Principal Ange Nelson told the School Board of Independent School District 624 that Otter Lake Elementary set academic and family‑engagement targets this year and is tracking toward meeting them.

“Our goal this year is that 80 percent of students will demonstrate being low risk measured by FastBridge and that 95 percent of students with IEP literacy objectives will have met their goal,” Principal Ange Nelson said, describing the school’s literacy target and the separate objective for students with Individualized Education Program (IEP) literacy objectives.

FastBridge, the universal screener the district uses for progress monitoring, shows grade‑level “low risk” percentages Nelson presented: kindergarten 84 percent; first grade 72 percent; second grade 71 percent; third grade 70 percent; fourth grade 82 percent; and fifth grade 69 percent. Nelson told the board the school enrolls about 490 students and that roughly 150 students — about 30 percent of the population — have an IEP.

Nelson said the school uses a tiered intervention model and the same WINS structure used at other elementary buildings: a 30‑minute literacy block and a 30‑minute math block, progress monitoring every six weeks, and flexible grouping so students move between groups as skills change. “Students do switch teachers for their group based on the skill that they’re working on,” Nelson said.

Nelson cautioned that FastBridge is a screener and is not the same test as the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA), which she said can show different results. She told the board staff are also working to align classroom practices with test features — for example, teaching students annotation and other tools used on MCA tasks.

On family engagement and climate, Nelson described a Family Advisory Council, a series of community dinners and conferences designed to make family‑school communication more specific, and a volunteer program that she said engaged more than 200 people over the year. She said five to 15 volunteers come daily, some now hold permanent badges, and the school recently hosted a volunteer‑appreciation breakfast for about 75 people.

Nelson also outlined upcoming events and investments: fourth‑ and fifth‑grade students will take part in a June 3 day of service with local partners; the district is funding a new, fully inclusive playground scheduled for installation in June; and the school has filled staffing for the Spanish dual‑immersion kindergarten program next year. On immersion enrollment, Nelson said the school has two full kindergarten sections and estimated “about 49” immersion kindergarten students at Otter Lake.

Board members asked for clarifications during the question period. When asked about IEP exit criteria, Nelson explained teams consider whether a student has met all goals and objectives and can perform independently at grade level; she noted speech‑language only IEPs commonly end when specific speech targets are met. When a board member asked whether bond and district Building Our Future project information is visible on school pages, Nelson and another district speaker said the district’s Building Our Future project pages list work by building, though the board member suggested linking that information more directly from each school’s site.

Nelson closed by noting the school will re‑survey students and families in spring to measure student experience and family connection goals and invited board members to attend the playground celebration when the installation is complete.