Creswell Middle School principal reports gains in literacy interventions and raises concerns after student health survey

Julie, presenting to the Creswell School District 40 board, reviewed state assessment and interim I-Ready results and described steps the middle school is taking to address student learning and well-being.

Julie said the district hired a 0.5 FTE reading intervention teacher to work with small groups of students who score below the 20th percentile on I-Ready; she reported about 25–30 middle-school students receive those targeted reading services. On a sample cohort receiving a new math intervention (Number Worlds combined with supplemental materials), Julie said 10 of 11 students showed benchmark growth and seven made more than a year's worth of growth in half a year.

On student health, Julie said the district administered a mandated middle-school health survey to sixth and eighth graders and flagged results she described as "concerning." She cited specific figures presented in the board packet: 6% of sixth-graders and 8.3% of eighth-graders indicated they had considered attempting suicide; 17.4% of sixth-graders and 31.3% of eighth-graders reported being bullied on school property; 14% of sixth-graders reported electronic bullying; 14.4% of eighth-graders reported they had had more than a few sips of alcohol; and 7.2% of eighth-graders reported using vaping or e-cigarette products.

"While 6% is not a large number, it is clearly concerning," Julie said, urging the board to consider those data alongside the school's supports. She described the district's response: on-campus counseling, partnerships with outside mental-health providers, a Sources of Strength program, weekly check-ins by the school counselor for about 10 students, a new boys' group of seven students that meets weekly, explicit health lessons about vaping, and 11 referrals this year for outside counseling.

Julie also described procedural improvements: streamlined student-study-team documentation, tighter schoolwide writing expectations, and increased collaboration across sites to support acceleration and intervention schedules.

Board members praised the presentation and asked about survey coverage and grading differences; one member noted that interim assessments like I-Ready provide growth data the state summative test does not. The board did not take immediate action on policy changes; the presentation was recorded as a status update and the district will continue to track interventions and counseling referrals.

Next steps identified by the presenter included continued monitoring of intervention cohorts, outreach to families to address chronic attendance that limits students' access to interventions, and expanded coordination with district and regional mental-health partners.