Principal Soltis and assistant principals Amanda and Marissa presented to the Beacon City School District Board of Education on Jan. 12 about academic programs, testing participation and student supports at Roundabout Middle School.

Soltis led with enrollment and achievement figures, noting new capacity for advanced art and steady honors participation: "We opened a second section of advanced art this year, so we now have 27 students in that," she said, and reported honor-roll rates of roughly 60% for sixth grade, 49% for seventh and 43% for eighth for students maintaining honors across marking periods. She told the board the district remains below the state average in ELA and math, with particular concern about math achievement.

The presentation stressed participation as a major data problem. "We should really be up in the nineties for participation rates," Soltis said, describing a pattern of middle-school students opting out or bringing notes on test days. She explained that regional/regents students have been excluded from some denominators, which changes reported proficiency rates, and urged improved parent and student communications to restore accurate participation.

Assistant Principal Amanda described how the school’s MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) team operates: weekly meetings, a referral packet documenting interventions, and 6–8 week cycles to assess whether tier 2 or tier 3 supports are needed. Amanda provided counts from the prior year: 23 total MTSS cases (8 teacher referrals, 11 parent requests, 4 carry-overs), 14 students who "cycled out," two students who received 504 plans, and one special-education referral. For the current school year she reported nine active cases so far and one pending special-education referral.

Soltis and staff described short-term and longer-term strategies to address math: targeted before-school tutoring for at-risk students, an online evening option for students who cannot attend morning sessions, and professional development partnerships with BOCES to improve station teaching practices in math. Soltis said a short course pilot would run "somewhere between, like, 12 and 16" students over roughly four weeks.

The presentation also covered student engagement and extracurriculars: upcoming trips (8th grade to Washington, D.C.; 7th grade to Boston), expanded club participation (369 students) and modified-sports enrollment (128 students). Miss Benson outlined a first annual STEAM fair set for March 19 with daytime school displays, judge panels, two winners per grade and an evening community opening from 6 to 7 p.m.

Soltis closed with several building-level proposals under consideration — a wood-shop tech-ed elective for eighth grade, a nine-period day to provide time for intervention without displacing electives, and more single-use restrooms — and asked the board to consider these as part of planning for next year. Board members asked for mid-year benchmark summaries (I-Ready midyear results on Feb. 9 was noted) and praised the classroom video used to show professional-development uptake.

Next steps: staff will provide a simple midyear data summary for the board after the Feb. 9 I-Ready benchmark and continue outreach to increase state-test participation.