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Board approves Latimer Schools 2025–26 plan after presentations on student talk, AVID and math schedule changes
Summary
The Moreland School District Board of Trustees approved Latimer Schools’ 2025–26 School Plan for Student Achievement after a presentation that highlighted gains in ELA and math subgroups and detailed classroom strategies including student academic discourse, AVID, a double-dose study-skills elective, and schedule changes to lengthen math periods.
Latimer School presenters told the Moreland School District Board of Trustees that their 2025–26 School Plan for Student Achievement focuses on increasing student academic discourse, expanding AVID strategies, and adding targeted interventions after the board approved the plan in open session.
School presenters said Latimer recorded increases across most subgroups on recent assessments and set a goal of 66% of students meeting or exceeding standards in English language arts for next year. Presenters highlighted double-digit gains last year for English learners and students with disabilities and attributed progress to a schoolwide emphasis on student talk, small-group differentiated instruction, and targeted intervention classes staffed with an RSP teacher and aide.
Presenters described classroom practices intended to increase student voice and academic language from TK through eighth grade. Those include structured turn-and-talk routines, use of Cornell note-taking, graded expectations for collaborative strategies, and the adoption of Socratic seminar formats in upper grades. To accommodate different communication styles, school staff said seminars use inner- and outer-circle structures so less vocal students can contribute evidence and move into discussion circles when ready.
In math, presenters said Latimer saw roughly a 6 percentage-point improvement in the last reporting period and set a 55% target for students meeting or exceeding standards. The school cited adjustments to the middle-school master schedule that lengthened math periods (from about 43 minutes toward a 55-minute block) so teachers could deliver curricula—such as CPM lessons—as intended. Presenters also described increased small-group work and “double-dose” interventions for students two to three grade levels behind.
AVID implementation and STEM expansion were highlighted as additional priorities. Presenters said all teachers have AVID training, with a second-year focus on writing, inquiry and reading. The site will also use Prop 28 funds to expand Project Lead The Way (PLTW) offerings TK–8 to give students earlier exposure to math, science, technology and engineering.
School climate and family engagement efforts were included in the plan. Presenters described student leadership, lunch-time activities, recognition events and family-facing events intended to increase belonging and parent connections; staff walkthroughs and monthly leadership meetings were cited as mechanisms for coaching and alignment.
The board moved to approve the Latimer Schools 2025–26 School Plan for Student Achievement and recorded the approval in open session.
