Santa Fe Trail USD 434 leaders highlight data-driven changes after national recognition

Faith Florey, superintendent of Santa Fe Trail USD 434, told the school board the district had come to the meeting to "celebrate our schools" and to outline instructional changes leaders say produced measurable progress. "My name is Faith Florey. I'm the proud superintendent of Santa Fe Trail USD 4 34," she said, noting she has worked in the district for 21 years and introduced the administrative and teacher team.

District presenters described a two-part strategy: strengthen the universal classroom experience (Tier 1) by adopting new curriculum and assessments, then expand targeted Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions based on assessment data. "We started with our core, our tier 1. And we got all new curriculum, new resources. We really looked at the standards. We looked at assessment. We used it to drive every decision we made," one staff member, identified in the transcript as Carrie, said.

A classroom teacher described the day-to-day practice that flowed from that strategy: grade-level spreadsheets built from state interim tests, regrouping students under an MTSS model, and rotating teachers during math and reading blocks so instruction matched student needs. "We have a math time block where the teachers are rotating instead of our children," the teacher said, and added that students track their own progress in data notebooks.

Laurie Boltz, principal of Overbrook Attendance Center, said the school serves three rural communitiesOverbrook, Carbondale and Scrantonand emphasized the district's focus on goal-setting and teacher collaboration. "Every student sets a wildly important goal that is tailored to their unique abilities," Boltz said, and she described the building's use of PLCs and BLTs to review data and follow action steps.

Presenters and the board also pointed to specific tools and targets the district used. The staff cited FastBridge assessment results and set a building goal that "we want a 100% of our students to make growth," a remark the principal repeated as evidence of progress in the current year. The presentation also referenced KISA 2.0 and outside supports named as Tazen.

The board's members responded with praise. Board member Dennis said the school culture was "encouraging" and thanked staff for the work, including community connections in Sterling and Carbondale. Another board member, Betty, echoed those comments and noted the district was already stepping into KISA 2.0.

Presenters closed by playing a video and arranging photographs with staff and students; they told the board teachers and students would return for the next year's recognition. No formal board actions, motions or votes were recorded during the presentation.

The presentation highlighted classroom-level practices the district credits for student growth and described local implementation of assessment-driven instruction; the district and board said they will continue the work and host visitors who want to observe the model.