Laramie County School District 2 staff describe expanded mentoring, PLC work during accreditation presentation

Rhonda Morrison, a music teacher at Alvin and Burns Elementary, told the Laramie County School District #2 board during the March 5 committee meeting that novice teachers receive two years of mentoring while teachers new to the district receive one year of mentoring. "Novice teachers, our brand new teachers, can receive 2 years of support, and new to district teachers can receive 1 year of support," Morrison said.

The presentations summarized several districtwide professional-development and instructional-collaboration initiatives and explained why staff believe the work matters for student learning and the district accreditation process. Presenters described mentoring, common planning and an emphasis on the PLC (professional learning community) framework as the main strategies.

Morrison said mentors help new teachers with PowerSchool, grading, curriculum, behavior strategies and peer observations. She also described a district book study led by a staff member identified in the meeting as Mr. Perintoni that introduces new teachers to district philosophy and leadership. "Our new teachers also complete a book study with mister Perintoni over the course of the first year of teaching in our school district," Morrison said.

Staff presenters described system-level work to standardize assessment and intervention. The district’s guiding coalition — "a team of 32 teachers and administrators" — attended the PLC at Work Institute in Tulsa, she said, and that training helped the district focus on the PLC's four essential questions: (1) What do we want students to know and be able to do? (2) How will we know when they have learned it? (3) What will we do for students who don’t learn it? and (4) What will we do for students who already know it?

"By the end of the conference, we knew we didn't have all the answers to these questions, but we knew that collaboratively we could figure them out," a presenter said.

Teachers described concrete tools the district is using. Presenters said the district requires 30 hours of grade-level PLC time (outside of contract time) to unpack standards, develop common formative and summative assessments, and set daily checkpoints during newly developed 15-day units. At the secondary level, teachers described a 30-minute daily block called "primetime" for intervention and enrichment built into the 7–12 schedule.

Amber (identified in the meeting as a teacher presenter) described use of FastBridge screening and other common assessments to identify students for tier 2 and tier 3 interventions. "We use screeners like FastBridge letters and past assessments that also identify needs for intervention," Amber said. The district has also rolled out RTI Scheduler — described by presenters as a planning tool tied to PowerSchool that organizes intervention and enrichment cycles and tracks attendance.

Ashley Russo, a teacher at Pine Bluffs High School, said subject-area committees and subject-specific PLCs have focused the work at the secondary level. "Prime Time or Bronx Lehi Time is in our district 7 through 12, for intervention and enrichment that we've built into our schedule," Russo said.

Presenters also described peer observations and "ed rounds" (short, 10–12 minute classroom visits followed by an immediate debrief) as a way to spread effective practice across buildings. Literacy coaches and building-based learning labs were described as additional supports that pair teachers for targeted coaching and follow-up.

Board members praised the presentations and said the accreditation team had seen similar work during the site visit. Superintendent Justin (surname not specified in public remarks) thanked teachers for representing the district at the accreditation review.

The presenters did not propose a board action at the meeting; the presentation was delivered as information and discussion. Presenters encouraged board members to review videos and presentation materials posted for the accreditation team.

The district said the PLC and intervention work is ongoing; presenters indicated some components (RTI Scheduler rollout, primetime scheduling, and 15-day unit development) are recent and will continue to be refined.

Additional details from the meeting: mentoring durations (two years for novice teachers; one year for new-to-district teachers), a guiding coalition of 32 teachers and administrators attended the Tulsa PLC conference, 30 hours of PLC time outside contract, and use of FastBridge and RTI Scheduler for screening and scheduling interventions.

Board members asked clarifying questions about peer observation tools and the inclusion of paraprofessionals in PLC time; presenters said paras are heavily involved in intervention work when contract time allows but that limited paras’ contract hours make scheduling full PLC participation difficult.