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Our 2025-2026 School Focus

 

 

School Learning Focus for the 2025-2026 school year

For the 2025–2026 school year, our students will build confidence as readers and compassionate community members. Through targeted instruction, they will learn to independently apply reading comprehension strategies to deepen their understanding. 

At the same time, our Wolfpack will practice showing respect for self, others, and place in their daily interactions. Our goal is for every student to take ownership of their learning while contributing to a welcoming and supportive school community.

Evidence-Informed Rationale (WHY)

Recent literacy assessments, FSA data, Acadience (reading assessment), RFRA (Richmond Formative Reading Assessment) and SPARK (phonemic assessment), reveal a significant gap in student performance, showing that while 51% of our school is proficient in reading fluency, only 32% are proficient in reading comprehension. Currently, 68% of our student body falls into the "Emerging" or "Developing" categories for comprehension, highlighting a clear need for explicit, strategy-based instruction.

By focusing our teaching on direct comprehension strategies, we can address these specific breakdowns in reading and move closer to our school-wide goal of 75% proficiency.

In 2025's Spring Belonging Survey, results reveal Whiteside students across all grades report a high sense of positive belonging (73–84%), which is a significant strength.  But when looking at the grade breakdown of students from Grade 3 to 7, our Grade 3's and 7's showed the greatest negative sentiment.  

"Respect for Self, Others and Place", a common language framework, will be used consistently across classrooms, playgrounds, assemblies, and communication home.  When all the adults in the community responds to behaviour and conflict using the same language and expectations, students will benefit.

Priority LearnersIn literacy, this need is especially noticeable in our primary grades, which saw a recent 16% drop in overall proficiency and this required immediate, targeted intervention. 
Baseline Data 

Primary

  • Reading Fluency: 29% of students are meeting or exceeding expectations (27% Proficient, 2% Extending), while 72% require further support (38% Emerging, 34% Developing).
  • Reading Comprehension: Only 16% of students are Proficient (0% Extending), leaving a significant 84% of students in the Emerging (53%) or Developing (31%) categories.

Middle Years

  • Reading Fluency: More than half the students are meeting expectations, with 56% Proficient or Extending (52% Proficient, 4% Extending). The remaining 44% are Emerging (3%) or Developing (41%).
  • Reading Comprehension: 34% of students are Proficient (0% Extending), while 66% are still building these skills in the Emerging (15%) or Developing (51%) categories.

Upper Intermediate

  • Reading Fluency: This group shows the strongest fluency, with 63% meeting or exceeding expectations (57% Proficient, 6% Extending), and 37% Emerging (4%) or Developing (33%).
  • Reading Comprehension: 41% of students are Proficient or Extending (39% Proficient, 2% Extending), while 59% fall into the Emerging (16%) or Developing (43%) categories.
Action Statement (HOW)To effectively narrow this reading comprehension gap, we will provide our teachers with targeted professional development and dedicated collaboration time to co-plan explicit, data-driven comprehension strategy lessons. Simultaneously, we will allocate funding for high-quality reading resources and implement a rigorous Primary Reading Intervention program to ensure all students receive the foundational and differentiated support they need to succeed.
Intended Impact (SO WHAT)

If our targeted literacy interventions and collaborative planning are successful, we can expect a measurable shift in student achievement that directly closes the gap between reading fluency and reading comprehension.

Specifically, in our primary grades, the dedicated reading intervention program will reverse the recent 16% drop in proficiency and significantly reduce the 84% of students currently requiring support, ensuring they build foundational text understanding before transitioning to higher grades. Across the middle and upper intermediate years, explicit, school-wide strategy instruction will move the majority of our student body—who are currently sitting at 68% "Emerging" or "Developing"—into the "Proficient" category.

Evidence of Impact (HOW WE WILL KNOW)These actions will drive our reading comprehension scores toward our 75% proficiency goal. We will see a cohesive teaching staff using consistent, data-driven practices, and students who can independently name and apply specific reading strategies to understand the texts they engage with every day.
Alignment  Our school focus on literacy —specifically targeting reading comprehension strategies and primary reading intervention programs —directly answers the district’s core objective to improve literacy outcomes for all students. By utilizing data-driven assessments (like Acadience, RFRA, FSAs, and SPARK) to identify and close the gap between reading fluency and comprehension, the school is ensuring that learners build the foundational skills necessary to succeed across the K-12 curriculum.
Updated: Sunday, May 24, 2026