Vernon reports gains in geometry and 11th-grade science; district to expand MTSS, literacy coaching and audit special education

Vernon Township School District officials presented a mixed set of results from this year’s state and local assessments, reporting strong growth in geometry and 11th-grade science, a plateau in algebra I, and declines in elementary science that the district said it will address with expanded interventions and outside partnerships.

At a board meeting on Oct. 14, district presenters said 73.7% of students met or exceeded expectations in geometry this year — a 21 percentage-point increase from 2024 and 10.5 points above the district’s 2023 baseline — and reported that Algebra II results showed high mastery (“100 percent of our students met or exceeded expectations in 2025,” the presenter said). By contrast, algebra I proficiency rose dramatically between 2023 and 2024 but leveled off this year at about 33.5%, and the presenter described a “plateau” that requires renewed focus on foundational skills in the eighth-to-ninth-grade transition.

Science results varied by grade. District staff said 38.5% of 11th graders met or exceeded expectations — more than seven percentage points above the state average and described as a 51% increase from the 2023 baseline — while grade 8 proficiency (about 21.6%) was modestly above the state average and grade 5 (about 26.7%) was…