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Brooklyn Area School District highlights student achievements and expands tutoring after reading gains
Summary
Board recognized Noetic Math participants and Ripon High track qualifiers, heard principals report gains across K-12 literacy and math, and received a reading report from district reading specialist Dr. Jill Palmer Becker, who said 100% of students in the K-2/3 tutoring program made progress.
The Brooklyn Area School District Board of Education recognized student winners of the Noetic Math contest and Ripon High School athletes who qualified for state before moving into reports on academic progress and reading supports.
Superintendent (name recorded in board materials) invited principals to give brief highlights. A student, Katie, said the season emphasized team chemistry: "I think it was mostly just fun and, like, the team chemistry...that really helped us succeed." Principals and coaches credited focused instruction and team work for recent successes in both math contests and track qualifiers.
Principals reported districtwide academic improvements. Sean, speaking about K-2 work, said learning walks and a renewed emphasis on phonics led to clearer instructional alignment and that next year the district will emphasize small-group instruction to target students who are not meeting expected mastery levels. Jesse reported at Murray Park that students two or more reading levels behind were cut roughly in half over the school year following targeted interventions.
At the high school level staff described repurposing study hall time for math support and called the results "very, very impressive," saying the approach produced near-99% pass rates in math courses and expanded credit-recovery options for students who had not passed previously.
Dr. Jill Palmer Becker, the district reading specialist, presented the annual reading report and noted the district's AmeriCorps Reading Core tutors have expanded this year. "A 100% of our kids made progress," Dr. Palmer Becker said of students in the K-2 and third-grade tutoring program, and she said the district plans to add math-focused tutoring next year. She also described a tension with state Act 20 expectations for third graders, which emphasize both early reading skills and higher-level comprehension benchmarks.
Why it matters: the presentations provide measurable indicators the district is using to shape curriculum and intervention strategies ahead of the coming school year and inform community outreach tied to a potential operational referendum. The board members thanked staff for the work and said they would review deeper data in committee and at future meetings.
The board moved on to new business and later scheduled community information sessions tied to an operational-refendum survey; staff will return with a summary of survey results and possible referendum language at the July meeting.
