Principals and school leadership teams from across Batavia USD 101 used a district update to present this year’s school improvement plans, collectively prioritizing literacy growth and students’ sense of belonging.

The presentations outlined specific growth targets, new instructional emphases and practical steps to reach students. "These should look familiar to you because they are the exact same goals that we had last year," Tara Piatek said as she walked through Rotolo Middle School’s targets, which include midyear and end-of-year growth benchmarks and a CHAMPS goal of 14 active opportunities to respond in observed lessons.

Why it matters: District leaders told the board they are tracking both proficiency and growth measures — a shift aimed at showing year-over-year student progress rather than only endpoint benchmarks. Several schools said they will use Panorama survey data to measure belonging and to inform targeted interventions for students who report lower support.

Across the elementary and middle schools, action steps included structured classroom visits for peer learning, tiered SEL interventions, common exit tickets tied to the new math curriculum, and gamified motivation systems (punch cards, leaderboards) to sustain student engagement. Hoover Wood principal Sean Deggeman described digital tools meant to amplify positive behavior: a district-wide digital rewards system (Howie’s Heroes), digital care sheets to track recurring behavior, and a "Deggman Drops" form to let students report concerns directly to administrators.

At the high school level, Joanne Smith said Batavia High is using mastery-prep tools and PLC-driven curriculum work to align classroom instruction with college-readiness benchmarks. "It will provide support and consistent college readiness development," she said of the Mastery Prep platform.

Several principals noted that their school leadership teams are digging into formative data and exemplars to set rigorous, level-appropriate targets. Kristen Stevens referenced recent state changes to proficiency benchmarks and urged board members to consider growth metrics as the primary evidence of progress: "The state has changed their proficiency benchmarks, so looking at growth percentages gives us a clearer picture of whether students are progressing," she said.

What’s next: Schools said they will continue implementing PLC cycles, extend student focus groups, and return midyear with updated growth data. The district-level midyear review was noted as the next step to aggregate building results and confirm resource allocations.

The board did not take any policy votes tied to the presentations; the session closed after routine items and a motion to adjourn.