By Alyssa McMillan
Schoolcraft staff members at a January board meeting described promising results of district’s new strategies for teaching and helping students, including progress made by the district’s new Student Support Team.
In 2022, 55% of Schoolcraft’s seventh graders had below grade level skills in math and English language arts, levels attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat the problem, Schoolcraft faculty members created the team with the goal of elevating the students’ academic skills to those expected of their grade level by the time they were freshmen.
The team includes Principal Matthew Dailey, guidance counselor Brittany Hetrick, psychologist Bailey Chapman, social worker Shelby Simpson, Student Service Coordinator Maddy Stephens and Angie Anderson, special education teacher and diagnostic teaching consultant.
The team’s process for determining which students are in need of their support takes 5 to 10 school days. Teachers first identify struggling students based on criteria such as behavior, academics and attendance, and discuss what they’re noticing with the students’ other teachers to determine how great the need is. The teachers document their concerns and which strategies they use to help the struggling students, as well as the effectiveness of the strategies. If students continue to struggle, the team is contacted to step in and further aid the students.
So far, the team has created and filled positions for reading, math and English Language Arts “interventionists,” who help struggling students grow their academic skills to fit their grade level. The team has also created a process for determining effectiveness of assistance. After a plan to help a student get back on track has been implemented, the student’s response to it is tracked over the course of 6 to 9 weeks. At that point, the plan’s effectiveness is evaluated. Schoolcraft’s student service coordinator, school counselor, and the principal of the junior-senior high school campus meet every three weeks to review the team’s overall process and develop ways to increase the program’s success rates.
At the beginning of the current school year, the class of 2028 became freshman and were reported to be at the desired academic levels. Not only that, reported 7-12 Principal Matthew Dailey, but 50 percent of Schoolcraft’s students are considered to be “advanced” for their grade level.
Superintendent Nate Ledlow praised the late Jack Sauer for his work on the school board and for bettering the community of Schoolcraft. “His legacy will live on for sure,” Ledlow said. In Sauer’s honor, a brick memorial will be placed at the Roy H. Davis Field.
In observance of School Board Recognition Month, school board members were recognized and thanked for their efforts.
The four officers on the seven-member board retained their positions: Jennifer Gottschalk, president; Jason Walther, vice-president; Wade Rutkoskie, treasurer, and Randy Blankenship, secretary. It was also decided that, starting with February 2025, Schoolcraft’s school board meetings will be moved to the second Monday of the month.
