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Nancy State of the Schools 2012
 
Superintendent Nancy Golden delivered her annual State of the Schools Address to a gym packed with staff and community members on Wednesday, Sept. 5.
 
As always, Nancy highlighted some of last year's success stories from across the district and shared some of the initiatives that are being put in place to increase achievement and help more students graduate career- and college-ready. 
 
Nancy outlined some impressive statistics from last year:
  • At the elementary level, third-grade reading scores have taken significant leaps over the last two years.
  • The district has made significant progress in reducing the achievement gap faced by native Spanish-speaking students.
  • Sixth-graders district-wide have also shown dramatic improvement in their test scores, leaping past state averages. These improvements are especially pronounced for Hispanic students.
  • The dropout rate has fallen consistently to a point that is now below the state average for students overall and in several key demographic subgroups.
 
Click here to see some charts of this data.
 
Nancy went on to talk more about the district's plans to increase achievement with help from key partners, beginning with the Achievement Compact the district has filed with the State of Oregon. The compact outlines goals to ensure that kindergartners are on track to be ready for school; to be sure that third-graders are on track for reading and math proficiency; to ensure sixth-graders are on track to meet 95% attendance goals; to be sure 9th-graders are on track for attendance and to meet the overall goal of graduates who have 9 or more college credits already in hand.

Nancy also talked about the district's grant-funded teacher development efforts, including:

She went to share a series of "Wow" moments for our district, including last year's honors for Centennial's Mike Donnelly and Guy Lee Elementary School, spotlight on teachers Nicola Shaddon and Eva LaMar, student honors, and community partners.

The grand finale, of course, was a flash mob performance, led by SHS/THS cheerleaders and local Jazzercise instructors, with more than 100 staff and community members participating--including board members, administrative staff, principals and even TEAM Springfield CEOs Mayor Christine Lundberg, Bob Keefer and Jeff Nelson.
 
Click here to see Nancy's recommended reading list for staff this year.
 
 
 

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Stay tuned for more information on this page, including links to more video highlights--all available soon--or visit our Facebook page.