Principals report test gains, curriculum changes and next-year goals at Ballston Spa Central School District meeting

At a Ballston Spa Central School District Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Dr. Duca and building principals from Gordon Creek, Milton Terrace and the middle school presented end-of-year goals and preliminary academic results, highlighting multi-year gains in English language arts and plans to adjust assessment and curriculum tools for next year.

The presentations combined results, next steps and implementation details. Principal Rasmussen reported “Overall, 12% increase in ELA for all students,” and a similar 12% increase in math from the prior year, based on the district’s internal reporting. Milton Terrace described using new iReady domain and predictive reports to inform instruction and hosted visits from other districts to share literacy practices. Gordon Creek said it may move away from iReady for elementary math and adopt more module-based, standards-aligned measures.

District leaders emphasized that end-of-year state testing results were not yet complete for all grade levels, and some targets were provisional pending final testing. Superintendent Dr. Duca introduced the principals and framed the presentations as part of the district’s ongoing effort to align building goals with district priorities.

Supporting details and next steps reported by principals included changes to assessment tools, expanded professional development and increased family engagement. Gordon Creek Principal Brandt said he would “probably, at the elementary level... move from I Ready to more looking at some specific module standards based goals” for math. Milton Terrace indicated it will expand family-facing curriculum nights and continue attendance-focused strategies into the next school year.

Principal Rasmussen (middle school) summarized contextual data for his building — roughly 940 enrolled students (down from about 1,050 in 2020), a student population with about one-third qualifying as low-income and 18% identified as students with disabilities — and said small overall attendance gains translate into substantial additional student learning days: “it's 1500 more days of learning that happened for individual students.”

School leaders said they would use staff surveys, TLST (teacher leadership) feedback, building-level review and district MTSS committee input to refine goals over the summer. Specific curricular and assessment changes, timelines and staff training plans will be developed and shared as those plans are finalized.

District officials did not adopt new academic policy at the meeting; the presentations were informational and identified staff research, pilot plans and training priorities for 2025-26.