The Glen Ridge Board of Education recognized four staff who recently completed Orton‑Gillingham (OG) certification and heard a presentation on the district’s transition from the Intervention and Referral Services (INRS) model to a Multi‑Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).

Director of Student Services Jack DeWitt presented the OG recognition, saying the district’s partnership with Fairleigh Dickinson University produced a new cohort of certified staff and thanked the Glen Ridge Education Foundation for funding the training. He said the district now has 18 staff members with full OG certification. DeWitt read statements from participants, including: “Completing my OG certificate means that I will be able to help more children read,” and called the training “transformational.” DeWitt told the board that each certified teacher completed four graduate‑level courses across two years and provided roughly 25 hours of one‑on‑one tutoring per semester, “or roughly a hundred hours over the 2 years per teacher.” He said OG‑trained staff have provided “over 2,000 hours of individualized reading instruction to struggling readers in the district.”

Supervisor of Interventions Gabby Marks then described the district’s first full year implementing MTSS, explaining the shift away from INRS because INRS relies heavily on teacher referrals and the state INRS materials have not been updated since 2001. Marks said MTSS uses multiple data points and normed screeners, and the district now conducts three formal data‑review meetings each year in each building. She described the MTSS process: universal screening, teacher feedback, secondary assessment when needed, an 8–10 week intervention cycle with progress monitoring, then a team decision about next steps (continue intervention, modify, or refer to the child study team).

Marks said the district has begun using LinkIt as a data warehouse to store screening and intervention data and has expanded classroom‑based interventions to try to keep students in core instruction when possible. On early literacy screening, Marks described DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) as a tool the district currently uses through second grade and is planning to expand to K–3 next year; she noted DIBELS can flag dyslexia indicators and guide targeted instruction.

The presentation included early outcomes: a decrease in referrals to pullout intervention groups and a decline in students identified with IEPs compared with recent years. Marks cautioned the board that multiple factors may contribute to those declines — for example, smaller class sizes, more OG‑trained teachers, and social‑emotional supports — and that the school year is not yet complete. Next‑year plans she outlined include more teacher training to diagnose needs in the classroom, increased LinkIt use, standardized classroom‑level assessments, better parent communication during intervention cycles, and strengthening tier‑2 and tier‑3 social‑emotional supports.

Board members asked for examples of how a student’s day might differ under MTSS and for clarification about acceleration and enrichment for advanced students; Marks said some buildings have piloted “what I need” or WIN groups that can serve both intervention and enrichment purposes.

The board later approved curriculum items on the consent agenda, which included the curriculum packet that encompassed the presentations (roll call recorded as unanimous in favor of the curriculum motion).