Kennerly Elementary honored by Lindbergh board; school reports strong SEL and early‑literacy gains
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Kennerly Elementary students and staff were recognized at the Dec. 16 Lindbergh School District board meeting; presenters cited a Panorama survey showing 93% of third‑to‑fifth graders report having a trusted adult and highlighted first‑grade reading gains and math intervention results.
Kennerly Elementary School was the focus of special recognitions at the Lindbergh School District Board of Education meeting on Dec. 16, where teachers, support staff and students were honored and school leaders shared recent social‑emotional and academic results.
Jessica McCarthy, representing Kennerly Elementary, introduced the school’s 2024–25 teacher of the year, Cory McKean, and support‑staff person of the year, Cindy Blaylock, praising both for their instructional leadership and daily work with students. Student spotlight awards were presented to Katherine Neimeyer and Denim MacKire.
The Kennerly presentation included student well‑being and academic data. McCarthy said the district uses the Panorama survey to assess social and emotional health; “93 percent of our third to fifth grade students answered yes” to having “a teacher or an adult from your school that you can count on to help you no matter what,” she said, and staff identified 13 students (about 7 percent) who were offered additional counselor support. The school also cited a partnership resource, Youth in Need, as a one‑on‑one support for students.
On academic measures, Kennerly reported 2024–25 iReady math results with 73 percent of students in tier 1, 22 percent in tier 2 and 4 percent in tier 3. McCarthy said the school’s goal is to raise tier‑1 math proficiency to 80 percent and that personalized learning and targeted small‑group instruction are being used to reach that target. She also highlighted early‑reading growth: first‑grade tier‑1 reading rose from 26 percent in fall to 65 percent in winter, and first‑grade phonics proficiency was reported to have increased from 32 percent to 80 percent.
McCarthy described professional learning and instructional supports, including half‑day coaching labs for grade‑level teams and a math teaching assistant who supports roughly 50 students per 6–8 week intervention cycle; the presentation reported that about 74 percent of those students demonstrated mastery on the targeted priority standard. Staff climate was also noted: a fall survey showed 97 percent of Kennerly staff strongly or somewhat agreed they enjoy coming to work.
Board members thanked Kennerly staff for the presentation and singled out proactive supports in math and reading. The board paused briefly for photos and to present small recognition gifts before moving on to other agenda items.