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Stonebridge principal tells board school is ‘primed’ but needs para staffing and SEL support
Summary
Stonebridge Elementary Principal Berg told the Stillwater Area Public Schools board the building shows steady strengths in attendance and community engagement but faces staffing gaps for paraprofessionals and inconsistent social‑emotional support for a small group of students.
Principal Berg updated the Stillwater Area Public Schools Board of Education on conditions and priorities at Stonebridge Elementary, saying the school has room to expand and “is primed and set up to serve students in that building for many, many years to come.”
The principal said Stonebridge sits on a little more than 11 acres near the southern edge of its attendance area and works with the city on a nearly 4‑acre outdoor site for learning. Berg highlighted several strengths: relatively low rates of free and reduced‑price lunch, active volunteer support from the VESL (Volunteers for Elementary School Literacy) program and the Stillwater Sunrise Rotary, consistent staff relationships, and a site‑based emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD) special education program that serves 18 students from across the district.
Why it matters: Berg told the board the building’s people and systems are central to student outcomes and that the school’s strengths can support district goals on literacy and student engagement. That said, she identified persistent operational challenges—chiefly difficulty recruiting and retaining high‑quality paraprofessionals and limited social‑emotional staffing—that are reducing principals’ time for academic leadership.
On attendance and school climate, Berg noted 19 students had recorded zero absences and another 36 had missed only one day so far this year (55 students with 0–1 absences). The principal said Universal screening three times a year using the FastBridge screener helps staff identify who is responding to Tier 1 instruction and who needs Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions. Berg described the school’s daily WIN (What I Need) time as a mechanism for pull‑out interventions and differentiated instruction.
Berg also described the school’s EBD program as a district resource that teaches social‑emotional strategies which are then replicated across classrooms. “The skills and strategies that these kids are being taught…are really applied in all of our classrooms,” Berg said, adding that the program benefits the wider school community even when students are not always fully successful at using those strategies.
On staffing, Berg said Stonebridge currently has one social worker and one administrator supporting about 455 students, and that shortfalls in paraprofessional staffing increase demands on classroom teachers and can lead to inconsistent behavior expectations when substitute staff fill roles. Berg said the school recently hired a paraprofessional and still has one unfilled paraprofessional position.
Board members asked about advanced learner opportunities and how Stonebridge supports higher‑achieving students. Berg said teachers use WIN time and classroom grouping (including clustering in grades 4–5) to provide enrichment when pull‑out gifted programs are not appropriate.
Ending: Berg summarized Stonebridge as “a wonderful school with exceptional educators” while urging the board to consider supports that would boost paraprofessional recruitment/retention and timely social‑emotional services so principals can spend more time on instructional leadership.
