Clover Park High principal outlines instructional changes after mixed test results, highlights 92.7% graduation rate

Renee McCord, principal of Clover Park High School, told the Clover Park School District board of directors on March 10, 2025, that the school is pursuing a system of instructional changes intended to raise academic proficiency after mixed state assessment results while celebrating a 92.7% graduation rate for the Class of 2024.

McCord told the board the school is a “diverse learning community” with nearly half of students identifying as Hispanic, a multilingual population of more than 300 learners (71 of them newcomers who have been in the country 18 months or less), and roughly 30 languages spoken in the building. “Be Real,” a student-created values statement, is used by student leaders to welcome new students, she said.

McCord said Clover Park High’s tenth graders scored lower on the Washington State Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) in 2024 than in 2023; she attributed the change numerically in her presentation, citing a 72.9% figure for declines in English language arts and mathematics. She also said science proficiency has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with an increase of 4.8% to 21.4% proficiency. McCord called for deeper systemic instructional change and described specific steps the school is taking, including: tier 1 instructional improvements, monthly data review meetings, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), universal design for learning (UDL), professional learning communities (PLCs), and increased small-group instruction in class periods.

On math instruction, McCord described classroom strategies drawn from the Building Thinking Classrooms approach and said fall-to-winter STAR assessment growth shows encouraging gains: ninth-grade growth was near the school’s 50th-percentile goal and tenth graders met that goal, and overall percentile growth increased about 20 points year-over-year in measures McCord presented.

McCord said family engagement has been a priority: fall student-led conferences drew 82% participation, and an open house/college-and-career fair and Hispanic-heritage cultural events involved more than 35 community partners. For social-emotional learning, the school is piloting a lunch activity program and targeting a 10% reduction in chronic absenteeism through tiered supports and targeted outreach.

The principal noted programs that involve student leadership, including a six-week Leaders of Change development program for rising seniors; teachers and students shared work with staff during fall professional development. The school also received two recognitions from the Association of Washington School Principals for school improvement and culture efforts.

Board members thanked McCord and asked about curriculum and supports for the school’s large Hispanic/Latinx population. McCord described a heritage Spanish program staffed by one full-time heritage Spanish teacher who teaches six classes and partners with the foreign-language department to align heritage- and world-language instruction. She also said the school uses translation services for family communication and tries to provide two-way communication in families’ preferred languages.

The board and McCord closed by acknowledging the need to continue attention on early grades and districtwide supports that feed high-school outcomes.