South Whittier School District held their monthly board meeting Tuesday, April 17, at the district office. There were McKibben student recognitions and a Los Altos presentations.
McKibben Student Recognition
McKibben Elementary principal, Sandra Gallegos, recognized a group of students who made a 5% growth in one year on their CAASPP testing. Some student’s had test growth in English Language Arts, some in Math, and some students had the 5% growth in both subjects.
Los Altos School Presentation
Principal, Genevieve Silebi, shared with board members and administration Los Altos’ CAASPP score results from last year as well as their school’s plan to improve student scores.
Last year’s score showed that many students at Los Altos scored standard nearly met. After these results Silebi and teachers came together to create a plan of an instructional focus to help students achieve success and meet standards. They wanted to teach students that.
With an instructional focus Los Altos began focusing on English Language Development, Academic Language Development, growth mindset, and math fluency. The schools theme had become “Everyone Can Learn” teaching students if they work hard they can achieve at high levels.
Los Altos has since implemented class dojo, which is an online communication app for parents and teachers, they have also begun school wide read aloud, standards-based instruction, grouping students by proficiency levels, and a focus on discourse and collaboration. With these modifications, Los Altos tested students in October to measure student growth and saw an increase in scores. They tested students again in January and saw that their growth continued to increase.
The presentation wrapped up with student testimonials about why they loved their school.
The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 15, at 6PM at the district office.