Principal Reports from the Churchill County School District

During the last School Board meeting Churchill County Trustees received written reports from building principals, along with a written and verbal report from Superintendent Derild Parsons. 

In his report, Parsons mentioned the situation at the County Library with middle school students and the ongoing meetings attempting to address the situation, saying, “We are working with the county and city on developing a position at the county, co-funded with the district, and will have an agreement to help with truancy and attendance.” 

He also mentioned in his written report that the first window of MAPs assessments (Measure of Academic Progress) had taken place, and staff are positioning to utilize the results to inform their instructional practices.

Trustee Kathryn Whitaker expressed her concern that in spite of Parsons reporting on MAPs testing, there was no mention of the MAPs testing in the principals’ reports. “When I read the principal reports in the section about Profile of a Learner, I don’t think their reports are honest enough. I would prefer they were a little more honest about where the schools are and what they’re doing to address those weaknesses.”

She asked if that kind of reflection was being done in the PLCs (Professional Learning Communities, time when educators meet together to discuss student learning and professional development issues) and if the PLCs are data driven. 

“I would prefer more information that shows me that changes are being made to improve scores,” she said. “The board can’t make good decisions to support schools if we don’t have real information about what they’re doing – that’s a request I have for the principals.”

The State of Nevada recently released the Nevada Report card showing that Churchill County Elementary students did increase ELA proficiency from 32.7% to 33.3% of the students proficient, however, Middle Schoolers dropped from 30.9% proficient to 25.9%, and the High School students decreased from 48.8% to 37.6% proficient in ELA. 

Again, elementary math students showed a slight gain from 27.7% proficient to 28.5%, with middle school students dropping from 15.6% to only 11.8% proficient in math. The high school students went from 19% to 13.6% proficient in math. 

Principal Reports 

Northside Early Learning – Principal, Ryan Larkin-Smith

NELC had the first of the year parent night in September, inviting several community organizations to meet with parents and students. The school is working toward a Universal Design approach to instruction to support students in inclusive settings. NELC is also developing a behavioral support program for students. 

Lahontan Elementary – Principal, Kimi Melendy

Lahontan is implementing their Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program, a framework that helps students academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Lahontan’s motto, “We are Wolfpups, helps students remember to be responsible, respectful, and safe. Pup Bucks are given to students and on Thursday, students are recognized for those behaviors. Students are beginning to use Learning Data Notebooks to track their learning, and after completing the Fall MAPs assessment, there are 123 of 216 first grade students who require and Individual Learning Literacy Plan for reading. 

E.C. Best Elementary – Principal, Brad Barton

Students were able to attend the book fair and the Night of Magic literacy night was a huge success. The CCHS band and cheer team put on a show at the Principal’s Assembly on Oct. 4 and encouraged students to take pride in their academics. Teachers are wrapping up their first units of assessments in the new SAVVAS and iReady curricula.

Numa Elementary – Principal, Shawn Purrell

Newly elected 5^th grade student council members are visiting all 4^th and 5^th grade classes to promote Nevada’s Week of Respect. The Reset Room has been very beneficial. The room is staffed by Ms. Dolan who has been working with students on self-awareness and self-management to help students calm down and manage their feelings. By using these tools, students are more successful in the classroom. Staff has also been collaborating to become familiar with the new Math and ELA curriculum, iReady and SAVVAS. 

Middle School – Principal, Victor Schoenfeldt

Student attendance rate from the beginning of the year has improved from 94.63% to 95.37%, helping the middle school meet a School Performance Plan goal. Recognition for perfect attendance will be celebrated each quarter. At the time of this report, 151 students have perfect attendance of 719 students. Nine staff members have perfect attendance. iReady and SAVVAS are being utilized with multiple professional development trainings, and parent/family engagement has increased. Work is also being done to include the six traits of the Profile of a Learner and holding students and teachers accountable in the classroom for these guiding principles.

Churchill County High School – Principal, Tim Spencer

The theme at the high school this year is “Leveling Up” and evidence can be seen throughout campus, at sporting events, and extracurricular activities. The Parent Engagement meeting was held Oct. 9 where conversation was held regarding cell phone addiction and ideas for future training. CCHS has adopted the idea of “Deliberate Learning” as the school focus for the next two years and will continue to train staff on proficiency scales. The scale work will provide clear data reporting on student understanding of required standards and help predict student outcomes on assessments.