McDonald Elementary principal reviews student demographics, reading and math benchmark results
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Summary
McDonald Elementary principal presented school demographics, programs and assessment results, highlighting monthly benchmark testing ("ice station"), supports for economically disadvantaged students and partnerships with the University of Idaho and Idaho Fish and Game.
McDonald Elementary’s principal told the board on Nov. 19 that the school serves 318 students and detailed recent academic and support efforts, including frequent local benchmarking and community partnerships.
The principal said 28 (reported in meeting as the free-and-reduced-lunch figure) of students are served by the district’s free and reduced-price lunch program, a figure she said is up by 6 percentage points from last year. She said the school has 10 students receiving English-language services, 46 students on individualized education programs (IEPs), 23 on 504 accommodation plans and 22 students with medical action plans; 11 of those medical plans were described as life-threatening and requiring daily accommodations. The principal said McDonald provides daily Title reading services — 71 students in reading and 39 in math — and continues to offer human-monitored reading interventions for students with fluency concerns.
On assessment practice, the principal said the school uses a district-adopted monthly benchmark reading assessment (referred to in the meeting as the "ice station" test) more frequently than required to track growth. She summarized last year’s fall-to-spring results from the state report card for K–3 reading, noting kindergarten proficiency moved from 64% in fall to 88% in spring and that the whole-school K–3 proficiency was high. She cautioned that this year’s state-aligned measures changed and that direct year-to-year comparisons would be difficult.
The principal also described nonacademic efforts: a partnership with University of Idaho football players to read with kindergarten students; a third-grade steelhead-raising project in partnership with Idaho Fish and Game; an annual readathon fundraiser that raised $26,393 in two weeks; and plans for a new playground with an estimated $30,000 in equipment purchases. She said the PTO meets monthly and is instrumental in fundraising and family engagement efforts.
Trustees asked about how the state classifies economically disadvantaged students and about the accuracy and interpretation of new AI-driven oral reading fluency tools used in screening. The principal said the AI-based assessments required a learning period; teachers will continue to use human-administered fluency checks for intervention groups and the school will watch how frequent automated testing affects growth measures.
The presentation concluded with board appreciation for McDonald’s approach to whole-child learning and community partnerships, and with no formal action required.