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Published October 22, 2010, 10:24 AM

Schools set goals for new year

Principals from each of the Hudson School District’s eight buildings were at the Board of Education meeting last week to report their “SMART” goals for the 2010-11 academic year.

By: Meg Heaton, Hudson Star-Observer

Principals from each of the Hudson School District’s eight buildings were at the Board of Education meeting last week to report their “SMART” goals for the 2010-11 academic year.

After districtwide success meeting last year’s benchmarks, Associate Director of Learning Services Peg Shoemaker said that this year teachers and administrators would continue to set challenging goals and would focus on working in professional teams at both the grade and departmental level. Shoemaker said the teams are centered around a common goal — to be mutually accountable and work interdependently.

At Hudson High School, Principal Laura Love said she and her staff would be working on three goals:

  • To increase the number of students in various subgroups, (ethnic, gender, income level and special education, by 10 percent from the October 2010 enrollment.

  • To decrease by 50 percent the number of ninth-graders considered “at risk” of academic failure.

  • By June, 95 percent of students will report a positive personal connection to at least one HHS staff member.

    Love said the last goal speaks more to improving the “climate” at the school. Plans to implement the goal include guided study halls for students who need additional help academically, a short activity each Friday in the classroom that increases the connection between students and staff and a commitment from teachers to send a positive communication home for at least two students every week.

    At Hudson Middle School, the goals are divided into the core subjects of math, science and social studies with:

  • 90 percent of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students will demonstrate proficiency in computation skills as measured by a common test administered each trimester.

  • 90 percent of students will score proficient or higher in grade level science assessments.

  • 90 percent of all students will demonstrate proficiency in a writing response on global awareness.

    HMS teachers and administrators will continue to collaborate in collecting and discussing data from their assessments and “adjusting their instructional strategies” accordingly to achieve the goals.

    The district’s six elementary principals said their goal is to have 88 percent of all K-5 learners reading at or above grade level by June. They told the board the goal is achievable through continued collaborative work among teachers and administrators, continual monitoring and analysis of assessment and instructional data and personalized coaching and feedback to teachers on literacy instruction.

    In other business the board approved monthly expenditures of $3,338,155 and acknowledged gifts from the 3M Foundation on behalf of Rock Elementary parent and volunteer Mike Lewandowski and $966 from the Knights of Columbus to be used to assist cognitively disabled students in the district.

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