Alisal Community School reports larger student body, persistent reading gaps and multi-pronged plan to boost literacy

Alisal Community School administrators told the Alisal Union School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday that the school faces persistent reading gaps even as some measures improved and that leaders are launching targeted supports to address foundational literacy.

The presentation by Principal Maria Lepe and Assistant Principal Kimberly McCown said the school’s current enrollment is about 572 students in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade, with a high share of English learners and 95.4% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. "We had 572 TK through sixth grade students," Lepe said during the presentation. The school reported 162 students identified as homeless and 347 English learners, and the district’s spring ELPAC and preliminary i-Ready diagnostics show many students performing below grade level.

Principal Lepe said 46 students scored at the highest ELPAC performance level last spring and many more fell in the somewhat- or moderately-developed ranges. "This data tells me that we have a lot of work to do," she said, outlining a multi-part strategy to strengthen Tier 1 instruction and early literacy.

Lepe described actions the school will take: strengthen schoolwide close-reading and writing strategies; continue use of Achieve3000 to differentiate Lexile-aligned texts during designated English Language Development (ELD); roll out the UFLI Foundations curriculum for foundational literacy; add an intervention teacher who will target small-group instruction based on formative assessment; and partner with a consultant and neighboring schools for professional development focused on depth of knowledge and backwards-mapping instruction to standards. Lepe also highlighted a new portal from ProjectReads partnered with UFLI to help teachers pinpoint skill gaps and create personalized decodables.

Assistant Principal Kimberly McCown presented attendance and engagement data, noting pockets of chronic absenteeism and that transitional kindergarten currently shows the lowest attendance rate. "We…are focusing on attendance, literacy and building school climate," McCown said, pointing to the community school center and PBIS events as part of the strategy to boost engagement.

Trustees asked operational questions during a brief Q&A. Trustee Jose Antonio Jimenez asked how many newcomers the site maintained; Lepe said the site had about 17–25 newcomers over the past year and described how the reading specialist will support upper-grade newcomers depending on final diagnostic numbers. Trustee Beatriz Perez confirmed that the i-Ready numbers were preliminary and noted improvements in math relative to reading.

Why it matters: Alisal Community School serves a high-poverty student body with a large population of English learners and homeless students; district and school leaders said addressing foundational literacy and improving Tier 1 instruction are necessary to raise achievement and close gaps.

The administrators said next steps include completing the remaining diagnostic testing, assigning the intervention teacher pool according to need, and rolling out professional development with the consultant and partner schools. The presentation did not include a firm timeline for schoolwide effects, and trustees said they will monitor implementation through future district reports.