Oak Creek West Middle School posts 87.9 accountability score, ranks 10th in state

At the Jan. 13 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District board meeting, West Middle School staff reported that the school received an 87.9 accountability score on the state school report card — a five-star rating and the 10th-highest score among the state's 387 public middle schools.

School representatives told the board the score marks the second consecutive year West earned a five‑star result and capped a multi‑year improvement from 74.7 to 87.9. Staff said the growth component of the report card rose from 76.4 to a 100% growth score during the district’s multi‑year improvement efforts.

“We even have a tracking system for home contacts,” said Matt Stohlberg, associate principal at West Middle School, describing the school's student-intervention team (SIT) spreadsheets and routines that let staff pull each student’s assessment data, interventions and parent contact history during meetings. Stohlberg said teams use two daily intervention blocks — called gold and blue time — to provide tailored supports, from math help to literacy assistance.

Katie Morrow, West’s English‑learner specialist, said the ELL program is tightly integrated with co‑planning and intervention time. “Out of the 65 English learners, I see 53 of them daily to focus on those essential standards,” Morrow said, describing push‑in support for ELA classes and a newcomer curriculum called Get Ready for students in the country less than a year.

District staff and West presenters credited several features with the gains: an RTI (response to intervention) structure, a standing SIT process where grade‑level teams review each student and leave meetings with concrete action steps, embedded ELL supports and increased parent communication through the TalkingPoints translation app.

School presenters gave examples of students who improved after being placed on SIT plans and said specialized tracking — including whether families had been contacted — makes interventions immediate and measurable. West staff also reported measurable proficiency gains for historically marginalized groups: staff said math proficiency for students with special education plans increased about 9% and reading proficiency about 20%, while English learners showed roughly 14% gains in math and 18% gains in reading.

The board applauded the team’s work and encouraged staff to share practices districtwide. The presentation concluded with requests that West continue collaboration with other buildings and to provide materials the district can use to replicate successful practices.

The spotlight presentation appeared under the meeting’s program spotlight and public‑comment portions; presenters answered board questions about sharing practices and in‑service collaboration.

The board did not take any formal policy action on the presentation; it was an information item.