School Board Appreciation:
This month we share in the celebration of honoring our seven member School Board and five student representatives. The responsibilities of volunteering for the Board are many and we want to express our sincere gratitude for the dedication and long hours they work in pursuit of excellence for each and every Corvallis student and staff member. Our Board’s reflection and thoughtful deliberation around policy for our District is appreciated and this month and all year we honor you!

Representatives from each school shared a book that will be donated in our Board’s honor to their respective school libraries. After the presentation of books, we took a quick break to enjoy cake and the audience had a chance to informally thank our Board.

CLASS Project Update:
Twenty three School Districts in the State of Oregon currently are involved with the CLASS Project. This is about 30% of all Oregon teachers and students.

Corvallis is currently in the design phase of the CLASS Project exploring and developing blueprints in the areas of new career pathways, meaningful performance evaluation, targeted and relevant professional development, and expanded compensation models.  Four subcommittees are researching, designing, and preparing to present blueprints to the State and to Chalkboard in order to secure SB252 implementation funds for next year. These grant funds can mean up to $600,000 per year for Corvallis for the next three years.

Attached are two documents. The first one is a summary of what the CLASS Project is all about. The second document is a Dashboard summary with student achievement results from the first and second round of CLASS districts.

CLASS Project
CLASS Dashboard

The first three CLASS districts, Forest Grove, Tillamook, and Sherwood implemented their plans for three years and the data shows incredible student growth in meeting or exceeding proficiency on Oregon state level assessments. In Mathematics, the CLASS 1 districts show 15.8% growth in meeting or exceeding compared to the rest of the state at 8.5% increase. For economically disadvantaged students, these three CLASS districts show a 17.4% increase compared to the rest of the state at 11.4%. In Reading, these three districts outpaced the state growth as well.

The data also shows how well the eight CLASS 2 districts are doing after only two years. They are outpacing the state growth in reading and mathematics.  In comparing cohort graduation rate changes since 2008-2009, the state growth has been 0.9% increase in the grad rate while the CLASS 1 districts have shown an increase in 5% and the CLASS 2 districts are right behind with a 3.7% average increase.

I share this information because it is encouraging that the CLASS districts that are ahead of Corvallis in the design and implementation of innovative and effective models are achieving great success. I am very proud of how hard our committees are working on the design that will pave the way for our teachers and staff to implement a unique and supportive model that is best for Corvallis staff and students.

TeachOregon:
Along with the CLASS Project, we have been collaborating with Oregon State University and Greater Albany, Lebanon, and Philomath School Districts on enhancing our teacher preparation program. This is very exciting work as we are coming together to explore new ways to deliver university level curriculum, clinical practice experiences, recruitment and hiring models, and support for new teachers and mentors.  Like the CLASS Project, TeachOregon is in the design phase and the blueprints will be drafted this spring to begin implementation and further research and design for next year.

Safety/Security:
In light of the recent events in our country, I want to publicly express my appreciation to our staff who remained consistent, caring, and compassionate during the last week prior to winter break. The care shown and the focus on routine for our students really helped maintain our learning environment during a highly emotional time.

Additionally, I would like to thank our Police Chief, John Sassman and Sheriff Diana Simpson and their staffs for their communication and extra support during this time.  Our next steps for the district review of safety and security procedures includes meeting with both Police and Sheriff’s departments to review protocols, conduct training for our leadership team who will continue to reinforce safety protocols at each building. We also recognize there is a need to examine our facilities and their unique security needs. This will take place through working directly with our principals and also through our long-range facility process.

OEIB Presentation:
Last week, Principals Lisa Harlan and Rosemary O’Neil were invited to present to the OEIB Board in Salem about strategies and highlights of Lincoln and Mt. View Elementary Schools, which were both named as model schools this year by the State. Both leaders were well received and represented their staffs and students very graciously for the dedication and work ethic they share every day. Well done!

Celebrate Corvallis:
Finally, I would like to honor and congratulate Board Chair Anne Schuster for being nominated for First Citizen and to Crescent Valley High School students Michael Boggess and Erynne Van Zee, and Corvallis High School students Malika Waschmann and Keet Dailey for being nominated for Future First Citizen.  I look forward to a wonderful evening Friday night at the Celebrate Corvallis event when these individuals will be honored and represent our School District so well.

Congratulations!