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Hidden Valley Elementary highlights belonging work and winter academic gains
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Summary
Hidden Valley Elementary told the ISD 191 board it is boosting student belonging through affinity groups, family events and targeted recognition; winter reading-growth data showed 60.8% of K–5 students made typical or aggressive growth, exceeding the school's spring goal.
Hidden Valley Elementary presented a data-driven school improvement update to the ISD 191 Board of Education on April 23, emphasizing relationship-building and family engagement as foundations for academic growth. Principal Christine Black said the school centers its work on four words—believe, belong, build and become—and described several initiatives intended to strengthen belonging for students and families.
Black and staff highlighted this winter’s start of an affinity group that connects Hidden Valley and Eagle Ridge Middle School students to discuss culture and belonging. The school has increased family-facing events and reenergized its parent-teacher association, which grew from roughly two active members last year to six to eight this year. School psychologist and student-systems leader Carrie Comar described multilingual liaisons, “miss you” bags distributed to students who went virtual during the winter, and a multi-format family survey (QR code and paper) that increased responses from 26 last spring to 87 to date.
Comar summarized survey results drawn from the QR responses: 95% of respondents said events were well organized, 97% felt their feedback was valued, 95% said the variety of events met family interests, and 91% asked for continued and expanded family events. The school uses those responses to adjust programming and to increase family voice in planning.
Principal Black also reviewed interim academic data and the school improvement goal: raise the percentage of kindergarten through fifth-grade students who make typical or aggressive growth from 55% (2025 baseline) to at least 58% by spring 2026. Winter data showed 60.8% meeting that growth metric, surpassing the goal in the interim measure. Black cautioned that three-year trends show winter gains followed by spring declines, and staff are focusing on interventions and aligned grade-level guarantees to interrupt that pattern.
Board members praised the Peace Site rededication, student artwork and the quilt project, and several asked for follow-up data. Director Anderson specifically requested a comparison showing whether students publicly recognized for “aggressive growth” in the winter also made measurable growth from winter to spring. Black agreed to provide additional data to the board. The presentation closed with board appreciation for the school’s efforts to balance high expectations with relationship-building.
