By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
Megan Dieli, principal of Charles Hoffman Elementary School, gave her annual presentation on her school to the board of trustees of the Rim of the World Unified School District at the Dec. 18 meeting.
This year the school has 294 students.
Their mission, Dieli told the trustees, is “to nurture confident, curious and compassionate learners, equipping every student to succeed and make a positive impact on the world.”
The teachers and staff at CHE set goals at the beginning of the year.
At the beginning of the school year, the teachers and staff set three goals which can be summarized as:
• Continue collaborative efforts to enhance literacy and mathematics achievement for all students.
• Implement strategies to address the needs of the lower performing students (English learners and special education students)
• Foster a culture of accountability by ensuring students are present, punctual and engaged every day while promoting the use of restorative practices to support positive behavior and relationships.
“Focusing on positive relationships is the most important thing,” Dieli said, adding the goal is for students to develop positive friendships with other students and positive relationships with adults. “Otherwise,” she said, “they don’t want to come to school.”
This year, CHE has improved its suspension rate by 75 percent. They are working on what they can do to improve student attendance.
Students who achieve 100 percent attendance in a month are invited to a special lunch with the principal. It’s more than just a pizza party, Dieli said. They decorate the cafeteria, have flowers and tablecloths, play music. Last month, there were 30 students at each of the three lunches with perfect attendance.
As for academic performance, “we excelled this last year,” Dieli said.
The students at CHE have made remarkable progress in English language arts.
In English language arts, the students moved from being in orange on the California dashboard and 34.8 points below standard to being in green and only 4.5 points below standard, increasing by 30.3 points. Not only that – they beat the state, which remained in orange at 13.2 points below standard.
The CHE students have also made great strides in mathematics.
The CHE students made a similar move in mathematics. They also moved from orange to green and from 57.4 points below standard to 22.4 points below standard, an increase of 35 points. “We are below standard but we beat the state,” Dieli said. The state remained in orange at 47.6 points below standard.
Dieli noted they are working on foundational skills, getting math facts down.
“We are a tight-knit community at CHE,” Dieli said. “We all strive to make things better for our students.”
She called out Mr. Tony, the school’s custodian, who plays soccer with the students during his lunch time. “That builds connections,” the principal said, adding she will see the students hugging or high-fiving Mr. Tony.
The custodian, Antonio Vega Aguilera, was honored at last May’s Mountain Communities Awards Banquet for the strong connections he makes with the students. “It is so amazing working at the school and with the wonderful children,” he said after accepting his award.
Trustee Cindy Gardner said that, at the California School Boards Association conference, she focused on attendance and heard a change in the messaging about it. Rather than focusing on Striving for 95 and talking about the money the school district is losing, the message could be focused on the students. “What are you missing today?” A district could build a culture of “if I don’t go to school today, what am I going to miss?”
“We want to take what happening in TK and have that rigor go across all grades,” Dieli said.
“It really is about relationships,” said Trustee Bill Mellinger. “Relationships between the staff and the students.”
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