Bradshaw Mountain Middle School rose from a D to a B state label in one year, Principal Christy Pashley told the Humboldt Unified School District Governing Board, crediting focused classroom instruction, teacher collaboration and behavior systems for the gains.

"Proficiency is huge. Growth is great, but we want our students to demonstrate proficiency," Pashley said during a presentation to the board, summarizing benchmark and PLC work that underpins the school's improvement. She and assistant administrators pointed to visible classroom tools — including Project Momentum diamond boards — and standards-based PLC conversations as evidence of instructional focus.

Pashley described multiple actions the school has taken to raise performance: regular artifact analysis in PLCs, cross-content collaboration between STEAM and ELA/math teachers, and use of exit tickets tied to state standards to measure proficiency. She said benchmark checks taken in September and the ongoing Benchmark 2 cycle give staff near-real-time data to inform instruction.

The presentation also emphasized climate and culture work. Staff-created incentives such as "Bruin Way" cards and golden tickets were highlighted as ways to reinforce expectations and reduce incidents: "Our total number of student incidents is way down this year," Pashley told trustees. The school also increased performing-arts enrollment and staged community events, including a veterans assembly with junior ROTC participation.

Board members praised the approach and asked how the district could support continued progress. Trustees noted the gains are meaningful but still short of long-term proficiency targets; one trustee urged continued acceleration to reach a 60% proficiency benchmark. Pashley said the school will use upcoming benchmark results to determine whether to maintain current strategies or pivot interventions.

The presentation closed with questions about discipline, where Pashley and assistant principal described a tiered response: positives on Bruin cards, documented infractions, reflection sheets, in-school support and, when necessary, in-school suspension with structured catch-up time. They said major violent incidents are not occurring and that the bus remained an area of concern last year but has improved.

The board thanked Pashley and school staff for the report and indicated continued oversight and support as the school works to sustain and deepen gains.