Hi Mt. Stuart Families,          2/9/26

As we begin the second semester, I just want to say how proud I am of our students, staff, and families. Mt. Stuart truly is a special place! We are so grateful for your partnership and all the ways you support your children and our school community. Our staff has such big hearts and is deeply committed to helping every student grow and succeed. It’s an honor to work alongside them and help put systems in place that make a difference for kids. We’ve made great progress in recent years—and there’s so much ahead for us!

This year, our district has a new Strategic Plan, which guides how each school creates its School Improvement Plan (SIP)—a roadmap for how we’re improving learning for all students. At Mt. Stuart, we believe we’re better together, so we collaborate in teams and committees to plan, learn, and track our progress. Our SIP focuses on three main areas at the elementary level. Each area includes goals for student learning, evidence-based teaching practices, and family engagement.

1. Strong Start in Early Learning

2. Student Well-Being through Agency and Connection

3. Equity & Excellence in Learning

Here are some of the ways we’re putting those goals into action this year:

• Grade-Level Updates: Each month, grade-level teams share what students are learning and provide questions you can ask at home to connect learning to everyday life.

• SOAR Expectations: We’ve refreshed our school-wide expectations—Safety, Ownership, Adaptability, and Respect—and refreshed systems like Camp Stuart (our reteaching schedule), the Eagle Buck Store, and small group Flight School sessions. We also updated our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) plan so teachers can tailor lessons to student needs more flexibly. 

• Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): Each Wednesday, staff use early release time to learn together. They discuss four key questions about student learning—what we want students to learn, how we’ll know if they’ve learned it, and how we’ll respond if they need more support or are ready for enrichment. We’ve added a fifth question focused on equity: Who benefited and who didn’t? 

• Professional Growth: Teachers are exploring professional learning resources based on their interests and sharing their learning with one another.

• Learning Walks: Administrators and district leaders are spending more time in classrooms to see what’s working well and identify ways to support teachers. Later this year, teachers will also visit each other’s classrooms to learn from their peers.

District-wide, we’re also aligning what students learn at each grade level, improving assessments to better understand student strengths and needs, and offering new tools to support learning—like i-Ready My Path for math (K–2) and NWEA Coach Maya for reading (K–5). Our schedule is designed so that paraeducators can be available during key learning times to provide extra help in reading, math, and SEL through our What I Need (WIN) groups.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support—it makes all the difference!

Warmly,
Mrs. Singletary, Principal, Mt. Stuart Elementary

📅 Mt. Stuart Elementary Mid-Year Update

🦅 Student Behavior: Strong & Steady

Student behavior continues on a positive trend schoolwide.  Behavior concerns are concentrated while the vast majority of students are meeting expectations.

By the numbers:

• 👧👦 332 total students

• ✅ 89% (≈295 students) have ZERO referrals this school year

• ⚠️ 35 students have 1 or more major referrals

• 🚨 Only 5 students have 5+ referrals

What we’re doing:

• Mr. Piper & our staff are working closely with students, families, and staff to put plans in place to meet student needs

• Targeted supports are already showing a positive impact

• SOAR expectations are taking flight! 

• Clubs like Eagle Leaders, choir, robotics, newspaper, etc. are opportunities for upper grade student leadership development

📈 Academic Achievement: Ahead of the Trend

✅ Benchmark Highlights

• All tested grades 2-5 met or exceeded the mid-year growth goal (3%) in math and reading

• Math: End-of-year goal (7%) already met.

  • School Achievement = Fall 49 & Winter 56

  • 61st percentile growth

  • Most growth in 2nd & 3rd grade

• Reading: Just 1% away from the end-of-year goal

  • School Achievement = Fall 51 & Winter 57

  • 66 percentile growth 

  • Most growth in 2nd and 4th grade

ESD leadership has set the stage for more cohesion across the district, staff have been working intentionally and collectively to coordinate their teaching practices and analyze student growth data. We are also in the process of an ESD K-5 curriculum adoption for English Language Arts. This new program will be used with ESD students in the fall of 2026. 

We are extremely proud of our staff, students and families for this successful first semester!