Thoreau Park Elementary reports rising third- and fourth-grade scores, highlights attendance and PBIS work

Principal Bickley presented Thoreau Park Elementary’s 2024 building report card to the Parma City School Board on Jan. 9, reporting gains in third- and fourth-grade reading and math and outlining steps the school is taking to address lingering gaps.

Bickley said the school’s third- and fourth-grade achievement “are trending in the correct direction,” and credited consistent use of the district’s instructional playbook, regular teacher-based team (TBT) reviews, and “daily use of authentic literacy” for the improvement. He gave example subgroup scores: ELA achievement at 80.5 (state goal cited as 60.8) and math at 73.3 (state goal cited as 59.8) for the economically disadvantaged subgroup, saying those numbers were a source of pride.

The nut graf: the principal framed gains as the product of sustained curriculum work, targeted interventions and family outreach, while acknowledging growth areas including K–3 literacy, third-grade reading proficiency (and promotion to fourth grade), and performance for students with disabilities.

Bickley described action steps used or in progress: Title I supports that both push into classrooms and pull small groups, a kindergarten and first-grade literacy pilot (UFLY/UPLY referenced), shifts of existing intervention specialists’ schedules to better target need (for example, moving part of a first-grade specialist’s day to work with third grade during intervention time), and continued professional development grounded in the instructional playbook.

The school also emphasized whole-child supports and PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports). Bickley noted the school has had “gold” PBIS status for three years and summarized the tiered approach (Tier 1 universal supports, Tier 2 targeted small-group supports, Tier 3 individualized interventions).

Bickley said chronic absenteeism improved from 26.1% last year to 22.2% just before winter break. He described attendance strategies used by the PBIS team, led by Ms. Carvalho, including quarterly “attendance heroes” recognition tags, weekly classroom attendance goals and a “golden paw” door marker for classes that meet weekly attendance targets, occasional perfect-attendance class prizes, and pre-school “build-a-bridge” meetings with families of students who previously had chronic absenteeism.

The presentation included classroom benchmarking results and public recognition of four students who ranked at the top of fall benchmarking. After the presentation, board members thanked Bickley; no formal board action was taken on the school report itself.

Ending: Board members moved on to other agenda items after brief questions and applause for the recognized students.