Ravenswood superintendent unveils community action plan and cites early reading gains

Gina Sedai, superintendent of the Ravenswood City School District, presented the Ravenswood Promise Community Action Plan to the East Palo Alto City Council during a June 17 special meeting, describing a multi-year roadmap she said is grounded in community input and data. "I'm Gina Sedai. I'm the superintendent of the Ravenswood City School District," she told the council as she outlined the plan and a sequence of 1-, 3- and 10-year goals intended to raise student outcomes across the district.

Sedai said more than 1,000 students, families, educators and community leaders contributed through surveys, interviews, focus groups and working sessions. She highlighted measurable early results in foundational literacy: she said TK proficiency rose from 22% at the start of the year to 49% by year end, and that middle-school reading proficiency rose from 6% to 19% over the same period. Sedai said the district is shifting to evidence-based literacy approaches, including ‘‘the science of reading,’’ and is implementing curriculum adoption, pacing and targeted intervention to sustain gains.

Council members praised the effort and asked questions about implementation and resources. In response to a question about the recent primary school closure, Sedai said roughly 300 students are eligible to transfer to Ravenswood and that the district is coordinating transition plans with TPS and CZI; she said four years of funding will help sustain per-pupil spending during the transition but that specific baseline academic data for those transferring students was "not yet available." The superintendent emphasized public data transparency, saying the district will publish progress dashboards online to track outcomes.