Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Instruction And Intervention topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Midway Elementary leaders credit attendance push, intervention folders for recent gains
Summary
Midway Elementary principal told the Lincoln County Board of Education that schoolwide PBIS, targeted attendance efforts and newly shared OneDrive curriculum folders — including math 'bell ringers' and test‑authored item banks — are supporting teacher instruction and helping student proficiency in 2025.
Midway Elementary Principal Miss McComis told the Lincoln County Board of Education on Oct. 28 that the school’s behavior and attendance initiatives, combined with newly shared curriculum resources, are helping teachers and students show measurable improvement.
At a Local School Improvement Council presentation at Midway Elementary in Allen Creek, Miss McComis described classroom incentives (student‑of‑the‑month and a counselor‑run "Caught Doing Good" program), a PBIS‑linked safety routine and an attendance campaign the county has branded "10 or less" to discourage chronic absenteeism. "My current chronic SAT rate is 18%," she said, referring to the share of students with attendance below 90 percent, and described daily phone calls, home visits and an attendance team that includes the school’s communities‑in‑schools liaison and the social worker.
Why it matters: Chronic absenteeism is a common driver of lower performance. Miss McComis provided grade‑level proficiency snapshots comparing Midway, county and state results (for example, fifth grade: Midway 30, county 31, state 37) and said school programs aim to raise those outcomes.
The presentation also highlighted county‑wide curriculum supports developed by central staff. Miss Shortridge described OneDrive folders that contain lesson plans, test‑authored item banks that mimic state tests for grades 3–8, scripted "bell ringers," fluency practice pages and teacher guides. "We've created folders for math and literacy that teachers can use as a reteach, task cards or bell ringers," she said, noting that ECATs, interventionists and special education aids have access.
Instructional supports include hands‑on professional development in numeracy, an order of manipulatives to equip classrooms and a new tutorial video bank for substitutes or teachers needing examples of routines. For literacy, corrective‑reading professional development was cited, alongside ‘‘win groups’’ for targeted intervention, modified plans for K–5 special education students and tools such as Newsela and the state's Write On platform for writing practice.
Board members praised Midway staff and the central team for the resources. "A lot of great things," one trustee said. The presentation closed with an offer to share more detailed data and follow up on implementation as teachers use the materials more broadly.
The board did not take formal action on instructional items during the presentation; the report was delivered as information and will inform ongoing support and training plans.
