Tierra Del Sol students and teachers point to rising scores, expanded supports

Tierra Del Sol Middle School students and staff told the Lakeside Union School District board their classroom-focused strategies are producing measurable gains, while leaders described new co-teaching, ELD and career-pathway initiatives aimed at raising proficiency.

School presenter (speaker 1) told trustees the school’s new ‘‘24–25 data wall’’ collects CAST and MAPs results alongside attendance and behavior metrics, and reported the school is at 41% proficiency in English language arts and 28% proficiency in math. The presenter said many cohorts showed upward movement: ‘‘64% of our current seventh-graders and 80% of our current eighth-graders increased their score,’’ evidence the school is producing year-to-year growth even as it works to move students from near-proficient to proficient.

Why it matters: trustees and staff said those lead measures — classroom observations, teacher and student self-assessments, structured grade-level POC meetings and weekly use of common templates — give teachers actionable, timely information instead of waiting for year-end tests.

Students described how those systems play out in classrooms. ‘‘Having two teachers shows we’re...working together because the teachers support each other and us as well,’’ said Sanford Rua, an eighth grader at Tierra Solano School, describing the co-teaching model. Kendall Gillette, the school’s eighth-grade ASB president, explained the schoolwide GLOW expectations and crew program: "The G in GLOW stands for get respect; the L for lead by example; the O for own your actions; and the W is work together," she said, adding that crew rotations and monthly counseling lessons aim to build belonging and social-emotional skills.

The board heard specific program details: an ELD presenter credited collaboration with Michelle Perkins and the San Diego County Office of Education for a new ELD vision and reported that 74.5% of English learners made progress on the ELPAC this year — a 21-point increase from the prior year and roughly 30 points above the state average, earning the school a ‘‘blue’’ rating on the English-learner progress indicator.

School leaders also highlighted extracurricular expansion and career readiness: after-school athletics drew more than 45 students to the first tennis practice, the sixth-grade boys flag-football team went undefeated, and the campus launched a college-and-career lab to create pathways with area high schools.

Board context and next steps: trustees praised the student presenters and staff, and several board members encouraged the continuation of POC structures and alignment of electives into high-school pathways. The presentation was followed by routine board business; the district will continue to report on MAPs and dashboard metrics at subsequent meetings.