ACTION ITEMS

Approval of ALE Program

Alternative Learning Experience Annual Report

Woodland School District

Prepared by Jake Hall, Executive Director of Learning Supports, and Dr. Phil Pearson, TEAM HS Principal

Lewis River Academy 2025-26 Annual Board Report per Policy 2255

Description of how Lewis River Academy supports the overall goals for student achievement:

Lewis River Academy (LRA) recognizes and supports family choice education where parents are the first and most important educators for their children. Through LRA, families can enjoy the benefits of being highly involved in their child's learning while accessing the resources made available to all public school students in Washington State.

Families are involved in the learning of students in LRA as “learning coaches” in the teaching and student learning. From the intake meeting to the weekly check-ins, LRA staff promote family partnerships as a necessity for a student to successfully grow academically in our home study program.

Founding Principles:

• We recognize the parent as the first and most important educator. We are here to offer support, knowledge, feedback and guidance.
• We recognize that all students develop and learn differently, at different rates. It is our goal to empower each student with the educational tools necessary to learn and succeed.
• We recognize the teacher as a person of many roles including advisor, supporter, observer, learner, and facilitator. Teachers have the unique opportunity to guide and support our families and are always expected to act in the family’s best interest.
• We encourage each parent’s active participation, and allow both parents and students a voice in the program development.
• We recognize that in order to run our program successfully we need the input, respect, and cooperation of students, parents, teachers, and administrators, as well as any other staff or community members who may participate.
• Since the program is a partnership, we encourage parent involvement. 

At Lewis River Academy, we meet virtually and in-person with students and families. Students and families regularly report to LRA staff that they appreciate individual teaching and learning time as well as whole class time through Google Meet and in the LRA classrooms. LRA staff partner with families to work together to make LRA a great alternative learning option for students. 

LRA certificated teachers meet with families to provide the following services:

• create an environment of respect and instructional growth
• identify appropriate curriculum and academic goals
• develop a Written Student Learning Plan (parents and students may assist)
• determine appropriate instructional materials
• supervise, monitor, evaluate, and document the student's progress towards goals
• provide encouragement, academic support, and insight from their own teaching experiences
• provide one-on-one or group tutoring through Google Meet
• assist in career guidance and high school and beyond plans

Lewis River Academy conducted a self-review of the school's program. As part of the school assessment, we considered data such as monthly progress report data, weekly Check-Ins with all families regarding student progress, and Written Student Learning Plans. Based on the data, we created the following School Improvement Plan Goals: 

• During the 2025-26 school year, the number of students in unsatisfactory progress in any month will not exceed 10% of our entire student population. (Career)
• By June 2026, 100% of eligible students Grades 3-8 will participate in state assessments. (Career)
• During the 2025-26 school year, at least 90% of LRA students and families will participate in Monthly Progress Conferences (MPCs).(Life)
• By June 2026, at least 90% of Kindergarten through Grade 8 students will have completed at least 90% of their Mastery-Based math courses. (College) 

TEAM High School 2025-26 Annual Board Report per Policy 2255

Woodland School District Vision

The Woodland School District Vision is a guide for our work in improving TEAM High School:

Woodland Public Schools, in partnership with families and the community, will create a PreK-12 system that serves and supports ALL children—and ensures that EACH child has FULL access to, is engaged in, and obtains an excellent education that prepares them for responsible citizenship and a future of adaptability and success in life and their chosen endeavors.

Areas of Strength at TEAM High School

TEAM High School has increased the four-year graduation rate from 14.8% in 2014 to 66% in 2022 to 70% in 2024. The increase in TEAM’s four-year graduation rate is directly impacting the increase of Woodland School District’s graduation rate. As a result of this dramatic increase, TEAM is no longer identified as a tier 3 school by OSPI. This does carry some negative financial implications (TEAM no longer qualifies for a specific assistance grant). However, the overall positive impact on students far outweighs the negatives. 

