Beechwood Elementary tells Clover Park board it outperformed state averages and prioritizes inclusion

Principal David Poggison told the Clover Park School District Board of Directors on Feb. 9 that Beechwood Elementary has continued to outperform state averages on several statewide assessments and is focusing on inclusion and family engagement to sustain gains.

Poggison, who identified Beechwood as a school serving students from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, said the school’s third-grade spring 2025 SBA results were 71% proficiency in English language arts and 80% in math, exceeding the state average. He said fifth-grade results were 88.9% proficiency in ELA and 77.8% in math, and that 91.7% of fifth-graders were proficient on the state science assessment. He also told the board that 97.7% of the student body is military-affiliated, 48.6% qualify as low income, and 28.5% receive special-education services.

“These scores are supported by strong commitment to reading, writing, and math skills across Beechwood,” Poggison said. He framed the results as the product of sustained, research-based instruction, schoolwide professional development and a peer observation program that allows teachers to learn from one another.

Poggison outlined three campus goals behind the school’s annual action plan: academic achievement, family engagement and social-emotional learning. He said the school aims to raise student growth percentiles on early literacy and reading assessments to 55 by June 2026, achieve at least 95% attendance at two annual family–teacher conferences, and reduce the share of students who are chronically absent from 28% to 15%.

To support inclusion, Poggison described a flowchart-based team process that pairs general and special-education teachers to plan accommodations before students enter inclusive settings. “Neurodiversity is a strength,” he said, describing recent increases in the least restrictive environment for students in the functional academics program and citing daily collaboration among special-education teachers, paraeducators and classroom teachers.

Board members asked detailed questions about assessment metrics and day-to-day practices. Director Lauer congratulated the school for its state recognition and asked whether decreases in proficiency in one grade alongside growth in the same cohort could be a reporting artifact; Poggison explained that growth and proficiency measure different things and described how students can show growth even when cohort proficiency shifts. Director Kim and others asked about replicating Beechwood’s practices districtwide; Poggison pointed to collective efficacy, trust in professional learning, and staff collaboration as key drivers.

Board members thanked the principal and staff for the report. No board action was required; the presentation was for the board’s information and will inform district planning and site support.