District, BCPEF and Stewart Elementary tout gains: grants, telemedicine use and I-Ready growth
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Summary
Cleveland City Schools and the BCPEF reported recent grant awards, expanded telemedicine visits and midyear I-Ready growth; Stewart Elementary highlighted engagement strategies and attendance improvements.
District leaders and the Bradley County/Cleveland City Schools Public Education Foundation (BCPEF) presented midyear updates to the board highlighting private and state grant support, telemedicine usage, and student growth measures.
Lynn Volz, identified in the meeting as BCPEF executive director, and Laurie McNulty, BCPEF vice president, reported BCPEF fundraising and program support. BCPEF has raised $12,100,000 over 22 years in private funds that support teacher grants, scholarships, CTE programs and LEAD fellowship cohorts. Year-to-date support for the current fiscal year was reported at about $500,000; teacher grants disbursed total about $66,000 this year. Volz noted confirmation of private, multi-year support for the LEAD fellowship and cited telemedicine partnership results: in a recent week the program offered 723 telemedicine visits with 431 completed.
Dr. Elliott and academic staff reviewed I-Ready midyear data and instructional priorities. Presenters said district growth from fall to winter shows strong early-literacy gains and measurable growth among students who began below grade level, while overall proficiency remains below state and national benchmarks. The district will focus on early intervention in grades 1, 6 and 7 for ELA and on grades 4 and 6 for math; the state tutoring grant ($74,000) will support intensive small-group tutoring (1 teacher:3 students elementary, 1:4 middle) starting this week.
Stewart Elementary principal Miss Bradford gave a school spotlight on engagement strategies and outcomes: Stewart serves about 230 students (about 315 including pre-kindergarten), represents 16 countries, and reports roughly 30% of students receiving ESL services. Midyear I-Ready movement included 25 additional ELA students moved to grade level and 37 additional students moved to grade-level math. Stewart also reported improved attendance metrics: 30-day attendance of 92.3% and year-to-date attendance of 93.2%, with chronic absenteeism down to about 20% from about 25% last year. Bradford described instructional "explore days," family engagement events and upcoming Multicultural Night as part of the school’s strategy.
Board members thanked BCPEF and school leadership for the work; the board did not take a separate vote on BCPEF items (BCPEF is a private foundation partner).