LAUGHLIN — In their first School Organizational Team meetings of 2024, the Laughlin Jr./Sr. High School and William G. Bennett Elementary School boards reviewed midyear progress toward school goals.

Each school had roughly three goals each: improving classroom sizes, improving student math and English proficiencies and improving adult school cultures.

For the most part, the schools have been able to keep classroom sizes low — with some exceptions where core classes, such as math at the high school, are combined for staffing reasons.

“In order to lower class sizes and create those separate honors sections, we need those highly qualified staff,” Principal Dawn Estes said. 

Most middle and high school classes were nonetheless able to hit 20 students or below, Estes said. 

Increasing math and English proficiency at both Bennet ES and Laughlin HS has seen mixed success.

While the elementary school grade reported almost no change in math proficiencies from the fall to winter semesters, the middle and high classes have, on average, seen improvement over the year.

Meanwhile, English proficiency numbers on average dropped in the middle and high school grades, while the elementary school mostly saw improvements.

The presentations also included data on proficiency gains for underperforming students for both schools.

At Bennet ES, for example, students under the 40th percentile, with the exception of first grade, also saw improvements between 1% and 11%.

“This has been the targeted group with what we call 95 Phonics … In grades three, four and five, you can see that program is making some gains. We’re closing the gaps,” Estes said.

However, board member Ashlynn Bilbray-Sainz was unhappy with the proficiency numbers at the elementary school level, specifically pointing in the high number of not proficient students in the English intervention group.

Of that sub-40th percentile group, 61% of second graders weren’t proficient, 62% in third, 71% in fourth and 65% in fifth.

“These numbers are embarrassing compared to the high school,” Bilbray-Sainz said. 

One reason given for the lackluster improvements in English compared to math is the fact that both schools are using a new curriculum for English while the math curriculum has been in place for two years. 

Creating a better “adult culture” at the schools meant improving communication between parents, guardians, teachers and other staff.

For both schools, the number of communications were logged along side the number of positive interactions among them.

The high school and middle school saw nearly 4,000 communications to parents throughout the first half of the year, but only 138 total positive parents contacts. 

On the flip side, Bennett ES saw 322 positive parent contacts in the second quarter of the school year alone — other half of which were in the third grade. 

The next SOT meetings will be held on Jan. 17 to determine the incoming school year’s budget.