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Willis principal: enrollment steady, preschool full, third‑grade reading goal set at 95%
Summary
Willis Elementary Principal Delaney reported steady enrollment, a full preschool class of 18, 77 registered incoming kindergartners, new Purdue full‑year student teachers and school plans to reach a 95% third‑grade iRead pass rate by 2025–26.
Willis Elementary Principal Betty Delaney updated the board on enrollment, early‑learning capacity, assessment checkpoints, and plans to support students at risk of falling behind.
Delaney said enrollment has been relatively stable since the semester, and preschool is full at its 18‑child capacity. She reported 77 incoming kindergartners registered — higher than the usual range of 50–55 at this point last year — after the school held a kindergarten roundup on March 4 attended by more than 50 families.
Delaney described a new Purdue University full‑year student teacher program that places student teachers in classrooms full time in the spring after an earlier part‑week placement in fall; she said the district’s connection with Purdue has been “amazing.” The school also received professional development through WVEC and other partners.
On assessments, Delaney reviewed iRead and iLearn checkpoint activity. She said about 70 third graders still needed to take the iRead assessment because they were not in Indiana or did not take the test previously; the school’s goal is 95% of third graders passing by the end of the 2025–26 school year. Delaney said 75 second graders already passed the benchmark and that students identified as “at risk” will be invited to a nine‑day summer program after school ends.
She outlined a writing curriculum alignment process led by third‑grade teachers who backward‑mapped the iLearn writing rubric into kindergarten through third grade, and said benchmark writing assessments are giving teachers a baseline for instruction.
On standardized testing time, Delaney acknowledged concerns about instruction time lost to tests and said the district had weighed opt‑in checkpoint assessments against other benchmark tools; the district removed the NWEA benchmark this year to reduce duplicated testing and hopes future checkpoint reports will be more immediately actionable for teachers.
Delaney closed by thanking the board and community for outreach and by noting ongoing efforts to connect with apartment managers and families to boost enrollment and communication.
