Battle Ground committee recommends Wayfinder SEL after yearlong pilot; staff to seek board direction

A committee convened by the Battle Ground School District recommended the district adopt Wayfinder as a high‑school social‑emotional learning (SEL) curriculum after a yearlong review and a pilot involving roughly 250–300 students.

The recommendation, presented July 28 at a special work session of the Battle Ground School District Board of Directors, came after the district’s SEL adoption committee ran pilots of two vendors, gathered student and staff feedback and reviewed research and implementation options. Eric Sechsdorf, staff member, told the board the committee held seven meetings over the last year and narrowed 13 initial proposals down to four vendors before piloting two programs.

Why it matters: the committee said Wayfinder would give every high‑school student access to a consistent SEL and future‑skills curriculum and supply resources for counselors and intervention staff. The proposal is tied to the district’s Project AWARE grant; the committee said the grant includes $100,000 per year allocated for a high‑school SEL curriculum. That funding is earmarked within Project AWARE and would cover licensing and rollout costs for core Wayfinder offerings; optional items such as printed workbooks or some add‑on collections (for athletes, adults, etc.) would add extra cost.

What the committee heard and found

Wayfinder representatives described the program’s origin and scope in the presentation. “Wayfinder started back in 2015 at the Stanford d.school,” said Matt Wynn, Wayfinder representative. Wynn and colleague Brian Grow described Wayfinder’s focus on student purpose, goal setting and “durable” or “future‑ready” skills such as collaboration and resiliency. “Wayfinder emphatically is not a DEI curriculum. It's not a CRT curriculum,” Wynn said, clarifying the vendor’s stated content boundaries.

District staff and teachers who participated in the pilot reported shorter lesson prep times and higher engagement in lessons used in the trials. “On these lessons, I would spend about 20 minutes … and 100% of the kids would do the work,” said one teacher who taught a lower‑level class during the pilot. Committee members reported student survey averages above 3.0 on a 0–4 scale across pilot items related to engagement and perceived relevance. The committee said staff ratings also favored Wayfinder over the other pilot vendor for prep time, adaptibility and perceived positive impact.

Pilot size and participants

Committee members reported about 250–300 students participated in the pilot across semesters. The committee itself included about 27–28 members representing comprehensive high schools, alternative learning experiences (ALE), district office staff, building administrators, certificated teachers and one behavior specialist from ESD 112. Intervention coordinators and counselors said Wayfinder’s online platform plus optional student workbooks allowed flexible delivery: full class, small‑group interventions and 1:1 counseling sessions.

Translation, accessibility and adaptations

Committee members emphasized language access and adaptations for special‑education students. Wayfinder staff said the platform includes Spanish resources and is working on additional languages; the vendor said parent letters and family resources can be translated into the district’s requested languages more readily than full curriculum translation. Karen Reddington, a teacher who works with students with disabilities, said pilot lessons were adaptable so students in pull‑out and inclusive settings could access grade‑level material.

Concerns raised

Board members and staff raised concerns about specific lesson language and activities — examples included terminology such as “ritual,” references to meditation or restorative circles, and the possibility of students disclosing personal trauma. Committee members said Wayfinder responded to local feedback during the review and removed or renamed language that had raised community concern. The committee also stressed professional development (PD) and clear staff roles: when students disclose serious needs, staff should follow district protocols and refer to counselors or school psychologists rather than resolving crises in a classroom setting.

Implementation plan, monitoring and funding

The committee proposed a phased rollout rather than full immediate adoption. Recommended next steps include continuing the pilot committee through the first implementation year, staged building rollouts, targeted PD for staff and a tracking plan to monitor usage and outcomes. The committee said the platform generates usage metrics (teacher activity, unit completions and some pre/post unit questions) that the district can use to track implementation and to attempt correlations with attendance, discipline referrals and small‑group progress.

Funding for a comprehensive license of Wayfinder’s digital content was described as available from Project AWARE funds ($100,000 per year allocated for a high‑school SEL curriculum). Committee members said the full Project AWARE funding pool is larger and supports multiple initiatives, and that sustainability and levy outcomes will influence long‑term plans. They also noted printed student workbooks, expanded language translation and certain add‑on collections would be additional costs beyond the core license.

Board action and next steps

At the July 28 work session, the committee presented its recommendation and answered board questions but did not record a formal board vote or motion on adoption. Staff requested direction and said they will bring a contract and final proposal back to the board during a regular meeting if the board wishes to proceed. The committee emphasized it would continue incremental rollout planning, PD and data‑tracking work if the board authorizes next steps.

Ending: committee framing

Committee members framed the work as an effort to provide consistent, district‑wide approaches to skills such as goal setting, collaboration and resilience while preserving staff flexibility in delivery. The committee repeatedly described the proposed implementation as a partnership with the vendor, with a focus on monitoring, PD and language accessibility to reach students and families across the district.