Oregon City School District leaders told the board on July 14 that Cognia has granted district‑wide K‑12 accreditation and reviewed summer programs, assessment plans and strategic‑plan progress. The presentation summarized what staff said were strengths, areas for improvement and concrete next steps.

Doctor Green, who presented the Cognia report materials the district received from reviewer Jennifer Williamson, said Cognia’s engagement team confirmed the district’s systems and provided feedback on continuous improvement. The presentation included a word cloud of interview responses and highlighted “community” as a strong theme. Staff said the district is one of five Oregon districts with K‑12 accreditation.

Superintendent Spitzer and interim presenters reported summer programming and recruitment details: middle‑school students attended a three‑week summer program at a site identified as Tamwada; the district is running an extended school year program for 23 students with significant disabilities; summer explorations at the elementary level are operating in 17 classrooms with 228 students; and additional family learning field trips and reading incentives occurred under Title I funding.

Instructional updates included UFLI (early literacy) expansion in K‑2, teacher professional development plans tied to the district’s five dimensions of teaching and learning evaluation, and an interim assessment review. Staff said they plan to replace the current interim tool with MAP for grades K‑8 and use OSAS interim for grades 9–10, because staff want interim assessments to align more closely with OSAS and to support instruction.

District leaders showed indicators of growth in pockets where focused professional development, curriculum use and teacher efforts aligned, and they highlighted targeted next steps: continue rollout of the five‑dimension evaluation (12 indicators added each year until all 36 are in use), align professional learning to the curricular priorities and monitor curriculum implementation. Staff noted OSAS official results remain embargoed until the state release date in September.

On college and career readiness, staff said they are expanding Graduation Plus opportunities (CTE, AP, college credit) and will track student participation with Naviance and with new district supports. Staff reported the district received approval for a BOLI pre‑apprenticeship in manufacturing at Case — the first in the county — and said plumbing is the next pathway under consideration.

Board members asked whether accreditation leads to added funding; staff said it can help when hosting visiting teachers on J‑1 visas and can strengthen grant applications by showing district systems. Staff said a mailer announcing accreditation would be distributed to district households and more communications would appear on the district website.