The Weekly Update #4

Volume 1, No. 2 September 30, 2024

Dear CBSD Team,

I hope you're all enjoying the beautiful fall weather along the Oregon Coast as much as I am. The fall colors, sunshine, and cool evenings make this a special time of year. I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the "glows" and "grows" we've seen across the district. Our schools and teams have been working tirelessly to establish key systems and build a positive culture. The start of the school year can be exhausting, with countless protocols, procedures, and systems to implement. But once these foundational elements are in place, we create environments where our students can thrive and maximize their potential.

As I’ve mentioned before, one of my core beliefs is that all students deserve great teachers and schools by design, not by luck. To achieve this ambitious goal, we must continue to work collaboratively in teams, clearly define what we want all students to learn, and determine the interventions we, as adults, will provide when students are struggling.

When it comes to interventions, an opt-in culture is not sufficient. Interventions should be directed by adults, ensuring that every student receives the real-time support they need. This is particularly crucial for students who are behind in grade-level proficiency. For those students, we must focus not only on achieving annual growth but also on catch-up growth, which is essential for them to bridge gaps and meet grade-level expectations. Due to the learning gaps created during COVID, catch-up growth is urgent and requires consistent, targeted instruction, along with a mindset that believes every student can make significant strides with the right support.

Again, the list below highlights some of the district's "Glows and Grows" from Q1.

Glows:

• Daily attendance is strong, averaging 90%—a great foundation for our continued success.
• Instructional tours have been outstanding. The pedagogy observed in classrooms has been solid, with a strong focus on student engagement.
• There has been significant evidence of reading, writing, and discussion happening in classrooms every day. Many of you are clearly aligned with our goal of dedicating 120 minutes to reading, writing, and discussion.
• Learning intentions are posted in many classrooms and being referenced during lessons, providing clear objectives for our students.
• I’m excited to see the Science of Reading being taught at the K-6 level, with students benefiting from evidence-based literacy instruction.
• We are slowly learning more about Savvas math. The Savvas adaptive software has great potential to provide differentiation and personalized learning for all students, helping us meet their individual needs.
• A special recognition goes out to our elementary teachers who have stayed aligned to the pacing guides, ensuring that we are on track to cover essential standards and keep our students progressing at the expected pace.
• The AVID teams at the middle school and high school levels have been working hard to ensure that all students have access to the AVID curriculum and important AVID skills.
  
• I’ve been impressed by the work happening in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), where teams are collaboratively creating SMART goals and using data to inform instruction. This focus on working together to analyze student performance will drive improved outcomes across the district.

As a district, we have already made significant strides, and our collective efforts have generated tremendous momentum. However, to truly accelerate student learning, access, and readiness for ALL students in the CBSD, we must continue to grow and improve in several key areas.

This process will require time, patience, professionalism, and a shared commitment to using data to drive instructional improvements.

Grows:

• Reestablishing the purpose and priorities of the PLC model.
• Ensuring ALL students receive 120 minutes of reading, writing, and discussion per day across all classrooms.
• Ensuring ALL students are engaged and pushed to the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
  
• Teaching the Science of Reading with fidelity at the K-6 level to strengthen literacy instruction.
  
• Teaching a district adopted, guaranteed, and viable curriculum in all content areas.
• Ensuring more students are ready for upper level math (alg. 2, pre-calculus, & calculus courses).
• Accelerating student access and performance in early college and career courses (AP, dual college enrollment, and career and technical education (CTE) pathways).
• Ensuring we know ALL students by name, strengths, and needs and ALL seniors graduate with a plan—whether they are enrolled, employed, or enlisted (the 3Es).
  

In short, we should leverage and celebrate the "glows" and continue to focus on our "grows." Thank you for your continued dedication to our students and community. Together, we will continue to make great strides in providing the best education possible for ALL students in the CBSD. Again, if you have any questions or would like to discuss anything related to the CBSD, please reach out and we can schedule time to visit.

One Compass--One Crew--One Mission,

Dr. Ainsworth

Superintendent, Coos Bay School District

October 7: Regular School Board Meeting 6:00 pm Blossom Gulch

October 11: Teacher Work Day

October 16: Pre-ACT and ACT assessment

October 28: Special School Board Meeting 5:30 PM Virtual

November 8: No School Grading Day

November 11: No School Veterans Days

November 25-29: Thanksgiving Break

We are excited to announce, that for the first time in the CBSD all students in 8th-10th grades will be taking the Pre-ACT in October, to help them prepare for the rigors of high school and postsecondary education opportunities. The Pre-ACT serves as a college readiness indicator, providing valuable insights into students' strengths and areas for improvement in key subjects such as math, reading, science, and writing.

Benefits of taking the Pre-ACT include:

1. College Readiness Indicator: The Pre-ACT gives students an early look at their potential performance on the ACT, helping them understand what to expect and how to prepare for college entrance exams.

2. Growth Measurement: By taking the Pre-ACT, students can track their academic progress over time. This helps them identify areas where they need to focus their efforts to improve.

3. Proficiency in Core Subjects: The test assesses students' skills in math, reading, science, social studies, and writing, highlighting their proficiency levels and guiding them on where to concentrate their studies.

Overall, the Pre-ACT is a valuable tool for CBSD students to gauge their readiness for college, set academic goals, and work towards achieving their full potential.

Learning Intentions: Posting learning intentions in each CBSD classroom is crucial for enhancing student learning because it provides clear, focused goals for what our students are expected to learn by the end of the lesson. When learning intentions are visible, students have a better understanding of the purpose of their activities, which increases engagement and ownership of their learning. It helps our students track their progress, know what success looks like, and stay motivated. For teachers, it ensures instruction is aligned with objectives and standards, making it easier to guide lessons and assess student understanding. Ultimately, posting learning intentions in every CBSD classroom promotes a more structured, goal-oriented learning environment that supports improved student outcomes.

Success Criteria: Posting success criteria for each lesson in CBSD classrooms is critical for student learning because it clearly defines what success looks like and how students can demonstrate mastery of the lesson's objectives. For example, in an ELA classroom, success criteria for a persuasive essay might include: Students will write an essay that has a clear thesis statement, includes three well-supported arguments, uses appropriate transitions, and ends with a strong conclusion. By knowing these specific expectations, CBSD students can self-assess their progress, stay focused on the learning goals, and take ownership of their achievements. It also helps teachers provide targeted feedback and adjust instruction to meet student needs. Overall, success criteria empower students to understand and achieve the desired outcomes, leading to more effective and meaningful learning experiences.

The Science of Reading is a critical focus in the Coos Bay School District (CBSD) as we strive to ensure that all students build a strong foundation in literacy. Grounded in decades of research, it provides evidence-based practices that support effective reading instruction for every student. The five key components of the Science of Reading include phonemic awareness, which helps students recognize and manipulate sounds in words; phonics, the relationship between sounds and their written symbols; fluency, the ability to read with speed and accuracy; vocabulary, the knowledge of word meanings; and comprehension, the ability to understand and make meaning of text. By prioritizing these components, we can equip our students with the essential skills they need to become confident, lifelong readers.

This year we will be transitioning from the Remind app to ParentSquare. The official changeover will happen on October 11, 2024. ParentSquare is a robust communication tool designed to keep our families informed and engaged. ParentSquare will be the primary platform for sharing important updates, announcements, and information from both the district and your child’s school. It allows for easy two-way communication between parents and staff, ensuring that everyone stays connected and informed. We encourage all families to sign up and actively use ParentSquare to stay involved in your child’s education.