Galena Park ISD principals present improvement plans for Cloverleaf, Green Valley and Galena Park Middle after federal accountability IDs

Dr. Kimberly Martin, executive director for accountability and academic support, introduced campus leaders at the Jan. 13 Galena Park ISD board meeting to present locally developed improvement plans for Cloverleaf Elementary School, Green Valley Elementary School and Galena Park Middle School.

Dr. Martin explained the federal identification process as tied to "domain 3" of the state accountability system and how the state forwards low-performing campuses to the federal level. She said the federal government identifies the bottom 5 percent of schools within school types and that exit from comprehensive support requires two consecutive years of gain.

Maria Munoz, principal of Cloverleaf Elementary, reviewed campus performance data and recent gains. She told the board that Cloverleaf's 2023 reading results for third grade were 58% approaches, 26% meets and 8% masters; in 2024 reading approaches rose to 71%, meets to 36% and masters to 11%. For math, Munoz reported 2023 approaches at 72%, meets at 39% and masters at 12%, and she said 2024 math approaches were 76% with meets at 46%. Munoz credited stronger Tier 1 instruction, expanded small-group interventions and after-school tutorials for early grades. She noted challenges that include high mobility, low attendance and a high number of rookie teachers.

Leticia Washington, principal of Green Valley Elementary, said the campus was identified for comprehensive support after 2024 results showed "less than 70% of our students were approaching" and "less than 40% of our students were meeting grade level," and she described persistent challenges of attendance, mobility, parental engagement, teacher turnover and the need for leadership development and a counselor. Washington outlined steps taken this year: tracking attendance daily, restructuring planning time to focus on Tier 1 instruction, early-start interventions called "Gator University," and a campus-wide discipline plan. She thanked district staff and noted the campus has applied for grant funding with awards to be announced; Dr. Martin later said the district applied for a LASO grant and that Cloverleaf had been awarded an Effective Schools Framework grant.

Elizabeth Nava, principal of Galena Park Middle School, described the campus's targeted-support identification for special education (SPED). Nava said the SPED target for combined domain 3 is 23% and that the campus has missed that target for three consecutive years in the same area. She explained steps the school has taken to focus on SPED outcomes: professional development targeted to SPED instruction, tracking former-SPED students, co-teaching strategies, modifying pull-out interventions, and monitoring compliance and IEP processes. Nava said the campus received an A overall but must address the SPED-specific shortfall.

Board trustee Adrian Stevens asked about parent participation at campus town halls; Washington said the meeting time was chosen to coincide with a winter musical to increase turnout and that participation "was really good success." Stevens also asked for additional detail on co-teaching cycles; Nava described multiple co-teaching strategies including parallel teaching and said special education department staff modeled strategies and administrators conducted observation walks.

Dr. Martin said the two comprehensive-support schools engaged in diagnostic reviews with the regional service center to identify improvement priorities; Galena Park Middle School will use district resources for its targeted improvement plan. She said the district expects notification of LASO grant awards in late February and requested continued board support as campuses implement improvement plans.

No formal board action on the campus improvement plans was recorded in the transcript; the item was a presentation and question-and-answer session.