ALE law requires that TEAM students have two way communication with TEAM staff centered around their learning. Historically, it has been a challenge to get students to complete that communication cycle in a documentable way. This past year, TEAM staff, in cooperation with WSD’s technology team, implemented a change in procedure that ensured that the loop was closed each week before students were able to proceed on their week’s work. As a result, virtually every student now successfully completes the required two way communication each week. This, in combination with TEAM’s existing 9-week intervention cycle, has resulted in the graduation rates noted above and a historically low rate of students being withdrawn from TEAM due to lack of progress. 

TEAM HS staff have recently earned more professional certification and have been advancing in ongoing Professional Development. Examples of this are: National Board Teacher status earned, multiple secondary endorsements earned, and active participation in regional and state ALE Professional Development/conferences/workshops. We will continue to work on these Professional Development efforts. We are measuring the effects of these Professional Development efforts through tracking graduation rates, measurable endorsements earned by staff and successful ALE compliance audits.

Description of how TEAM High School supports the overall goals for student achievement:

In October 2022, the Woodland School Board approved School Improvement Plans for each school in the district which established performance goals. One of those performance goals is Graduation Rate:  

• By 2027 the overall district four-year graduation rate will be at or above 90%.
• By 2027 the overall district extended (5-7 year) graduation rate will be at or above 95%.

As noted above, the graduation rate at TEAM High School has improved year over year. This improvement in graduation rate bolsters the overall graduation rate of Woodland School District and is the result of persistent efforts by TEAM staff to retain and engage students. As one example, TEAM High School’s 9-week intervention system provides for multiple points of family contact and multiple opportunities for students to recover to a point of adequate academic progress. A second example has also been noted above. Changes to procedure have resulted in a near 100% rate of completion of the required 2 way weekly communication between TEAM staff and students. Though attendance at TEAM High School is measured differently, when more students remain engaged at TEAM the overall rate of attendance, engagement, and graduation across the district improve. 

TEAM High School Self Evaluation Report

The following school improvement goals and mid year progress are reported for TEAM High School: 

• TEAM High School has historically posted very low pass rates on the SBAC math assessment. TEAM High School’s SBAC math pass rate will improve by 5% during the 2025-2026 school year through the use of targeted online tutorials and interim math assessments. The use of math tutorials through APEX has increased over time which is a hopeful sign. In February, TEAM downstaffed to 1 certificated teacher, which does make it more difficult to provide targeted math help to individual students. This year’s SBAC results are not yet available, but I believe it’s safe to say that this goal has not been effectively addressed to this point.
• TEAM High School will decrease the amount of students withdrawn from TEAM High School for Lack of Progress to 2.5 per month by May 2026 in collaboration with students, families, and Woodland High School counselors, teachers, and administrators for all students, including students with Individual Education Programs. As a result of declining enrollment, TEAM reporting procedures were changed such that the frequency of reporting of intervention plans was dramatically reduced. Our fear at the time was that this would result in a dramatic increase in the number of students being withdrawn from TEAM for lack of progress. In fact, the opposite has happened. As of 3-16, we have withdrawn 1 student from TEAM. 
• Student agency suffers when students do not see the connection between present activities (school work) and future activities (post-secondary plans). This is especially true for traditionally underserved populations who are often over represented in ALE settings like TEAM. To address this critical need, TEAM high school will increase the rate of students who leave high school with a well-defined post-secondary pathway from current baseline to 100% by the end of 2025. For the 2025-2026 school year. For the 2025-2026 school year, a third, full-time counselor was added to the TEAM/WHS counseling staff. Students were divided amongst counselors according to last name, meaning that all counselors worked with TEAM students. That resulted in a much broader base of familiarity with TEAM procedures amongst counselors and stronger lines of communication with TEAM staff. This spring TEAM seniors’ post secondary plans will be celebrated on a TEAM version of the WHS post secondary banner (see WHS example at this link)

Administrative Recommendation /MOTION/ "I move we approve the ALE Program as presented."