Clover Park School Distict November 2024 Board Review

School Board Recognizes Student Leaders

The Clover Park School District (CPSD) Board of Directors recognized student leaders from Lakes High School, Clover Park High School and Harrison Preparatory School. Members of the Superintendent Youth Advisory Council were also honored as were members of the city of Lakewood Youth Council. Student leaders play an important role in their schools by supporting school decisions and building school culture.

Nov. 12 Regular Meeting

During its Nov. 12 board meeting, the school board heard a report from Superintendent Ron Banner, which included a presentation from Thomas Middle School Principal Steve Seberson.

Veterans Day

• Banner honored veterans and shared his experience at the Tillicum Elementary School Veterans Day Assembly.

Classroom Visit

• Banner, alongside Director Kim, visited Harrison Preparatory School math classrooms.
• Banner, alongside Director Caldwell, visited Four Heroes kindergarten through third grade classrooms to see their literacy program in action.

Celebrated Student and Staff Success

• Banner shared that the graduation rate for the class of 2024 is expected to rise 3% from 2023 from 88% to 91% of CPSD students earning their diploma.
• Banner celebrated the 22 CPSD high school students admitted to Central Washington University at their “On the Spot” admission events held at Clover Park and Lakes high schools.
• Banner congratulated Harrison Preparatory School Dr. Natasha Richardson for earning her doctorate degree.
• Banner congratulated the district’s community relations team for winning four Awards of Excellence from the Washington Association of School Public Relations, which included a perfect score for the district calendar.

Community Engagement

• Students attended a United States Service Academy informational session attended by presenters from West Point Academy and the team of Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland.

Thomas Middle School Report

Thomas Middle School Principal Steve Seberson presented on his school’s demographics, special education program, assessment scores and culture building.

Thomas student demographics exceed the state averages in Black (15.1%), Pacific Islander (6%) and multi-racial (15.2%) populations while being close to the state average percentile of Hispanic students (25.3%). Seberson discussed the opportunities to support the specialized groups that Thomas serves, including 58.8% of students whose parents are in the military and the 20.2% of students who receive special education services.

He shared how grade level teams are working to close the gap in state assessment scores. Eighth grade science teachers used Project Lead the Way and Next Generation Science to improve science performance from 2023 to 2024, resulting in 4.3% more students meeting state standards. English language arts (ELA) and math scores also improved for eighth graders in 2024 but are still below the state average. Sixth and seventh grade students saw a decrease in Median Student Growth Percentile (SGP) in ELA and math. Thomas plans to address this with their School Annual Action Plan (SAAP).

Seberson identified three SAAP goals targeting student achievement, community engagement and social emotional learning (SEL) for staff and students. By the end of the 2024-25 school year, they set a goal to see students reach a median SGP of 55% on the STAR and Smarter Balanced Assessment exams. This year, Thomas will also hold monthly events for families to increase equitable inclusion. Additionally, all school staff will apply core practices and language from Character Strong SEL curriculum.

As part of the Individual Action Agenda, the Board of Directors:

• Approved the 2024-25 school year School Annual Action Plans. These plans have been developed based on self-reviews at the building level, and each plan is aligned to the district Strategic Plan and the Board Accountability Plan.
• Adopted the following policies:
  • 3205: Sexual Harassment of Students Prohibited
  • 3206: Pregnant and Parenting Students 
  • 3246: Restraint, Isolation, and Other Used of Reasonable Force 
  • 3432: Emergencies 
  • 4130: Title 1 Parent and Family Engagement 
  • 5011: Sexual Harassment 
  • 6220: Bid or Request for Proposal Requirements 

The next regular meeting of the school board will be Monday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m.

CPSD BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Click on the link for more information about the CPSD Board of Directors, including the board’s mission, vision, goals, meeting agendas and meeting minutes.