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Evergreen Elementary sets literacy, attendance targets; students present writing at school improvement plan meeting
Summary
Principal Paula Kennedy presented Evergreen Elementary’s school improvement plan: lower enrollment (351 students), third-grade ELA growth, attendance goals and an after-school Acceleration Team; two third-graders read personal narratives to the board.
Paula Kennedy, Evergreen Elementary’s lead presenter, told the Shelton School District board the school is focusing this year on literacy growth and chronic absenteeism as part of its school improvement plan.
Kennedy said enrollment at Evergreen Elementary is 351 students with 47 staff. She reported third-grade English language arts results rose to 21 percent of third graders meeting grade-level standards (up from 9.5 percent in 2021) and set a goal of 30 percent for the coming year.
Kennedy said the school is also targeting chronic absenteeism—defined in her presentation as 18 or more absences—and is aiming toward an 85 percent attendance target for the groups they are focusing on. To address both academic growth and attendance, Evergreen will expand an after-school "Acceleration Team" that will serve up to 60 students in second through fourth grades.
"We are expanding it this year. We will be serving up to 60 students in second through fourth grade in our Acceleration Team, which is our after school," Kennedy said.
Kennedy described community-building and incentives: monthly literacy celebrations tied to reading logs and book-drawings, classroom 100% attendance awards, monthly grade-level attendance rewards, postcards to families for perfect attendance, and a kindergarten "jump start" program using manipulatives to prepare incoming students.
She also described outreach steps to address lengthy family absences, including a process to help returning students bring school records back into the system and to keep them connected rather than losing them to the district’s records.
Two third-grade students, Cesar and Aurelia, read short personal narratives to the board as examples of student work; Kennedy said schoolwide presentations of student writing will be invited to parents throughout the year.
Board members praised the students and staff. Director Davidson and others asked for examples of family hardships affecting attendance; Kennedy cited health-related travel and family visits across borders as causes that can lead to students missing weeks of school and described the school’s efforts to keep those students connected.
The board took no formal vote on the school improvement plan at the meeting; the item was presented as a report and recognition.
