Westchester Middle School reports ‘commendable’ rating, outlines intervention gains and behavior supports

Westchester Middle School’s leadership presented the school’s state report card and program updates at the March 14 Westchester SD 92‑5 Board of Education meeting, telling trustees the school’s summative designation is “commendable” and outlining enrollment, achievement and support strategies.

Principal-led presenters reported WMS enrollment at 361 students as of March 7, 2024, and noted demographic changes with Hispanic students now the largest subgroup. The team said the school’s overall index rose to 76.93 this year from 72.8 last year and described mixed but improving results across subgroups in both English language arts and math. “The WMS summative designation is commendable,” the principal said during the presentation.

Presenters walked trustees through MAP achievement and growth percentiles by grade. Staff described targeted intervention tiers: Tier 2 (in-class, teacher- or interventionist-led) and Tier 3 (daily 40‑minute pull‑outs). For Tier 3 reading the school uses Orton‑Gillingham and the new Third Quest curriculum, which staff said addresses vocabulary, comprehension and writing. On math, teachers reported use of adaptive diagnostics and Spring Math individual interventions; staff said several accelerated math placements posted high growth.

The team outlined behavioral supports: a counselor, social worker and a student advocate who manage caseloads and coordinate referrals. Two students currently attend West 40 (an off‑site program), and staff described the intake and orientation process for placements there. The principal said the school has monthly discipline data reviews and uses PBIS categories (tardies, technology violations, disruptive behavior) to guide interventions.

Board members asked specific operational questions about detention, red‑card thresholds, parent communication, and options for accelerated readers. The principal and intervention staff described practices for reflection sheets, academic work during detentions, parent outreach including progress emails and shared intervention documents, and a plan to survey demand before pursuing a formal accelerated reading track.

What’s next: trustees thanked the WMS team for the presentation and said they would follow up as needed; no formal board action on academic programming was taken at the meeting.