Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Jordan Small principal highlights BAR, outdoor education and attendance push; cites chronic absenteeism and behavioral strain
Summary
Jordan Small principal Michelle Brown told the board that the school is implementing BAR schoolwide, expanding outdoor education, and using WIN advisory time to target attendance and academic supports. She cited chronic absenteeism and increased student dysregulation as continuing challenges.
Jordan Small Middle School Principal Michelle Brown gave the board a state‑of‑the‑school presentation on Jan. 7, outlining programmatic successes and persistent challenges.
Brown said Jordan Small is now a full BAR (Building Assets, Reducing Risk) school, with fifth and sixth grades trained in summer implementation and seventh/eighth grades operating well under the program. She described a new outdoor education enrichment program for seventh and eighth graders that incorporates nature journaling, maple‑tree data collection and seasonal long‑form projects. "We are a full school BAR school now," Brown said, highlighting that BAR meetings inform tiers of intervention and teacher planning.
Brown also described WIN advisory time (targeted interventions twice weekly), weekly MTSS attendance monitoring, and incentives tied to a district goal of 95% average daily attendance. She said one grade level was approaching 96% daily attendance and the school is using tiered interventions to address chronic absences.
On challenges, Brown cited rising social‑emotional needs and lower stamina for sustained attention among students: "Dysregulation — disruption, disrespect and defiance — are low‑level but persistent and wear on staff," she said, and noted the school is implementing behavior lessons, PBIS structures, and RTI/MTSS interventions to respond.
Brown closed by noting community partnerships such as the Give & Gather event, which produced roughly 20–25 Thanksgiving baskets for families, and by asking the board for continued support as the district prepares to open the new middle school in about a year and a half.
Next steps: continued curriculum alignment with other middle schools, weekly attendance work, and targeted behavior interventions through BAR and MTSS.
