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MSD Warren Township previews fifth-grade review ahead of Jan. 5 redistricting work session
Summary
District leaders said seven focus groups are informing an enrollment-management redistricting initiative, including a fifth-grade review that will examine iLearn scores, instructional models and transition supports; staff will present findings at a Jan. 5 community engagement board work session.
Dr. Tim Hansen, superintendent of MSD Warren Township Schools, said the district has convened seven focus groups as part of an enrollment-management redistricting initiative and will present initial findings at a Jan. 5 community engagement board work session.
"Earlier this year, we engaged our community and our board in our enrollment management redistricting initiative," Hansen said, introducing the district’s focus-group process and identifying the fifth-grade experience group as one of seven panels reviewing student placement and programming.
Tierney Anderson, assistant superintendent for K–8 and lead of the fifth-grade focus group, said the group is "working hard to examine our current fifth grade experience and what we can do to get better." Anderson said the team is weighing whether to move fifth graders back to elementary schools and reviewing associated issues such as instructional model, transition activities, recess and K–5 report cards.
Anderson said the group included teachers, parents, elementary and middle-level administrators and assistant principals, and district support personnel. She said the focus group dug into data, including iLearn scores tied to the building where students learn and the instructional model provided, and compared approaches used in Marion County Schools to help inform recommendations.
"Some of the priorities that came out of our group was, for one, they really focused on getting it right instead of going fast," Anderson said, adding that whatever location the district selects will require substantive professional development for teachers.
Hansen said updates from all focus groups will be presented at a community engagement board work session on Monday, Jan. 5, at 6 p.m. in the Central Office at 975 North Post Road. He said the district’s demographer, Wilpert, will also present at that meeting. "No decisions have been made yet," Hansen said, calling the process "fact finding" and likening the current phase to halftime — a chance to review the "first half" of findings before moving forward.
The district did not announce any formal recommendations or votes in the discussion. The Jan. 5 session is scheduled to collect and present focus-group findings and next steps for the enrollment-management redistricting initiative.
