To: Asha Riley
From: Denise Pearl
Date: March 4, 2026
RE: North Fork Elementary School Update
School Improvement Focus
Our building leadership team is actively developing a comprehensive 5-year strategic plan centered on four core pillars designed to ensure sustained student success and organizational excellence.
Pillar 1: Academic and Instructional Focus
We are prioritizing high-quality, standards-aligned instruction and data-informed practices to strengthen student achievement in reading and mathematics. This pillar focuses on refining Tier 1 instruction, strengthening intervention systems, and ensuring measurable growth for all students.
Pillar 2: Safe, Inclusive, and Communicative Culture
We are committed to fostering a school environment where students and staff feel safe, valued, and connected. Emphasis is being placed on positive behavior systems, culturally responsive practices, and clear, consistent communication structures.
Pillar 3: Professional Development
Sustained improvement requires sustained learning. We are aligning professional development to our academic priorities, building instructional capacity, and developing leadership at all levels of the organization.
Pillar 4: Family and Community Partnership
Strong partnerships are essential to student success. We are working to increase meaningful family engagement, strengthen communication systems, and expand community connections that support student learning.
A key strength of this process has been broad staff involvement. Every staff member has had the opportunity to provide input and collaborate with peers to identify shared hopes and priorities. Our next step is enlisting parent feedback through a focused committee. This inclusive process is ensuring that our 5-year plan reflects both our collective vision and our commitment to continuous improvement.
We look forward to sharing measurable goals and progress indicators with the Board as this work advances.
Instructional Collaboration and Technology Review
Our grade-level teams continue to meet weekly to collaborate on curriculum, instructional practices, and emerging student needs. This dedicated collaboration time strengthens alignment across classrooms and supports continuous improvement.
Through these discussions, staff have raised concerns about the cumulative amount of screen time students experience—both during the school day on Chromebooks and at home on personal devices. To better understand current usage, a staff survey was recently conducted to gather data on how much time students spend on Chromebooks during the school day across grade levels, with an average of 30 to 60 minutes depending on grade levels. Our kindergarten students are one-to-one and have little to no time on devices.
As a next step, we will be reviewing our technology programs and evaluating their instructional effectiveness. Our goal is to reduce unnecessary device time and ensure that technology use is purposeful, developmentally appropriate, and aligned to learning outcomes. We are committed to being intentional in how technology supports instruction for our elementary students while maintaining a healthy balance that prioritizes engagement, interaction, and student well-being
North Fork Recognition
We had another successful year of our Missoula Theatre production of Hercules! This performance beautifully aligned with our Language Arts curriculum and complemented what students were learning in the classroom. Students dedicated themselves to evening rehearsals all week, culminating in performances on Friday and Saturday. It is always such a joy to see students shine—especially those who may not always have the opportunity to be in the spotlight.This year, Columbia joined in the fun! Students were bused over at the end of the school day and picked up by their families after practice each evening. It truly was a fantastic week of theatre, teamwork, and confidence-building for our students.
Upcoming Events at North Fork Elementary:
Parent Conferences - 3/30 - 4/2
Scholastic Book Fair - 3/30 - 4/2
Woodland Reads - All school reading of Charlotte’s Web - 4/13 - 5/5