by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education heard staff and students from Vista del Valle and Sycamore elementary schools deliver progress reports on their respective goals and planned actions to improve academic achievement for the 2024-2025 school year at its September 19 meeting.

In accordance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, schools are required to develop annual plans for student achievement that are approved by school staff and the district’s governing board.

Vista del Valle

Outgoing principal Janie Nuanes, sixth grade teacher Mominani Garcia, and third grader Penelope Wishek delivered Vista del Valle’s plan.

“Last year, our goals and actions focused on increasing academic growth in the English language arts and math, as well as focusing on students social-emotional well-being through the use of PBIS and RULER,” Nuanes said.

PBIS stands for “positive behavioral interventions and supports,” and RULER “recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating.”

Vista missed its first goal of increasing students meeting or exceeding standards in English language arts from 49% to 54%, reaching 47.1%

“We will continue with the action plans one through nine and especially with our [professional learning communities], making sure that we keep those rigorous and looking at data,” Garcia said. “And we will also use an extended [response to intervention], which will provide enough time to conduct an intensive intervention. So, for instance, in upper grades, we have extended it from 30 minutes to 45.”

The school’s second goal was to increase students meeting or exceeding math standards from 38.3% to 45%. They also fell short here, at 35.3%.

The third goal was to have all teachers trained in RULER, or “recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating.” Two of its teachers have been trained, with plans for more training this year. The purpose of this is so staff can support students with their mental well-being and other social and emotional needs.

“Inequities exist with a lack of knowledge and resources surrounding neurodivergent students. Students with ADHD, autism, mental anguish, depression, or anxiety may require specialized expertise and resources,” the school’s SPSA report read. “Due to this, all staff will be trained in RULER to support neurodivergent students. In addition, we are looking forward to the possibility of having RBTs (Registered Behavior Technicians) to support school sites.”

Sycamore

Sycamore Principal Amy Stanger, teacher on special assignment Leslie Wallace, sixth grade student Carey Barndt, and Amanda Bell, a facilitator on the school’s governance council, delivered Sycamore’s report.

Its first goal was increasing students meeting or exceeding English language arts standards from 72.1% to 75.1%. It exceeded the mark by 5.5%, coming in at 77.6%.

“We are most thrilled that this growth is evident across grade levels,” Stanger said. “It’s evident across groups and, specifically, we’re really thrilled to see that our Hispanic students and students with disabilities have really jumped in this last past year.”

(L-R) Sycamore Elementary teacher on special assignment Leslie Wallace, Governance Council facilitator Amanda Bell, sixth grader Carey Barndt, and Principal Amy Stanger, delivered Sycamore’s school plan for student achievement at the September 19 CUSD Board of Education meeting. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The second goal was increasing the percentage of students meeting or exceeding math standards from 64.4% to 67.4%. It exceeded expectations again, at 75.7%.

“Our growth in the area of math we attribute to our longstanding commitment to mathematical mindsets and standards of mathematical practice,” Stanger said.

The final goal was increasing the percentage of students affirming they’ve been taught strategies for coping “when things get hard” from 91.6% to 94.6%. it read. The 2024 LCAP student survey showed 85% of students affirmed they’ve been taught such strategies.

“Though this was a lower rate of affirmation than we’d hoped, the LCAP survey indicated that students do have a variety of strategies to cope when things get difficult,” the SPSA report read, stating student strategies ranged from “talking to an adult, going outside, watching TV, going online, or having a snack,” Stanger said. “While we didn’t meet this goal as it was written, this is a continued process.”

The two SPSA reports were put on the consent calendar for the board’s October 3 meeting, which took place after press time. During the October 3 meeting, the board will hear SPSA presentations from Mountain View and Sumner-Danbury elementary schools.

CUSD Board of Education President Bob Fass swore in Claremont High senior Soleil Rivera, left, and San Antonio High senior Eli George as student board members during the September 19 meeting. Courier photos/Andrew Alonzo

Meeting audio is at cusd.claremont.edu, click “Board of Education” at the top of the page and scroll down to hear the “9-19-2024 meeting audio.”

Board Vice President Kathryn Dunn was absent from the meeting.

The board’s next meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday, October 17 at the Richard S. Kirkendall Education Center, 170 W. San Jose Ave., Claremont.