During a recent school board meeting, Elliot Hedin, principal of Bush Middle School, presented an ambitious school improvement plan for the 2024-2025 academic year, focusing on enhancing student engagement and academic success. The plan aims to address key areas such as attendance, behavior, course content, and social-emotional learning.

Hedin reported that the school is currently at 81% attendance, with a goal to reach the 90% threshold for 8% of students. He emphasized the importance of reducing student referrals, particularly during high-impact months like October and March, and highlighted efforts to decrease failing grades across all grades. The school aims to reduce failing grades from 8.7% in 8th grade to 7%, and from 6% to 4.5% in 7th grade, with a target of halving the failing rate in 6th grade.

To foster a sense of belonging and improve school culture, Hedin introduced initiatives such as a new reward system, PBIS Rewards, which replaces traditional ticket systems with an online platform that allows teachers to award points to entire classes. This approach has reportedly increased student motivation and engagement.

The principal also discussed the implementation of mastery-based learning, which focuses on personalized learning paths and student choice in assessments. This initiative aims to cater to diverse learning needs and promote accountability among students. Hedin noted that the school is actively working on creating rubrics and learning progressions to support this model.

In response to board members' inquiries, Hedin acknowledged the challenges of tracking overall student performance while focusing on those at risk of failing. He emphasized that the school’s strategies are designed to uplift all students, not just those struggling academically. The principal also highlighted the positive feedback received from parents regarding the newly implemented student-led conferences, which encourage student ownership of their learning.

As the meeting concluded, Hedin expressed optimism about the potential impact of these initiatives on student performance and engagement, reinforcing the school’s commitment to fostering a supportive and accountable learning environment.