ECLC principal reports strong start, new preschool orientation and curriculum changes

Andrea Vance, principal of ECLC, briefed the North Ridgeville City Board of Education on start-of-year activity, curriculum updates and early assessment benchmarks during the Sept. 17 meeting.

Vance said the building "had a phenomenal start to the school year" and described several initiatives aimed at improving student transitions and engagement: a therapy dog (Andy), a "fancy lunch" incentive for positive cafeteria behavior, reinstated preschool orientation and a focus on school culture informed by family and staff surveys. "The kids really love having [the therapy dog] there," Vance said.

On early assessment, Vance noted this is the first year ECLC is using AIMSweb for math benchmarking and reported baseline group counts: 164 students in tier 1, 82 in tier 2 and 47 in tier 3. She said kindergarten teachers are using the Envision math program with manipulatives and differentiated activity for students working above initial numeracy. "In the particular class I went into, they were tracing the number 5, and then that particular student was actually adding — he's doing some multiplication," she said, describing in-class differentiation.

Vance also described staff development plans and social-emotional curriculum work, including a preschool program for identifying feelings. She said the school’s PBIS lead recently applied to move from silver to gold status and the district expects notification in October.

The update included short student video clips played for the Board, showing children naming play, lunch and classmates as favorite parts of school. Board members followed with questions about kindergarten math content and instructional practice; Vance described hands-on, play-based starts to lessons to ease transitions.

The presentation provided no formal action items; it served as an informational update requested by the Board.