Essex Elementary presents 2024–25 annual report, sets targets to boost SBAC proficiency and attendance

Essex Elementary School officials presented the school's 2024–25 annual report to the Essex Elementary Board of Education on Sept. 11, outlining student achievement results, strategic priorities for 2025–26 and specific targets for academic and climate measures.

The report, delivered by Principal David Kitzman and reviewed in packet materials, summarized Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) and iReady diagnostic results, highlighted curriculum adoptions and social-emotional learning initiatives, and set measurable goals including a 10% increase in SBAC proficiency and a 10% reduction in chronic absenteeism. The packet also lists the school’s annual budget at $8,745,676, total enrollment (257 K–6 students and 48 PreK students), and a per-pupil expenditure of $24,308.

Why it matters: The report frames the coming year around three priorities — improving teaching and learning, strengthening school climate and culture, and responsible budgeting — with an emphasis on supporting students most affected by pandemic-related learning disruptions. School leaders said targeted, data-driven interventions and expanded SEL time are central to the plan.

Key findings and targets reported by school staff include: SBAC and assessment trends showing uneven recovery after the pandemic, iReady diagnostics that recorded strong in-year growth but notable declines between spring and the following fall (characterized in the packet as summer learning loss), and cohort-level declines when students transition to Grade 6. The packet notes prior-year SBAC results (2023–24) of about 67% proficiency in ELA and 66.9% in math, and uses matched-cohort analysis to highlight where interventions will be concentrated.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Sarah Brzozowy, speaking to the board, described the opening of the school year as positive: “It has been a great start to the new school year,” she said. Kitzman outlined action steps the school will pursue: three annual iReady diagnostics to guide instruction, small-group targeted interventions, expanded co-teaching models for Special Education and Multilingual Learner students, and professional development aligned to the new literacy and math curricula.

The report lists specific programmatic moves already in place: adoption of Bookworms for grades K–3 and IL EL for grades 4–6 in literacy; Bridges units for K–6 math; a 0.5 FTE addition for a social worker; daily 30-minute Responsive Classroom SEL lessons; and Whole-School community-building activities such as quarterly assemblies tied to the Choose Love curriculum. The packet also describes extracurricular offerings (Lego Engineering, Makerspace, Green Team, jazz and chorus ensembles) and a successful One Book, One School grant for shared reading.

On equity and special populations, the packet sets a 10% proficiency-growth target for SPED and MLL students and recommends IEP-aligned instruction, Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) training for staff, and weekly data-review meetings to adjust interventions.

Next steps: The board received the report as part of its packet. The document calls for mid-year evaluation in January (SBAC practice test review and a school climate survey) and an end-of-year evaluation in June that will include final SBAC scores, attendance outcomes and a budget audit. School leaders identified summer bridging and targeted supports to address the fall regression recorded in iReady diagnostics.

The packet and the board discussion did not record additional formal actions on the academic plan itself during the Sept. 11 meeting; the board accepted the report as presented and will continue monitoring progress through the scheduled evaluation points.