Granite Falls High presents school-improvement plan, cites gains in ELA and steps to boost math

At the Granite Falls School District board meeting, Granite Falls High School staff presented the school improvement plan, reporting that tenth-grade English language arts (ELA) scores have been above the state average for the past three years and outlining targeted steps to raise math achievement and support freshmen.

“This is our school improvement plan, for Granite Falls High School,” said John Nisley while presenting enrollment, assessment and intervention data. The high school reported a little over 600 students and said its fastest-growing subgroup is Hispanic/Latino students.

The nut of the presentation was academic targets and the strategies the school plans to use to reach them. Presenters set a baseline and targets for key measures: ELA met-standard rate was stated at 66 percent last year with a goal of 76 percent; math growth (students meeting preset growth goals on interim math assessments) was described as roughly 42 percent with a target of 52 percent, and a longer-term aim to increase the proportion of students meeting growth on math checks to as high as 70 percent. Staff described progress monitoring through fall, winter and spring math assessments, and cited correlations between interim assessment gains and SBAC (state) performance expected in May.

John Nisley and other staff described classroom and system-level actions: using MAP and i-Ready results for placement and interventions, continued rollout of an HMH-aligned curriculum, increased attention to K–12 math continuity (including hiring certificated math teachers at the middle-school level), and school-day interventions such as a weekly 45-minute "Tiger Period" for extra help. The plan also highlighted freshman supports including a required freshman-success class that teaches organization, goal-setting and transition skills, plus a "Tiger Cabinet" student advisory group and targeted communications with families.

Two freshmen presented elements of the freshman-success curriculum. Anna Sali Syson described a module on technology use and a student-created "digital detox" exercise, and read a short poem that captured the classroom message: “I wake up for my phone. Gotcha. I click the button and it gets sucked in.” Juliana Spence described goal-setting lessons and said she had created a roadmap to pursue a 4.0 GPA and competitive cheer goals.

Board members asked about the scale and feasibility of the math targets. Presenters said interim math checks show encouraging movement (presenters reported about 45 percent of current sophomores have already met the interim math standard this year, compared with a lower percent last year) and underscored the importance of aligned curriculum, certificated math teachers and focused PLC work. Presenters gave classroom examples of differentiated instruction and engagement strategies, such as project-like activities in systems-of-equations lessons.

During public comment, a parent (identified as Marcy, stepmother of a student) raised an individual concern about classroom practice and IEP accommodations in a prior assignment. She said she had received a teacher reply characterizing focus as on "normal kids, not the IEP kids," reported that after a classroom change her stepdaughter’s grades improved from Cs to As in one week, and said she had discussed the issue with district staff.

The presentation closed with board and staff discussion of communications and student voice. Staff described weekly family email newsletters, social-media outreach and planned student advisory sessions with legislators in late spring. The presenters reminded the board that the statewide SBAC is scheduled in May and said interim assessments and classroom interventions are aimed at improving readiness for that test.

The board did not take formal action on the school improvement plan during the meeting; the presentation served as an informational report and to invite further board questions and follow-up.