Principal outlines safety drills, reading interventions and PTA fundraiser at CCLEA

Principal Osborne reported to the Aberdeen School District 06-1 Board of Education on March 10 that CCLEA completed a building safety audit, continued regular emergency drills, and is running short daily reading interventions aimed at improving early literacy.

Osborne said the safety audit revealed a few equipment items to address; he described the building’s safe‑place drill performance as effective. “When we do have the police come in … within a minute, I would say our kids are where they need to be and the police don't know where they are even,” Osborne said, praising student response and staff training.

On literacy, Osborne described a 10‑minute daily reading intervention using education assistants to pull small groups for focused practice in letter recognition and tens‑frame math skills for kindergarteners. He said the goal is to boost cumulative reading minutes and that the school observed measurable improvement between initial and end‑of‑year assessments.

Osborne reported attendance trends, saying the building has about 350 students and that monthly “brag tags” reward students who miss one day or fewer. He said February attendance had rebounded after the winter illnesses in January.

For community involvement, Osborne listed partnerships with Dakota Prairie Museum, Junior Achievement and weekly visits from Educators Rising members. He also described a PTA fundraiser called “public school pride” that will stencil and paint school “A” logos on driveways for a fee to raise funds.

As a student engagement incentive, Osborne said the school recorded about 37,000 reading minutes during Read Across America week; winning classes will participate in a dunk‑tank event for staff. The board heard the report as part of the superintendent’s report; no board action was required.