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The Hot Springs County School District Board of Trustees approved the contract for Superintendent Dustin Hunt through the end of school year 2022-2023 during an executive session last week.
With schools having to finish online last year there has been some concern as to where our students stand academically, especially in the lower grades.
Catelyn Deromedi, principal at Ralph Witters Elementary reported to the board on their findings from MAP testing that was done in the fall when school started and again in December just before Christmas Break.
Deromedi said it is obvious from the test scores that last years kindergartners, now first graders, missed out on a lot of core elements when classes went virtual last year.
She said there are a lot of elements to learning that are covered during the last part of a student’s kindergarten year and these children are having kind of a rough time.
“We are seeing growth, though,” she said. “It didn’t impact our older kids as much because they had already had those key elements when they were in kindergarten.”
Right now, 63% of kindergarten students are at or above grade level, much lower than the 85% goal.
Among the older students, math scores took the hardest hit, however, there has been a 92% growth from testing this fall to testing in December, so there is hope things will get back on track sooner than expected.
Deromedi said there is a plan already in place to help with the rebound and some of those elements have already been implemented.
Her biggest concern is with attendance.
Deromedi said it is out of anyone’s control. Some students have missed 30 days of instruction because of being quarantined repeatedly due to COVID. Studies are showing it will take two to three years to catch up if everything was normal, “and we’re definitely not normal,” she said. “Its terrifying.”
Thermopolis Middle School on the other hand is not seeing the issues the elementary students have, again, mainly due to the fact they’ve had those learning elements already instilled.
Principal Steven Soderstrom told the board they have seen a 93-percent growth in science alone, and they are just three students away from meeting their 80-percent target of having students at proficient or above.
“Their foundation from RWE was really good,” Soderstrom said. “They were able to bounce back quickly. I am really proud of my staff.”
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