Principal: Elementary outperforms state averages in attendance and diagnostic goals

The principal reported the elementary school is "well above the state average" in attendance at every grade level and said the school met several ambitious diagnostic goals that had not been reached in her tenure. She pointed to early family connections, monthly attendance celebrations and targeted outreach as factors driving the improvement. "We met every one of those goals. So, I bawled in my staff meeting because I just I just am so proud of my staff," the principal said.

School leaders supplied attendance counts from the first day of school through the prior Thursday and highlighted incentives such as a monthly trophy for the class with the best attendance. The principal emphasized that higher attendance enables stronger instructional work: because students are in class, teachers can deliver curriculum that produced measurable gains on the diagnostics. The report included a note that 19% of students were in the district's "strategic" range (one grade level below), compared with a 22% goal for that measure.

The principal invited questions and credited assistant staff and specific employees for daily outreach when students are absent. She also said the diagnostic reporting will feed into the junior high and high school planning and pledged follow-up on a small number of incomplete testing records that resulted from early test stoppage.