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Littleton district previews preliminary 2024'25 letter grades; plans appeals for two schools
Summary
Superintendent and curriculum director presented preliminary school letter grades and growth highlights; the district said it will appeal Lake Prep Academy's initial D and Littleton STEM Academy's ELL-related score, and outlined targeted supports and PLC-driven strategies to raise achievement.
Superintendent Dr. Lefit and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Suhi Ladette presented the Littleton Elementary School District's annual academic progress review and previewed expected 2024'25 school letter grades, saying the Arizona Department of Education will release official grades Oct. 31.
The presentation explained the state's letter-grade methodology — growth (50%), proficiency (30%), acceleration/readiness (10%) and English language learner (ELL) progress (10%) — and showed that district schools have demonstrated both stability and pockets of improvement. Dr. Ladette highlighted K'1 reading and grades 4'8 math growth targets and reported that most campuses met district growth goals for the year.
The administration said two schools will be appealed: Lake Prep Academy, whose preliminary designation is a D, and Littleton STEM Academy, which is two one-hundredths of a point from an A at 83.98 points. The district cited Lake Prep's short history (second year of operation) and small subgroup sizes that limited its ability to earn certain points, and noted that Littleton STEM experienced testing disruptions during AASA administration (a fire-alarm-triggered evacuation) and ELL assessment complications on the AzELLA that the district believes the state board may consider during appeal.
Dr. Ladette also shared school- and grade-level highlights: examples included double-digit increases in math or ELA at several campuses (e.g., Collier Business Academy and Australia Vista STEM Academy) and strong attendance and family-engagement gains. The presentation noted that Littleton Online Academy is preliminarily a C and may not generate a letter grade in the future due to declining enrollment.
Board members congratulated campuses with strong results, asked administration to return with more detail on sites that lost ground, and pressed for targeted supports where growth lags. Superintendent Dr. Lefit said the work will be guided by a professional learning community (PLC) framework and continued district-level supports for subgroups including special education, ELL and gifted learners.
Next steps: the district will submit appeals for the two schools and report back to the board with any state response; administrators will continue PLC work and site-level interventions.
