Board hears update on "Journey to Success" milestones; district reports increased entries and plans to improve digital tracking

The Jefferson County Board on May 13 received an update on the district’s "Journey to Success" milestone program, which asks students in grades 4, 7 and 10 to complete at least one milestone exhibition during the year.

Board member Duncan introduced the monitoring session and district staff explained three milestone options — exhibitions of learning, student‑led conferences and mini defenses — and said the exhibition format was most common this first year. Dr. Jessica Rosenthal described how the data shown represents entries recorded in the Journey to Success platform and cautioned that entries continue to be added through the final days of school.

“As schools finish year‑end activities, we expect milestone counts to rise,” Dr. Jessica Rosenthal said, noting the district had recently updated numbers and that high school entries had moved from 44% to 58% in a short period as schools entered completed milestones into the platform.

District presenters highlighted next steps: a more user‑friendly digital platform for 2025–26, targeted professional learning for staff, additional resources to support student‑led conferences and defenses, and calibration opportunities for school leaders to replicate strong practices.

Board members asked about supports for multilingual learners, cross‑disciplinary planning in high schools, and how schools without specific programs (like Explore) can still create meaningful milestone experiences. School practitioners speaking later — including a Grace James principal and teacher Stephanie Maynard from Norton Elementary — described successful local models and large family turnout at exhibitions.

The board voted to receive the monitoring report.