Red Apple celebrates new building and reports stronger early reading benchmarks

Red Apple school leaders told the Racine Unified School Board on Feb. 16 that the school's new building and recent outreach appear to be coinciding with unusually strong early reading benchmarks. Staff said they are optimistic about hitting a 75% proficiency goal on the district's Forward exam.

Administrators described community turnout at last week's ribbon cutting (about 600 people) and introduced three students who helped program a robot for the ceremony. Assistant Principal Missus Hunter and other staff said the event was both a celebration and a learning opportunity; students described technical lessons and setup challenges.

On academics, presenters said the school increased its report-card ratings and highlighted oral reading fluency scores collected in January: third grade roughly 70%, fourth grade 68% and fifth grade 82%. Red Apple reported a prior Forward exam proficiency of 38% and set a target of 75% proficiency districtwide for the coming cycle. Staff attributed the gains to focused PLC work, collaboration with an instructional math coach (Amy Bloom) and an emphasis on both reading and math instruction.

Board members asked standard operational questions about technology time (estimated about 30 minutes daily), recess (roughly 30 minutes for younger grades, occasional extra minutes in the afternoon) and elementary calculator use (limited; more frequent in middle grades). Members praised the staff and expressed optimism for the school's first day in the new building.

Administrators said they are monitoring transitions caused by school reconfiguration (K—9 to K—) and expect the new facilities to help retain students who previously left for other middle schools. The school said staff will continue to focus on building culture and belonging as part of sustained academic improvement.