Colorado's Unified Improvement Plan for Schools

Rocky Mountain Elementary School UIP 2024-25

      
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Content


  • Document icons and definitions

  • Priority Performance Challenges
  • Root Cause
  • Major Improvement Strategies
  • Action Steps
  • Progress Monitoring
  • Trend Direction

Executive Summary


Priority Performance Challenges Root Cause Major Improvement Strategies
  • Math Academic Achievement and Growth
    		•
  • Lack of Grade Level Standards Based Instruction
    		•
  • Data-Based Problem Solving and Decision Making
    		•
  • ELA Academic Achievement and Growth
    		•
  • Lack of Grade Level Standards Based Instruction
    		•
  • Data-Based Problem Solving and Decision Making
    		•


    Access the School Performance Framework here: http://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/performance

    Access the Literacy Curriculum Transparency Dashboard here: https://www.cde.state.co.us/code/literacycurriculumtransparency-dashboard

    Improvement Plan Information


    Additional Information about the school


    Rocky Mountain is an elementary school in the St. Vrain Valley School District located in Longmont, Colorado. It is a STEM focus elementary school offering Preschool through Fifth Grade. During a typical school year many enrichment opportunities, both within and outside of the regular school day, are provided for students. These opportunities include: VEX Robotics, 100 Mile Club, and STEM Explorers. Partnerships among our community members are important to our school as they provide our students with rich, meaningful experiences. Currently, Rocky Mountain Elementary is partnering with Thorne Nature Experience in continuing after school programming. Rocky Mountain has 315 students in Preschool through 5th grade enrolled in the 2024-2025 school year. Enrollment is up 15 students from the 2023-2024 school year, Rocky Mountain now has 2 classes per grade level with the exception of 4th grade which has three. We are one of five schools in our district that offers bi-literacy instruction to support an early transition to English. Our student body is 85% Hispanic and 12% white with a small percentage of other ethnicities. Roughly 85% of our students qualify for the Free or Reduced lunch program, and 72% of our students are identified multilingual learners. The percentage of students receiving special education services is 15%; however, that number reflects the fact that we have an early childhood special education program. Rocky Mountain receives Title I School-Wide funding.Currently, 133 Rocky Mountain students are on a READ Plan. A major areas of focus at Rocky Mountain that aims to improve student growth by helping teachers respond to student need, identified through data are grade Impact Teams. The work of these teams has been focused on addressing identified root causes for math and literacy which include; inconsistent Tier I Instruction implementation and structures in place to support teacher collective efficacy, and infrequent monitoring of student growth and progress to grade-level mastery. With these root causes in mind, Major Improvement Strategies (MIS) and Action Plan Steps of consistent implementation of viable curriculum, writing and vocabulary across all curricula/academic areas, and responding to student needs through the review of formative and benchmark assessments have been the primary focus and goal of Impact Team meetings. The Rocky Mountain Leadership Team has discussed and gathered feedback on instructional priorities from data, resulting in focus around upcoming and ongoing professional development to continue the work that has been established from the 2023-2024 school year. Student achievement and growth data is shared with the Parent Leadership Team in order to collect feedback and better define root causes. During Parent/Teacher Conferences teachers shared class and student level data with parents in order to share achievement and growth goals related to the improvement process. Further, the Parent Leadership Team contributed to the UIP process by meeting to review school data and provide input on school goals. The parent group will continue to be engaged with the progress monitoring efforts at our monthly Cafecito meetings. In dedication to ensuring students continue to grow as learners, Rocky Mountain Elementary provided summer school (Project Launch) for all students in kindergarten through 5th grade. This learning opportunity took place during the month of June 2024. During the 2024-2025 school year, students will be provided with additional academic support through our school-wide intervention period and with the continuation of the Triple A (Academic Advancement Academy) program. Triple A is an after school program with the purpose of providing additional learning opportunities for students that includes direct instruction, is thoughtful of needs based learning, and is planned with the end in mind. Among the offerings for Triple A will be support for Newcomers.

    Improvement Plan Information

    The school/district is submitting this improvement plan to satisfy requirements for (check all that apply):


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    Narrative on Data Analysis and Root Cause Identification


    Description of School Setting and Process for Data Analysis

    Rocky Mountain is an elementary school in the St. Vrain Valley School District located in Longmont, Colorado. It is a STEM focus elementary school offering Preschool through Fifth Grade. During a typical school year many enrichment opportunities, both within and outside of the regular school day, are provided for students. These opportunities include: VEX Robotics, 100 Mile Club, STEM Explorers, and Community Schools programs.  Partnerships among our community members are important to our school as they provide our students with rich, meaningful experiences.  Currently, Rocky Mountain Elementary is partnering with Thorne Nature Experience in continuing after school programming. 

