Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Presentation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sunrise Elementary highlights leadership, mentorship and growth in student well‑being
Summary
Students and staff at Sunrise Elementary presented the building theme “growing together,” reported stronger HOPE-survey and belonging scores, described a structured mentorship program and leadership club activities, and outlined MTSS-driven interventions that reduced special‑education referrals.
Sunrise Elementary staff and students presented to the Enumclaw School District board on May 18, summarizing a year of student leadership, mentorship and measurable gains in student wellbeing.
The presentation — framed around the school theme “growing together” — highlighted two annual surveys. Staff reported a fall HOPE-survey result near 68 percent and a winter psychological sense of school membership of about 72 percent, and said they used that data to target supports for students who needed extra help.
Morgan Tran, advisor for the Sunrise Leadership Group, described a leadership club of 48 fourth‑ and fifth‑grade students who gave up recess and lunch to run projects that built school community. “They gave up their free time. They gave up their lunch recess, to come together and figure out how we can help out Sunrise,” Tran said.
Melissa Petrowski, the school’s resource teacher, described an intentional mentorship program that paired student mentors with peers for six‑week cycles and included reading buddies and recess supports. She said mentors arrived early, were prepared, and that the program showed mutual benefits for mentors and mentees.
Student speakers described specific projects: organizing a district toy drive, running a cereal‑box donation ‘domino challenge’ that collected roughly 350 boxes for a local food bank, and starting student‑led clubs including an art club and garden club. A fourth‑grader, Happy Hellman, said leadership taught “the importance of helping others and working together.”
Staff also described work to make interventions more systematic through their MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) process: calibrating screeners and assessment administration, implementing grade‑level data huddles, and increasing in‑class interventions at Tier 2 and Tier 3 so fewer students progressed to special‑education referral. Presenters said those changes lowered the number of special‑education referrals compared with the prior year and increased successful exits from special education.
The board responded with applause and questions about program details and student recognition. The presentation concluded with staff noting ongoing efforts to scale interventions and sustain the mentorship structures for future teams.
No formal action resulted from the presentation; it was provided as a communications item to inform the board and community.
