William Foster Elementary highlights literacy gains, attendance improvement at board meeting

At the Feb. 17 Garfield Heights Board of Education meeting, William Foster Elementary staff presented school-level progress on literacy, attendance and student supports.

Principal or lead presenter Ms. Woodson said the school is maintaining a 2.5-star overall report card rating and reported a 4% gain toward early literacy compared with the prior year. She also said the school continues to hold a four-star gap-closing rating.

Ms. Woodson described classroom and intervention strategies including Heggerty and Fundations for early literacy, a dedicated intervention block of 40–45 minutes, instructional rounds and coaching, and a new play-based learning lab. She credited preschool pathways and the director of preschool, Ms. Bachman, for stronger Tier 1 entrants and noted that 84% of kindergartners were moved to on-track status by the end of last year’s efforts.

On attendance, Woodson described PBIS-related incentives and programs and reported a year-over-year decrease in chronic absenteeism of 43.5%, with current attendance figures cited as 45% as of Jan. 20 (the presentation used the state’s chronic-absence lens). Staff also highlighted community partnerships — including a three-day mobile dentist clinic and visits from Cleveland Clinic partners — plus family engagement events such as literacy night and a forthcoming art showcase.

Board members praised the staff for the work and for engaging families and community partners. The school’s presenter encouraged continued support from parents and the district to sustain gains.

The board received the presentation; no formal action was taken on school programming at the meeting.