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Ridgefield High School lays out targets: raise math proficiency, expand dual credit and scale RTI supports
Summary
Ridgefield High School leaders told the board they aim to raise math proficiency from 42% to at least 50% and reduce disparity gaps, expand dual‑credit and CTE offerings, and scale RTI Scheduler and MTSS to provide earlier interventions and social‑emotional screening.
Ridgefield High School Principal Jeremy Tortora and assistant principals presented school improvement priorities, data trends and planned interventions to the board on Monday.
Principal Tortora said the high school uses two lenses on state report‑card data — foundational learning (grade‑level proficiency) and college readiness — and described three building priorities for the year: improving math achievement district‑wide, strengthening professional learning teams (PLTs) to ensure consistent standards and instruction, and creating a school environment that encourages students to attend. He cited the establishment of a ninth‑grade success team and said ninth‑grade on‑track is one of the measures that contributes roughly 5% to the school improvement growth score.
"We're starting a ninth grade success team next year…we believe and research says that if students are on track to graduate after ninth grade, the likelihood of them graduating is magnified," Tortora said.
Assistant Principal Lindsey McQuiston told the board the math department's target for the school year is to raise overall math proficiency from 42% to at least 50% and to close the proficiency gap between low‑income and non‑low‑income students by at least 5 percentage points, using Smarter Balanced assessments and interim benchmark data. McQuiston described PLT collaboration, targeted interventions during "spud" time and after‑school tutoring as levers to reach that goal.
Assistant Principal Jen Johnson described ELA and MTSS work: a goal to reduce ELA disparity gaps by 5% for students with disabilities and for Hispanic/Latinx students by the end of 2025–26; implementation of RTI Scheduler this year to plan targeted interventions; and a Character Strong pilot for universal social‑emotional instruction. Johnson shared RTI Scheduler usage figures (as of the prior week): 34% of sessions used for study, 38% for enrichment, 19% for intervention and 9% for test retakes — evidence, she said, that the system is enabling more timely, targeted supports.
"It makes the process far more efficient, and we've got some excellent feedback from staff as to how this is supporting their instruction," Johnson said of RTI Scheduler.
The district also described growth in dual‑credit participation (noting an increase from roughly 26% four years ago to 53% now) and plans to certify additional teachers to offer college courses in the high school classroom. Principal Tortora said the district is adding five new CTE courses next year (environmental science, audio and sound, video production, stagecraft and a core‑plus construction class) and forecasted more than 200 new CTE seats as a result.
Board members asked about grading consistency, measurement of belonging and attendance correlations; presenters said the district is shifting toward standards‑based grading and will use a social‑emotional screener plus senior exit interviews to collect data on belonging and correlate it with attendance.
Why it matters: The presentation laid out concrete, measurable targets and several systems (PLTs, RTI Scheduler, MTSS, Character Strong and senior exit interviews) intended to close achievement gaps and increase on‑track rates and graduation. The board asked staff to return in the fall with certified state scores and to report progress against these interim measures.
