Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) Director Emily Murphy presented the board with last school year’s student testing data from Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) standardized testing during the board’s June 18 meeting.
Murphy explained that DIBELS tests are administered at the beginning, middle and end of the school year for kindergarten through third-grade classes.
Murphy noted some “celebrations” in this year’s results, with 80 percent of students in the kindergarten class scoring above the benchmark.
She also noted that the second-grade class increased the number of students scoring in the “blue” category, “which is the highest category you can score, from 5 to 37 percent.”
Murphy also mentioned that all students receiving intervention services made higher than expected growth.
“One hundred percent of them,” she added.
The third-grade class “cut the number of students scoring in the red by 50 percent,” Murphy said, with the “red” category being the lowest category.
Murphy also highlighted that the school moved 38 percent of students out of the red category in one year, which is higher than the national average of 21 percent.
“Our DIBELS has been really awesome,” she said.
Murphy then went on to discuss the results of the NWEA testing for math and reading.
“We didn’t quite hit our growth goal this year with our math,” she said, explaining that doesn’t mean that students did not grow, but that the goal of 42 and 50 percent was not reached.
According to slides presented by Murphy, students in grades six through eight “were at or above the national average in achievement.”
Murphy also explained that the school began the year with planned consistent math intervention times, but that the interventionist left halfway through the year.
“The position was not filled,” she said.
She explained that the plan is for the middle school-level math teacher to have intentional small group intervention time intended to provide “consistency for small groups that require that.”
In regard to the school’s reading performance data, “we were above our goal for our growth in reading for NWEA,” Murphy said, noting the school hit the 60th percentile this year.
She commented that the middle school grade levels did “amazingly well,” noting that grades six through eight were at the national average for achievement and growth.
She also noted that all grades, one through eight, reached their growth goals for the year, “which we’ve never had happen either.”
Murphy mentioned that the first- and second-grade classes increased achievement scores by almost 10 points, “which is almost unheard of.”
Murphy explained that the school began the year with three grade levels performing at or above the national average and ended the school year with five grade levels performing on those levels.
“We continue to see these increases each year,” she said.
PPOS board treasurer Pamela Meade commented that it is “great,” noting the school “not only decreased your lowest percentiles, but also increased your highest percentiles.”
She added, “Thats pretty cool.”
Murphy commented that the curriculum being used is “very interdisciplinary,” with a lot of art, music, oral assessments, writing prompts and Socratic seminars.
“There’s a lot of varying levels of assessment which I think helps kids stay engaged,” she said.
School accountability committee update
PPOS board secretary Bill Hudson provided the board with an update on his research into the school’s responsibilities in having a school accountability committee (SAC), explaining there are no “special allowances for small charter schools,” in regard to the number of people required to be on the committee.
Hudson explained that in his conversations with Murphy, the idea of the school’s family council serving as the SAC was brought up, noting that it would hold at least four meetings throughout the year, “in addition to whatever other meetings you’re holding.”
Hudson noted, “We do need a staff person on there,” as well as one teacher, the school principal, three parents, an adult member of an organization recognized by the school and at least one person from the community.
“It’s gonna be their job to make sure they have all of those,” Hudson said, explaining it is not the school board’s job to make sure all of those positions are filled on the SAC.
PPOS board member Catherine Siebel asked if the board is required to ask the SAC if all of those positions are filled, with Hudson replying, “I think we will,” noting to “trust but verify.”
Hudson also commented that it is one of the jobs of the SAC “to solicit parents to serve.”
Murphy explained that she was planning to meet with the family council to discuss the possibility of it also serving as the SAC.
In an email to The SUN, Murphy explained that the meeting went “well,” and that, “our Family Council next year will act as SAC for four of their meetings.”
Playground update
During the June 18 meeting, Murphy also provided the board with a brief update on the status of the school’s new playground, indicating that six days of work were lost due to weather, but that the project manager, David Pribble, is “very optimistic” about making up time.
The original completion date was scheduled for Aug. 11, but will likely be pushed back by one week, Murphy explained.
She noted that per grant requirements, the playground must be complete by sometime in October.
Murphy also commented that she hopes to have the playground complete and ready for kids to enjoy by the first day of the upcoming school year, which is Aug. 18.
In a July 3 email to The SUN, Murphy explains that playground equipment has been delivered, “and, if it goes according to schedule, will be fully installed within two weeks.”
She adds, “The stem walls are in, and the irrigation is scheduled to be installed next week.
“We’re so excited to see the development.”
She also noted the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts is working on a mural project in the school’s lobby.
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