Heritage Elementary reports gains for English learners and flags 11 teacher transfers amid boundary changes

Heritage Elementary Principal Lance Robbins presented a detailed school report to the Cache County School District board on March 19, highlighting student achievement and staffing shifts ahead of boundary changes.

Robbins said Heritage currently enrolls 74 students and that 37 are classified as limited-English-proficient (LEP). He credited ESL teacher Carol DeFreeze and the school’s intervention supports for large gains: Robbins reported the school is "off ATSI" after significant growth in adequate progress and proficiency for English learners.

Robbins described Heritage as a dual-language immersion (DLI) site that uses a 50/50 Spanish-English model: "In the DLI program, we're looking at half the day English, half the day Spanish," he said, noting that in sixth grade, science instruction is primarily on the Spanish side of the schedule.

He also pointed to achievement percentages on the district report card — Robbins cited roughly 70% in science, 69% in math and 60% in language arts — and said those results compare favorably with district and state averages.

At the same time, Robbins warned the board that boundary changes and the opening of a new school (Maple View) will shift personnel and enrollment. "We're going to be losing DLI — we've got 11 teachers transferring out of our school," he said, adding that the changes will move sections of Heritage’s boundary to neighboring Millville and send sixth graders elsewhere. Robbins highlighted the need for continued support to maintain program continuity and student services.

Board members congratulated Robbins and his staff for the academic gains and acknowledged the district will need to plan for staffing and boundary impacts before the next school year.