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Rio Rico High presenters outline gains in ACT/ELA, dual‑enrollment expansion and attendance targets
Summary
School leaders told the Santa Cruz Valley USD board that Rio Rico High School saw increases in ACT‑related ELA measures and outlined actions — dual‑enrollment growth, targeted PD and attendance interventions — aimed at improving proficiency, math scores and graduation outcomes.
School leaders presented detailed performance data for Rio Rico High School during the Jan. 27 meeting, walking board members through how the state letter grade is calculated (50 percent ACT‑related measures, 30 percent proficiency/growth, 20 percent graduation and an English‑learner subcomponent) and highlighting recent gains.
Presenters reported an increase in ACT‑based ELA proficiency for juniors from roughly 22 percent to about 29 percent year over year and small gains in math. They described strategies that supported the improvements: a district‑wide ACT plan with practice opportunities, subject‑level professional development, a new math curriculum rollout and targeted supports for English learners including split SEI instruction (separate writing and speaking/listening teachers) and a paraprofessional added through a grant.
The school also outlined efforts to expand dual‑enrollment and career/technical offerings: administrators said Pima Community College has removed a hold that will allow more dual‑enrollment courses and the district is pursuing an engineering dual‑enrollment agreement with the University of Arizona that staff said would be offered at no cost to students once an MOU is finalized.
Attendance and chronic absenteeism were raised as ongoing challenges: the school’s chronic absenteeism rate was reported near 37.9 percent for a prior year and slipped slightly to about 37.29 percent in the most recent reporting. Presenters described interventions — a data‑driven 'A team' and lunch‑time accountability strategies — intended to reduce chronic absence and tardiness by target percentages across the next semesters.
Board members asked about alternative/hybrid programs for credit recovery; staff said a small pilot is underway to test a different blended program at Calabasas as an alternative to the existing Ingenuity/credit recovery model, and that any changes would aim to preserve regular high‑school diplomas for participating students.
The presentation closed with requests for continued monitoring and alignment of site action plans to district priorities.
