Poteau Primary reports academic gains, adds tutoring and social-worker support

Poteau Primary School Principal Ms. Smith told the Poteau School Board that the school received an overall grade of B on its most recent report card, citing strong academic achievement, improved attendance and newly implemented programs.

Ms. Smith said the school scored 83 percent for academic achievement — well above the state average she cited — and 70 percent for academic growth. She added the English-language proficiency indicator earned an A and chronic absenteeism improved from a D to a B after the school worked with parents, the school-based social worker, the school resource officer and, when necessary, the district attorney. “We work with parents to try to determine some barriers to good attendance… and we also provide incentives and classroom contests for students to improve attendance,” Ms. Smith said.

Ms. Smith told the board the primary school has 18 support staff and 45 certified staff, a combined 727 years of experience, about 440 students and average class sizes near 17. She described hands-on classroom activities used to build foundational skills and said end-of-year benchmark assessments were higher than in many previous years.

The principal outlined several new programs and personnel for the year. The district is running a state-funded High Dosage Tutoring program that provides three tutoring sessions per week; Ms. Smith said 65 students and 13 teachers currently participate and groups are about five students each. The school also adopted Heggerty, a phonemic-awareness curriculum of brief daily lessons; Ms. Smith described it as a “research based” program that takes roughly 10 minutes a day and said teachers and students have responded positively.

Ms. Smith said the school added a school-based social worker, Lexi Padilla, through a partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to assist families with homelessness, attendance barriers and access to benefits and behavioral-health resources. She also noted a weekly staff prayer meeting led by a local pastor, and described family-engagement events such as Glow Knight and Breakfast with a Buddy. Ms. Smith acknowledged community partners who volunteer as guest readers, donors and presenters.

The presentation closed with Ms. Smith thanking board members for their support. “Again, I am so grateful for the things that you do for us and the support that you provide all throughout the school year, and we just appreciate you so much,” she said.

The board did not take a vote on the presentation; it was provided as informational material to the board.