Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sunrise Elementary students and staff tell Enumclaw School Board about leadership, mentorship and reading gains
Summary
Students and staff from Sunrise Elementary presented their 'growing together' theme, shared results from school well‑being surveys (HOPE) and described a schoolwide mentorship and MTSS approach that leaders say reduced special‑education referrals and improved reading outcomes.
Sunrise Elementary teachers and students presented their yearlong work on student well‑being, leadership and academic supports to the Enumclaw School District board on May 18.
The presentation highlighted three themes: student leadership, a structured mentorship program and data‑driven interventions. Morgan Tran, advisor for the Sunrise Leadership Group, told the board the club had 48 fourth‑ and fifth‑grade members who gave up free time to run service projects and lead school activities: "They gave up their free time. They gave up their lunch recess, to come together and figure out how we can help out Sunrise, how we can make Sunrise a better place." Student speakers described organizing toy and food drives and running school clubs.
Resource teacher Melissa Petrowski described a formal mentorship program that paired older students with younger peers, with mentors working in reading buddy and recess‑buddy roles. Petrowski said the program was intentionally structured with training and materials to create consistent mentoring experiences.
Haley Christiansen and school psychologist Melissa Woods explained how Sunrise used MTSS (multi‑tiered systems of support) and regular data reviews to target interventions. Staff reported fall HOPE survey results of about 68% of students reporting high hope and winter belonging at about 72%. Christiansen said staff calibrated screening administration and used weekly progress monitoring and targeted "Win Time" instruction so teachers could provide tiered interventions.
School leaders told the board those steps both improved literacy data across most grades and reduced the number of special‑education referrals by addressing learning gaps earlier. The principal summarized that the school focused on sustainable systems so improvements continue when staff change.
The board applauded the student presenters and thanked Sunrise staff for the presentation. The school will display its state recognition banners in the coming weeks to mark growth in specified student groups.
