District outlines programs to boost student belonging and leadership

An unidentified district presenter told the board that student learning depends on "a sense of connection, acceptance, and inclusion" with teachers, peers and staff and described several initiatives the district is using to strengthen those ties.

At the elementary level the district has launched a house-leader system in which fourth- and fifth-grade students apply to lead small groups of five to six peers, the presenter said. "All students in the building then are part of one house, and they're led by several students," the presenter said, adding the houses meet to build class relationships and work on character traits throughout the year. Staff said they are considering expanding the program to additional buildings where it is not yet active.

The district also said it is in its second year of student advisory councils that meet monthly with principals to provide direct student input on school culture and safety. "They can provide their student voice to the principals on what are the school culture and things that they wanna do within the school building," the presenter said. The district supplements that work with student climate surveys to guide efforts to make students feel safe and connected.

Teachers are also encouraged to schedule brief check-ins—"moments of genuine connection"—with each student to build rapport, a practice staff said is tracked using class rosters. The presenter tied those routines to extracurricular and transition activities: staff highlighted a fall festival led by student "lead crew" organizers that involved more than half of the freshman class and semester events designed to pair sixth graders with lead leaders to ease grade-level transitions.

Board discussion at the meeting was descriptive rather than decision-focused; no formal action was recorded specifically on these programs.