Orting High School presents academic targets, new curricula and behavior program at board work session

Orting High School teachers, students and administrators outlined academic targets, curriculum pilots and programs to boost student engagement and behavior at an Orting School District board work session.

The high school presentation centered on four goals: raise proficiency in ELA and math, increase student voice, strengthen community connections through the “CARDS Way” behavior program, and accelerate growth for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). School leaders described use of diagnostic testing, classroom-level common formative assessments and new curricular materials to reach those aims.

Kirsten McCarroll, choir director at Orting High School and Orting Middle School, introduced the evening’s presentations. The high school’s leadership said Goal 1 aims to increase proficiency on grade-level standards in ELA and math. The presentation cited a specific target: by spring 2025 the school intends to move an additional 24 tenth-graders — of about 220 in the grade cohort — to proficiency as measured by I-Ready diagnostics, Orting High School common formative assessments (CFAs) and other school progress measures.

English department chair Miss Riemitz (department chair, long-time English teacher) described priority standards teachers selected for ninth- and tenth-grade instruction, and said the school is using I-Ready diagnostics three times a year alongside teacher-created CFAs to…