Westminster Public Schools reports midyear academic gains; kindergarten leads progress
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Summary
District midyear update: five improvement strategies show early signs of progress—especially kindergarten with paraprofessionals in every classroom; district median growth percentile rose to 45 (target 50) and the 4‑year graduation rate is 75.8%—administrators say consistency and scaling remain priorities.
Westminster Public Schools presented a midyear academic update on Feb. 24, highlighting progress across five major improvement strategies and early indicators of student growth.
District education leader Brian Kacena said the district’s strategy targets early literacy, foundational math, data‑driven improvement, strengthened teacher collaboration (PLCs/CPS), and multilingual learner access and acceleration. Kacena pointed to a successful year‑one implementation of a paraprofessional in every kindergarten classroom as a likely contributor to strong kindergarten results.
Key data presented:
- District 4‑year graduation rate: 75.8% (extended cohorts: 5‑year 80%, 7‑year 82.6%). - District median growth percentile (MGP) in math: 45 (up from 42 at this time last year); district target is 50. - Kindergarten MGP: 59, noted as a strong outlier above target. - District dropout rate: 3% (down slightly from 3.2%); state average cited at 1.6%.
Kacena described operational changes: paraprofessionals in every kindergarten, a K–8 math fluency framework (piloted in second semester), expanded progress monitoring using DIBELS and Renaissance STAR, adoption of the VISTA curriculum for CLDE instruction, and protected collaborative planning time through a district CPS (Collaborative Partner Schools) framework.
Challenges and next steps: presenters cautioned that implementation depth varies across schools and that consistency remains the main work ahead. Kacena said PLC depth and fidelity of practice must be tightened, and that CLDE specialists are sometimes pulled to cover substitute vacancies, which disrupts consistent service delivery. The district plans more coaching cycles, fidelity monitoring, and targeted professional development to scale the strategies.
Kacena framed the midyear indicators as promising but emphasized they are not final outcomes: "These are mid year indicators, not final outcomes, but they do help us assess whether the instructional shifts we've discussed are beginning to translate into measurable student growth," he said.
The board followed the report with clarifying questions about grade‑by‑grade enrollment shifts, PLC facilitation and monitoring, and the consequences of specialist staff being used as substitutes.