Red River High School tells board RTI/'rider time' and targeted supports are helping attendance and course recovery

Red River High School presented an overview of its RTI system, assessment results and schoolwide goals to the Grand Forks Public Schools board on Monday, stressing targeted time for student interventions and department-driven literacy and math strategies.

Principal (presenter identified in the transcript) described the schoolwide mission as "empowering all learners" and said the RTI program—called rider time—remains the engine for delivering targeted support. "RTI is what drives us at Red River," the presenter said, and staff described the program as a mix of intervention, work sessions, enrichment and study halls designed to give students access to teachers during the school day.

Tyra Nelson, Red River's athletic director, described two student-focused programs: a Leadership Council of about 50 student leaders that supports freshmen orientation, and a Freshman Mentoring Program she said was started by Terry Horpadel; Nelson said more than 100 upperclassmen applied to mentor this year. "It's just a great opportunity for them to experience leadership," she said.

Associate Principal mister Heperly walked the board through participation and outcomes tied to rider time. He said the district has built 92 rider-time schedules since spring 2024, created 7,158 sessions and run 1,718 intervention sessions where teachers place students they believe need targeted support. Heperly said the school tracks both self-enrollment and teacher-placed sessions and uses MTSS/CAPS staffing to escalate tiered supports when students are not making progress.

On social-emotional measures, Heperly described Panorama survey results and how administrators and counselors use the data to identify "red flags." He noted that "88 percent of [students] feel like all or most of my teachers" are respectful, and said staff examine smaller subgroups to find students who report less-favorable experiences.

Presenters reviewed assessment data and cautioned about alignment issues between instruments. They said last year's NDA+ summative results showed relatively low proficiency rates in some grade-level measures (for example, a lower-than-expected proficiency figure for sophomores in reading and math), while fall interim measures such as STAR/STAAR and other progress-monitoring checks showed higher proficiency. The team said NDA+ was new at the high-school level statewide and that some items are end-of-year expectations, which can depress early-year interim scores. "We think there's a disconnect between NDA+ and our progress-monitoring data," the presenter told the board.

On readiness metrics required by the state, the board heard that Red River reported 69% of graduates were 'choice ready' in the most recent reporting; presenters said the breakdown included roughly 69% postsecondary-ready, 84% workforce-ready and 66% meeting the ASVAB cut score for military readiness. The administration said much of the choice-ready data is pulled from PowerSchool and student self-reporting, and emphasized counselor work to support scholarships and program tracking.

Department-level strategies were outlined for literacy and math. Andrea Altapeter described a staff book study and departmental 'micro-studies' tied to a district literacy goal to raise proficiency from 48% to 56%; the approach emphasizes disciplinary literacy that fits specific content areas. The math department explained an RTI coordination plan and a problem-solving routine (the "bucked" strategy) to support word-problem performance.

Board members asked technical questions about timing and scoring of interim assessments, how counselors manage the data load, and how rider time is scheduled; administrators said teachers are asked to post sessions before student enrollment windows and that counselors become especially active around scholarship and North Dakota scholarship requirements.

Presenters concluded that rider time and a new attendance policy have contributed to a decrease in failing grades and increased student attendance, and they framed continued monitoring across the year—January and May checkpoints—as central to understanding year-over-year growth.

Next steps described to the board included continued RTI scheduling refinement, targeted MTSS interventions for Tier 3 students and continued departmental professional development to support literacy and math goals.