     

    Rocky Mountain has 302 students in Preschool through 5th grade enrolled in the 2023-2024 school year. Enrollment is down 17 students from the 2022-2023 school year, Rocky Mountain now has 2 classes per grade level with the exception of 2nd grade which has three.  We are one of five schools in our district that offers bi-literacy instruction to support an early transition to English.  Our student body is 85% Hispanic and 12% white with a small percentage of other ethnicities.  Roughly 85% of our students qualify for the Free or Reduced lunch program,  and 72% of our students are identified multilingual learners.  The percentage of students receiving special education services is 15%; however, that number reflects the fact that we have an early childhood special education program.   Rocky Mountain receives Title I School-Wide funding.

     

    Rocky Mountain has been successful with supporting students through the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, receiving a rating of Performance on the 2023 School Performance Framework. Areas of focus at Rocky Mountain that have contributed to solid student growth are the use of grade level data driven Impact Teams.  The work of these teams has been focused on addressing identified root causes for math and literacy which include; inconsistent Tier I Instruction implementation and structures in place to support teacher collective efficacy, and infrequent monitoring of student growth and progress to grade-level mastery.  With these root causes in mind, Major Improvement Strategies (MIS) and Action Plan Steps of consistent implementation of viable curriculum, writing and vocabulary across all curricula/academic areas, and responding to student needs through the review of formative assessments have been the primary focus and goal of Impact Team meetings.  

     

    The Rocky Mountain Leadership Team has discussed and gathered feedback on instructional priorities from data, resulting in focus around upcoming and ongoing professional development to continue the work that has been established from the 2022-2023 school year.  Student achievement and growth data is shared with the Parent Leadership Team in order to collect feedback and better define root causes.  During Parent/Teacher Conferences teachers shared class and student level data with parents in order to share achievement and growth goals related to the improvement process. Further, the Parent Leadership Team contributed to the UIP process by meeting to review school data and provide input on school goals. The parent group will continue to be engaged with the progress monitoring efforts at our monthly Cafecito meetings.

     

    In dedication to ensuring students continue to grow as learners, Rocky Mountain Elementary provided summer school (Project Launch) for all students in kindergarten through 5th grade. This learning opportunity took place during the month of June 2023.  During the 2023-2024 school year, students will be provided with additional academic support with the continuation of the Triple A (Academic Advancement Academy) program. Triple A is an after school program with the purpose of providing additional learning opportunities for students that includes direct instruction, is thoughtful of needs based learning, and is planned with the end in mind. Among the offerings for Triple A will be support for Newcomers.


     

    Prior Year Targets

    Provide a summary of your progress in implementing the Major Improvement Strategies and if they had the intended effect on systems, adult actions, and student outcomes (e.g. targets).


    Based on your reflection and evaluation, provide a summary of the adjustments that you will make for this year's plan.

    Current Performance

    Math Academic Achievement and Growth:


    Rating for Academic Achievement on School Performance Framework is Does Not Meet, this rating is seen with the All Students Group along with all disaggregated groups. This is a declining trend from the 2023 School performance framework which had an Approaching rating for the All Students, Free/Reduced Lunch Eligible, and Minority student groups; the trend of Does Not Meet holds for Multilingual Learners and Students with Disabilities. iReady data from the 2023-2024 school year shows that 41% of students, school wide, finished the school year at grade level which is an improvement from the 2022-2023 school year in which 36% of students finished the year at grade level. 


    Rating for Academic Growth on School Performance Framework is Approaching, this rating is seen with the All Students Group along with all disaggregated groups. This is a holding trend from the 2023 School performance framework. iReady data from the 2023-2024 school year shows that 50% of students, school wide, made typical growth (average annual growth for a student at their grade and baseline placement level) and 26% of students made stretch growth (a level of growth that exceeds typical growth). iReady data from the 2023-2024 school year shows that 50% of students, school wide, made typical growth (average annual growth for a student at their grade and baseline placement level) and 26% of students made stretch growth (a level of growth that exceeds typical growth).


    ELA Academic Achievement and Growth: 


    Rating for Academic Achievement on School Performance Framework is Does Not Meet, this is a holding trend for the All Students group and all disaggregated groups from the 2023 School Performance Framework. iReady data from the 2023-2024 school year shows that 46% of students, school wide, finished the school year at grade level which is a minor improvement from the 2022-2023 school year in which 42% of students finished the year at grade level.


