student Engagement Coordinator, Lindsay Noble, has been working with our students and families on removing barriers and connecting families with the appropriate resources outside of school including mental health therapy, making sure families that are in need are receiving food and clothing weekly during the homevisit process; she has also worked side by side with OSPI and ESD to put forth added support that will help us connect with our community.
Overall, our attendance rates are improving. Our daily student attendance rates are:
District 92.70%
CES 92.50%
NFES 92.40%
WMS 91.80%
WHS 94.00%
Yale 92.30%
Special Services
Special Education has seen a huge growth since the start of the school year. Our overall numbers have increased starting in September from 365 to 410 students in our May 2024 count. Students receiving speech services increased by 4.37%, from 229 to 239 total.
Title Program -- Woodland Middle School
Woodland Middle School is focusing on the specific approaches taken to support students in various grades and academic areas. The report below outlines a comprehensive tiered system of intervention and instruction, aiming to address the needs of students at different levels of academic achievement and support requirements.
These initiatives reflect a holistic approach to education, focusing on academic achievement, social-emotional support, and effective collaboration among stakeholders to meet the diverse needs of our students. WMS is preparing for 2024-25 Title services, addressing the challenge of scheduling complexities with current staffing.