Juniper School reports midyear assessment gains; middle‑school math remains a focus
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Summary
Philip, head of Juniper School, presented midyear iReady (K–5) and STAR (6–8) results showing reading growth across grades and subgroups, notable reductions in students significantly behind, and ongoing math challenges at the middle‑school level partly attributed to a small, nontraditional incoming population.
Philip, Juniper School head of school, presented the school’s midyear assessment data and told the board that K–5 iReady ELA results show growth across grade levels and subgroups, including students with IEPs and those eligible for free and reduced lunch. Several board members noted small sample sizes at particular grades (for example, the fourth grade cohort has 16 students) and cautioned about overinterpreting percentages when N is small.
On math, Philip said the school used targeted intervention groups and noted that staffing changes (an interventionist on maternity leave last year) affected implementation; math growth has improved as interventions stabilized. For middle school (grades 6–8), the STAR results are more variable: Juniper’s middle‑school population is small (about 35 students total), many incoming students come from nontraditional or homeschool settings and may lack prior core math instruction, and around a third of middle‑school students have IEPs, which compounds the challenge of small subgroup sizes.
Philip described a deliberate strategy of spending the first semester backfilling foundational gaps and then accelerating grade‑level instruction as those gaps close. The board asked several clarifying questions about N sizes, subgroup reporting and plans to accelerate higher‑end growth; Philip said progress monitoring shows gains and that CMAS testing was approaching in April.
