Orono principals describe instructional-leadership teams, MTSS and OLA/reading training as central to student supports

Orono Public School District principals presented a midyear update on instructional leadership teams, the district’s continuous-improvement goals and several new or expanded interventions meant to support student academics and social-emotional development.

Dr. Adam Lamparski, Schumann Elementary principal, Mary Bridal of Orono Intermediate School and Kim Van Isle from Orono Middle School told trustees ILTs now guide building-level work on scholarship, character and connectedness. “The purpose of ILTs is to have a team of teacher leaders who provide building leadership to support our continuous improvement goals,” Bridal said.

Principals described how this year’s work emphasized literacy training tied to the state Read Act and OLA (Online Learning and Language) professional development, and how that training consumed much of regular PLC time. “It pretty much takes our professional development time,” one principal said, noting the Read Act requirement includes substantial training hours for K–5 educators and reading specialists.

Schumann presented an example academic goal tied to foundational literacy using FastBridge: teachers set a proficiency goal of a 2% increase over the year in measures such as letter names, sounds and nonsense-word decoding — a target district leaders said aligns with common continuous-improvement standards used by Minnesota districts.

The principals also described MTSS work that separates academic and behavioral supports into tiers: universal, targeted and intensive interventions. Schumann and the intermediate school reported use of a new social, academic and emotional behavior risk screener, SABERS, on an opt-in basis; the district piloted SABERS with first grade last year and expanded it this year. “It allows teachers and mental-health staff to identify at‑risk social-emotional behaviors and plan tiered supports,” a principal said.

At the middle school, administrators outlined a “WIN — Intervention and Support” schedule, a teacher-driven intervention/enrichment block on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The WIN model is used to provide targeted support, enrichment, or community-connected activities (one example: middle-school students visiting a local senior facility to read and play games as an enrichment/connectedness activity).

Principals emphasized character and connectedness as foundational. The middle-school connectedness metric cited in the presentation was above 97%; principals said support staff use screening and follow-up meetings to connect students with trusted adults and activities and to monitor changes in students’ well-being over time.

What trustees heard and requested

Board members praised the collaborative work and asked about outcomes and measurement. When asked whether interventions improved students’ sense of connectedness, administrators said they had observed improvements in prior years but had not yet completed a post-evaluation for the current screener cycle.

Ending

District leaders said they will continue to refine intervention structures, expand peer observation and professional collaboration opportunities, and return with more outcome data as PLC cycles and training schedules allow.