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Los Alamos Public Schools presents new PowerSchool dashboards showing stable enrollment, rising IEP counts and high attendance rates
Summary
District staff showed a new PowerSchool "Unified Insights" dashboard and reviewed enrollment by school and grade, reasons families withdraw, special education and 504 counts, and attendance patterns. Board members asked for several follow-ups on White Rock-to-Los Alamos transitions and TVA/in-person transfers.
Los Alamos Public Schools administrators on Feb. 11 presented a new PowerSchool data dashboard that the district said will make student- and school-level demographics easier to access and analyze.
The presentation, led by Rosa Schmitz and Superintendent Guy, gave the school board a snapshot of enrollment by grade and school, reasons students withdrew this school year, counts of students served under IEPs and 504 plans, English-learner and low-income tallies, and attendance trends.
School leaders said the new dashboard, called "Unified Insights," pulls PowerSchool data into ready-made charts that teachers and administrators can use. "It's a new dashboard called Unified Insights, and what it does, it pulls data from PowerSchool," Rosa Schmitz said.
The presentation noted several district-specific data points. The district reported being near capacity for its preschool program: it had been awarded 155 preschool seats and was close to filling that allotment on the date the data were pulled. Administrators said enrollment across grade levels is generally stable districtwide, with only a slight year-to-year decline noted in the most recent pull. The slide deck reflected a data snapshot pulled in late January; presenters cautioned numbers can change as enrollment finalizes.
Special education counts were a focal point. Presenters said total students with IEPs rose during the referral-and-testing season and that one slide the board reviewed had already increased by roughly 50 students from the date the initial export was made; the presenters gave an example figure of 603 IEPs after a recent refresh. Aspen Elementary showed higher IEP totals than other elementary schools because it currently houses the district's intensive learning programs, which draws students from multiple zones.
Attendance was also highlighted as a district strength. Administrators said overall attendance rates are well above statewide averages and generally sit above 90 percent; the presentation noted a sharp but expected drop during Thanksgiving week. The board was told high-school attendance shows more unexcused absences and tardies than at lower grade levels, while elementary absences tend to be parent-excused or illness-related.
Board members asked for several follow-ups. They requested data showing how many students move from White Rock schools into Los Alamos middle and high school, and how many high-school students shift between in-person classes and the district's virtual academy (TVA). District staff said they would return with those counts at a future meeting.
The presentation was part of ongoing work to give the board more timely data for enrollment planning, open-enrollment decisions and long-term facility planning. "We can pull that data and bring it back," Superintendent Guy said in response to board questions about White Rock transfers.
The board did not take formal action on the presentation itself but directed staff to return with the requested breakdowns and additional analyses of special-education trends.
Notes: All figures presented were snapshots extracted from PowerSchool on dates cited by presenters; administrators warned some counts had changed in the days after the export and the numbers shown were not final.
