APC Leadership Collaborative presents four-year ‘belonging’ review to North Santiam SD 29J; sites report attendance and student leadership gains

An APC Leadership Collaborative presenter told North Santiam SD 29J trustees on April 22 that the consultant group changed its name to APC Leadership Collaborative and framed the rebrand as both a practical and substantive shift in the organization’s work.

The presenter said one reason for the name change was a contracting constraint with partners that barred the use of the word “equity” on invoices; the other was that the organization’s partnerships and activities have evolved over 13 years. “We changed our name,” the presenter said. “Our new name is APC Leadership Collaborative.”

Why it matters: APC and district leaders described a multi-year effort to increase student voice, create site-based belonging teams and measure outcomes. District staff and teachers said the work aims to shift responsibility for belonging from students to adults and to make interventions repeatable across schools.

Staton Elementary reported measurable attendance effects. Christy Fleming, a third-grade teacher at Staton Elementary School, said every staff member adopted a student with chronic attendance issues and intentionally built relationships. Fleming said the team identified 48 students for the pilot; in the first quarter, 55% of those students met the target of 90% or better attendance. Quarter 2 performance dropped to 40% after a flu outbreak, Fleming said, and staff distributed letters and small incentives to recognize improvement.

“We picked kids that didn’t have any significant medical concerns or family vacations,” Fleming said. “We purposely met with this child as often as we could. We’re definitely noticing improvements.”

Student leadership expanded: presenters said a district cohort grew to about 65 students, including roughly 30 ninth-graders who will lead work for multiple years and who had gone to elementary sites to collect student feedback. APC presenters described results from a listening report in which students in 2021 reported holding their pain and not feeling able to talk about race in class; staff said the new student-led activities aim to address those concerns.

Sublimity site staff described a two-question, schoolwide survey (phrased simply for young children) asked three times a year: whether students feel they can be themselves at school and whether there is an adult they can talk to if struggling. A Sublimity staff member described an example in which follow-up with a quiet kindergarten student led to improved survey responses and classroom participation.

District staff framed the change as cultural and iterative: a district staff member said teachers have increasingly owned the work and that the district now uses data (including attendance and student surveys) to adjust local practices. A board member acknowledged political pressure over terms like “equity” but said the district can keep the work focused on a simple test: “do what’s best for kids.”

What’s next: presenters encouraged continued site-level implementation, measurement and communication with the community. There was no formal vote or district action taken at the session; the workshop closed with thanks to APC and adjournment on April 22.

Reporting details: Quotes and attributions come from the meeting’s speaker list and presentations recorded at the April 22 workshop. Numbers reported (48 targeted students; 55% meeting 90%+ attendance in quarter 1; 40% in quarter 2; ~65 students in the leadership cohort, ~30 freshmen) were presented by school staff or APC presenters during the session.