Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Principal Sarah Spear highlights student gains, programs at Badness Heights Elementary
Loading...
Summary
At an ISD 624 board meeting, Principal Sarah Spear reported that Badness Heights serves about 400 K–5 students, described progress on multilingual and special-education goals and outlined instructional strategies, family events and partnerships that the school credits for recent gains.
Principal Sarah Spear told the School Board of Independent School District 624 that Badness Heights Elementary enrolls about 400 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and operates a popular pre-kindergarten program that remains at capacity.
Spear said the school remains a Title I building, with 43.5% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and 50.9% students of color. "We have approximately 400 students," she said, and added that the school's multilingual population is about 15.5% while special-education enrollment is 21.4%, including a new cluster program for DCD and ASD students.
Spear front‑loaded the school's academic goals: K–1 and grades 2–5 targets tied to district FASTBridge and CBM reading measures, with a winter benchmark goal of 80% low‑risk students on FASTBridge for targeted grades. "Although this data, I wish we were at our goal of 80% at this point in time, but we're working on it," she said, describing regular data meetings and three full‑time intervention teachers funded through Title and compensatory allocation.
The principal credited LETRS professional development and an instructional strategy the school calls "talk, read, talk, write" for supporting multilingual learners and boosting engagement. She described six‑week data cycles, vertical teaming across K–5 neighborhoods ("Grizzlies, Polars and Kodiaks") and partnerships that bring University of Minnesota master-level student teachers into classrooms.
Spear also highlighted family and community programming: an 800‑person PTO-sponsored "bear bash," field trips chosen to broaden student experience (examples: Como Park, Bell Museum), music and art showcases, and a planned playground installation this summer. She pointed to a role for volunteers and district partnerships in expanding opportunities, and invited board members and residents to visit the school.
Board members asked about testing timing, subgroup breakdowns and absentee impacts during winter weather. Spear said FASTBridge spring testing follows MCA testing in April–May, that EduCLIMBER holds longitudinal individual student records for conference conversations and that winter absences were "single digits" at Badness Heights this season. The board thanked Spear for the report; the meeting moved on to districtwide capital‑project updates.
