Adams 12 board approves unified improvement plans as principals outline turnaround work

The Adams 12 Five Star Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to approve Unified Improvement Plans for schools carrying priority improvement or turnaround designations, approving plans that principals and district leaders said are focused on grade-level instruction, student belonging and targeted recovery supports.

District and school leaders told the board the approved plans emphasize collaborative planning for teachers, increased classroom observations with bite-sized feedback, and expanded interventions for students off track for graduation. Lee Peters, executive director for high schools, said high school UIP goals include supporting ninth-graders to recover semester credits and increasing students’ sense of belonging so they stay engaged.

Thornton High School Principal Charlie Arellano presented his school’s UIP and described two main strategies: an instructional focus that increases classroom visits and PLC (professional learning community) support, and stronger student supports including a Freshman Foundation course and a new RISE program for seniors at risk of not graduating. Arellano said the RISE cohort started with 35 students and that 31 students were participating at the time of his presentation; he reported the cohort had recovered 33 credits in the first five weeks.

Middle-school leaders described similar major improvement strategies. Scott Simon said all three priority middle schools are implementing sprint cycles, observation-feedback routines, and the MyPerspectives English language arts curriculum. Thornton Middle Principal Marty McCarthy reported reduced suspensions (29 year-to-date versus 89 the prior year at the same point) and noted that intact grade-level teams and fewer teachers needing intensive classroom-management coaching correlated with improved implementation.

Elementary principals described consistent school-level UIP work tied to the district’s two major improvement strategies: access to rigorous grade-level instruction and strengthening academic and social belonging. Mallee Drive Elementary Principal Kristen (last name not specified in the transcript) said the school has 60% of K–3 students on read plans and reported a recent 3.62 percentage-point attendance improvement in the last 30 days; Rocky Mountain Elementary and others emphasized lesson study, sprint cycles and schoolwide feedback routines.

Board members and district leaders repeatedly raised mobility, staffing turnover and chronic absenteeism as constraints on growth. Arellano said Thornton High had 351 student moves in and out of the building last year and that mobility had contributed to a drop in the school’s performance score. Several principals cited large numbers of new teachers this year (examples given: 9 new teachers at one middle school; 12 new teachers at another elementary), and leaders linked retention to improved instruction.

The board approved the motion to adopt the school UIPs, with Directors Assad Lucas, Battistelli, Goldstein, Marsh Holshin and Potter all recorded as voting “Aye.” Superintendent Godowsky and the executive directors will submit the approved plans to the Colorado Department of Education by the state deadline described by staff.

Board members encouraged school leaders to invite them to visit classrooms and special programs. Several directors and the superintendent praised work on newcomer supports, RISE and Freshman Foundation as tangible interventions to get students back on track.

The board dismissed the principals after the vote and asked them to continue using the district progress-monitoring tools to track sprint cycles, implementation fidelity and the impact of interventions.