St. Louis Park principals report progress on curriculum alignment, restorative practices and multilingual supports

St. Louis Park Public Schools heard progress reports Tuesday on site-level continuous improvement plans that outline how each school is aligning instruction to Minnesota standards, expanding targeted interventions and expanding restorative practices.

Sophie Lafayette, director of assessment, research and evaluation, told the board the district’s continuous improvement planning process began last spring and moves in four steps: planning, implementation of strategies, evaluating progress, and planning for the next year. "Our continuous improvement planning process actually started last spring," Lafayette said as she introduced site leaders who presented updates from middle, high and elementary schools.

At the middle school, Principal Kalinowski described four goals: (1) CARE-team work to help teachers incorporate students’ lived experiences into instruction; (2) aligning instruction to Minnesota state standards and grade-level benchmarks after an audit found gaps in math…