Site Council Purpose
KUA families are invited to attend Site Council meetings, held monthly in person or on Zoom (except in December). Dinner is provided at in-person meetings in the Kimmel Family Resource Center by our Food Program, and each time they attend a meeting, families fulfill one volunteer hour of their required KUA hours for the year.
A school can only call itself successful when leaders, families and stakeholders all sit at the same table. At KUA Site Council, parents can share their concerns, listen to what is happening behind the scenes and, with everyone’s input, help us all keep on the same page. Meetings do not address budgetary decisions. Rather, we build bridges of understanding and trust so when challenges arise, our students know we all worked together to come up with solutions. KUA was built on this trust between our community, our donors, our staff and our families.
At our Site Council meetings, we show respect, but we also aren’t afraid to show our hearts. Together we make great things happen!
Upcoming Meetings
March 13 – 5 p.m. – in person
April 10 – 5 p.m. – on Zoom
May 8 – 5 p.m. – in person
June 5 – 5 p.m. – on Zoom
Recent Meeting Notes
Site Council members attending:
TEACHERS/STAFF: Julie Brunson, Lishia Daniels, Emma Goularte, Cheryl Graham, Monique Kruse, Sarah Lemon, Tyrone McDonald, Kaila Sarro, David Thygeson, Lupita Vargas
PARENTS: Mayra Duran, Ana Gutierrez, Monica Flores Hernandez, Brittney Hettman, Dillon Kilcrease, Allison Merrell, Maria Perez, Jessica Powell, Martha Regalado, Jenesis Reyes, Fanny Turcios, Scarlett Varley, Douglas Yagut
PRINCIPAL: Lindsay Ochs
Date: Feb. 13, 2025
Time: 5-5:45 p.m.
Location: Zoom
With state assessments on the Kids Unlimited Academy schedule March through May, instructional coaches delved into the testing process, students’ preparation and internal data at February’s Site Council.
Oregon’s Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium provides computer-adaptive tests that adjust questions based on how students are answering, said Cheryl Graham, KUA’s mathematics instructional coach. The format ensures kids don’t struggle through the entire test.
Students in grades 3-5 statewide take the assessments. A 3 or 4 is a passing score. A 5 means students are “way above grade level,” said Graham. KUA gets a school “report card,” based on the assessments, comparing it with other local schools that have similar demographics.
“We’ve been doing really well,” said Graham. “And want to keep improving as we go.”
KUA has embedded strategies in students’ daily classroom learning to prepare them for the tests. And students last year reported that a lot of the test questions looked like their daily warm-ups, said Graham.
“I’m not a huge advocate of crazy testing all year … because it becomes a burnout situation for them,” she said.
Students do, however, need to be familiar with the test technology in advance and learn how to type in the answers, said Graham. So KUA administers a practice test to ensure each student knows how to fill it out.
KUA fifth graders’ science SBAC will be administered during their science block time, March 10-14, and all other tests for grades 3-5 are administered during their special morning blocks. Math computer-adaptive tests are April 14-18; the math performance task assessments are April 21-24. English computer-adaptive tests are May 6-8; English writing tests are May 19-22.
“It is crucial that students get to school on time during testing,” said Graham. Not only does arriving early reduce anxiety, students cannot test with the group if they come in late, which is considered a testing “impropriety,” said Graham.
Students also should eat wholesome, regular meals to improve mental function. Graham hands out candy, which is shown to reduce kids’ testing anxiety when they suck on it. She prefers Smarties to peppermint candies, although those are the ones cited in studies about test performance.
Graham emphasized that progress in math hinges on kids learning their math facts; if they don’t know multiplication tables, higher level math is too challenging. She recommends parents purchase and use flash cards, available at most dollar stores.
KUA’s latest internal evaluations, using the diagnostic tool iReady, show significant math progress. The number of kindergarten students at grade level grew from 3% to 33%, and no KUA kindergarteners were “at risk” in math as of winter trimester.
“That’s an amazing growth,” said Graham.
KUA students in second grade, improved from 54% at risk during fall trimester to 32% in winter. Students at grade level grew 4% during that time.
Principal Lindsay Ochs clarified for parents that KUA is no longer using iReady for reading assessments because she believes it is not a true indicator of reading skills. The DIBELS tool, created at University of Oregon, is. It entailed KUA staff listening to all 500 of the school’s students read for about five minutes per student.
It’s quick and provides a real clear picture of what kids can do, said David Thygeson, KUA’s multi-tiered systems of support coordinator. He said educators’ belief about reading used to be: “We learn to read essentially in K-2; and in 3-5 we read to learn.” But they have more recently realized many students aren’t best served by that approach.
Among KUA second graders, only 19% were reading at grade level during fall trimester, which is “very problematic,” said Thygeson. They improved to 25% on grade level during winter trimester.
“Comprehension cannot happen until they can accurately decode words,” said Thygeson, adding that there were students who came in really behind. KUA’s third grade went from 34% at grade level to 61%. By fourth grade, there were KUA students reading above grade level by winter trimester for a total of 55% of students at or above grade level.
“When I saw fourth grade’s growth, I was so happy with it,” said Thygeson.
But fifth grade topped all the others with the most significant growth Thygeson said he’s ever seen — from 47% at grade level to 86% between fall and winter trimesters.
“Just a crazy growth for fifth grade!”
KUA is exceeding what you would see in a typical school environment, said Thygeson, explaining that’s a testament to their teachers effectively implementing the curriculum and reinforcing it.
“I’m really excited about this data; it shows we’re moving in the right direction.”
Holistically, said Principal Ochs, KUA has progressed from about half the school reading below grade level during fall trimester to now only about a quarter of the school still working toward the grade-level benchmark. Thygeson described how kids knew virtually nothing about phonetics coming into the school year, and now they get it. Lindsay recalled a student testing with her who said “meow” when she said “cat,” instead of providing the word’s letter sounds.
KUA Literacy Night Feb. 20 has been planned with more fun, interactive activities for families. This year’s theme is “escape the school,” which requires families to read, solve riddles and find clues.
A family favorite event, Pi Night merges math March 14 with a carnival. And Graham has “top secret” plans for KUA third through fifth graders at the Feb. 26 SBAC pep rally.
More upcoming events:
Feb. 20: Vision screening for ALL students; Literacy Night
Feb. 24-28: Book Fair
Feb. 26: SBAC pep rally!
March 6 – NO SCHOOL (staff professional development day)
March 7 – NO SCHOOL (parent/teacher conferences)
March 11-13: Royal Awards assemblies
March 13: Site Council, 5 p.m.
March 14: Pi Night
March 17-21: Spirit Week
March 20: March Madness
Archived Meeting Notes
Site Council meeting Jan. 9, 2025
Site Council meeting Oct. 10, 2024
Site Council meeting Sept. 12, 2024
Site Council meeting June 6, 2024
Site Council meeting April 11, 2024
Site Council meeting March 14, 2024
Site Council meeting Feb. 8, 2024
Site Council meeting Jan. 11, 2024
Site Council meeting Nov. 9, 2023
Site Council meeting Oct. 12, 2023