Prescott principal outlines MTSS, math-growth target and attendance steps

Prescott Elementary Principal Steven Shepherd told the Parkrose School District Board of Education that his building is focusing its 2024'025 efforts on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), a targeted math goal for upper elementary students and a renewed emphasis on attendance and school climate.

Shepherd said Prescott's MTSS process uses an intake form available to all staff; the building's MTSS/AST team meets weekly and has received 15 referrals from five teachers for the current year. He said the team aims to implement plans 'to fidelity' and to expand intervention time to reach more students.

The principal set a school math goal that 75% of mid-grade students will show one year's growth on the district's i-Ready math diagnostic by June 2025. Shepherd described collaboration with Russell Elementary's staff and curriculum coaches to borrow scheduling and intervention strategies that Russell used to raise math performance.

Shepherd also reviewed Prescott's i-Ready data, saying the school's reading proficiency moved from roughly 10% to 21% in the fall-to-winter diagnostics and that math showed smaller but measurable gains. He said reading gains were aided by building-level professional development and cited a need for more dedicated math intervention time in the master schedule.

On school climate and supports, Shepherd described a stand-alone climate committee, a building equity and inclusion coach, and weekly MTSS meetings. He said Prescott uses restorative practices to limit referrals, retains situational reports rather than formal disciplinary referrals when possible, and partners with community volunteers (for example AARP tutors) and site-based math tutors.

Board members and student representatives asked about thresholds for referrals, parent communication and out-of-school enrichment. Shepherd said Prescott relies on ParentSquare for family communication, on community partners for after-school enrichment, and on targeted outreach (for example home visits and reinforcing cards) to address attendance. He acknowledged limited staff time for MTSS meetings and said Prescott will evaluate meeting frequency and intake processing in the fall.

Shepherd and board members discussed multilingual students'needs; he said language learning can temporarily depress some scores but that students typically show gains after acquiring more English. He described the i-Ready diagnostic as adaptive and not timed, and said teachers can use the system's individualized pathways for short practice assignments aligned to students'diagnostic results.

Principal Shepherd asked the board for continued support for scheduling and intervention resources; he said Prescott will continue to track core-review outcomes and will report comparative data in future presentations.

Less-critical details: Shepherd apologized for exceeding his five-minute slot and invited board members to follow up with questions off the dais.