Rogers Elementary reports improved attendance, ELL gains; district survey finds high staff engagement

Rogers Elementary leaders told the Marshalltown Community School District board Monday that chronic absenteeism at the building has fallen significantly and that instructional and social‑emotional systems put in place this year produced measurable gains for students and staff.

Brooke Will (Rogers principal) and members of the Rogers leadership team described multiple strategies they said drove improvement: quarterly attendance incentives, weekly attendance review meetings, family communication and targeted interventions for chronically absent students. School resource specialist Suhei Alvarez reported chronic absenteeism falling from more than 34% in 2021 to 18.3% this year, a drop she attributed to family outreach and classroom incentives. "We have been going down, which is amazing," Alvarez said.

Instructional staff detailed academic work tied to ESSA improvement efforts, professional coaching and cross‑building observations for CKLA literacy instruction, plus expanded sheltered‑instruction training for teachers serving English‑learners. ELL teacher Julie Vincent told the board Rogers’ English learners showed stronger growth on statewide EL assessments last year: "65.48% of English language learners at Rogers demonstrated progress toward English proficiency," she said, and noted that the district had adopted a language‑acquisition tracking tool.

Staff also outlined a Multi‑Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Student Solutions Team (SST) that convenes teachers, special education, ELL and Title staff roughly every six weeks to monitor academic and behavioral interventions. Counselor Kendi Manors described school‑wide work on social‑emotional learning through a Fly 5 curriculum and monthly assemblies that recognize students demonstrating the school’s CARES expectations.

Separately at the same meeting, consultant Brad (Humanex) presented the district’s Humanex staff engagement survey results. The confidential, district‑wide survey showed gains across all measured dimensions, Brad said, with Rogers among the buildings that met an “elite” engagement threshold (above 80% on the district index). He highlighted pride, engagement and continuous improvement as top drivers and said the district improved on 15 measured dimensions from the prior year.

Board members praised Rogers’ staff and noted the survey results may help attract teacher candidates. The district will host a walkthrough at Rogers and provide follow‑up reports as staff continue instruction and MTSS monitoring next year.