    Rating for Academic Growth on School Performance Framework is Approaching, this rating is seen with the All Students Group along with all disaggregated groups. This is a declining trend from the 2023 School Performance Framework where Rocky Mountain students were reaching the Meets rating for the All Students group as well as for the Minority and Multilingual Learners groups, the other disaggregated group, Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible was at the approaching level. iReady data from the 2023-2024 school year shows that 53% of students, school wide, made typical growth (average annual growth for a student at their grade and baseline placement level) and 27% of students made stretch growth (a level of growth that exceeds typical growth).

    READ Plan: Rocky Mountain Elementary currently has 133 (36%) students on a READ Plan. This is a stable percentage when compared to the 2022-2023 school year.

    ACCESS: ACCESS scores show that 53% of our Multilingual Learners are currently on track to reach English Language proficiency, this is a drop from 63.2% in the 2022-2023 school year.

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    Trend Analysis

    Trend Direction: Increasing then stable
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    CMAS ELA Achievement for all students has increased and stablized from 2019 to 2023. (718 to 720)
    Trend Direction: Stable
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    CMAS FRL Eligible students achievement declined from 2022 to 2023. (720 to 717)
    Trend Direction: Increasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    CMAS Not FRL Eligible achievement improved from 2022 to 2023. (730 to 739)
    Trend Direction: Decreasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    Students are consistently below expectations on CMAS and iReady ELA. This is a notable trend as Rocky Mountain has consistently been below the achievement mark over the past 5 years.
    Trend Direction: Decreasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    Students are consistently below expectations on CMAS and iReady Math. This is a notable trend as Rocky Mountain has consistently been below the achievement mark over the past 5 years. As a school, each disaggregated group dropped from 2022 to 2023.
    Trend Direction: Stable
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    The percent of students meeting or exceeding CMAS expectations has been stable for 3rd and 4th grade from 2019 - 2023 (15% - 17% for 3rd grade, 19% to 18% for 4th grade).
    Trend Direction: Increasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    The percent of students meeting or exceeding CMAS expectations for ELA has increased from 2019-2023 (25% - 31%)
    Trend Direction: Increasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    The percent of students meeting or exceeding CMAS expectations for math has increased in 3rd and 4th grade from 2019-2023 (7% to 17% for 3rd grade, 12% to 21% for 4th grade)
    Trend Direction: Stable
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Achievement (Status)

    The percent of students meeting or exceeding CMAS expectaions for math has flatlined for 5th grade from 2019 - 2023 (16% - 18%)
    Trend Direction: Stable
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Growth

    The All Students category and each disaggregated category on CMAS exceeded the state median growth percentile for ELA.
    Trend Direction: Decreasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Academic Growth

    Student growth declined in ELA and Math on CMAS from 2022 to 2023.
    Trend Direction: Decreasing
    Performance Indicator Target: Other

    Read Plan percentage has decline over the past three years but is still at over 36%.

    Priority Performance Challenge and Associated Root Cause

    Priority Performance Challenge:  Math Academic Achievement and Growth

    Achievement has declined and in most cases is below state expectations across all content areas, populations, and grade levels.

    Area of Focus: Math growth


    Root Cause: Lack of Grade Level Standards Based Instruction

    Lack of consistent use of viable curriculum. Lack of implementation of consistent grade level tier 1 instruction and use of data to drive tier 2 and 3 interventions. Lack of comprehensible effective scaffolding strategies to support English Learners.

    Root Cause Category: Data Analysis


    Priority Performance Challenge:  ELA Academic Achievement and Growth

    Achievement has declined and in most cases is below state expectations across all content areas, populations, and grade levels.

    Area of Focus: English/Language Arts achievement


    Root Cause: Lack of Grade Level Standards Based Instruction

    Lack of consistent use of viable curriculum. Lack of implementation of consistent grade level tier 1 instruction and use of data to drive tier 2 and 3 interventions. Lack of comprehensible effective scaffolding strategies to support English Learners.

    Root Cause Category: Data Analysis

    Why were these challenges selected and what is the magnitude of the overall performance challenges:

    Rocky Mountain Elementary has been on a positive track in receiving the Governor's Bright Spot for CMAS growth award for the past two school years. The most recent data shows a decline in the high growth the school has previously seen. An emphasis on growth and adjusting instruction to meet the needs of each student will contribute to higher growth and over time, consistent growth leads to higher achievement. Some of the other challenges we see is that our writing scores are lower than our reading scores, which could be contributed to inconsistent implementation of district curricular resources aligned to Colorado Academic standards.

    iReady growth and achievement is fairly stable and has not shown enough improvement to have a significant impact on closing achievement gaps. These gaps are consistent throughout the school and includes all populations of students. 

    Data driven Impact Teams have played an important role at Rocky Mountain and have helped contribute to high levels of growth. Previously, these teams have focused more on summative assessment results, to help ensure fast response to student need(s), the focus of these meeting will switch to formative assessments. We believe that since the focus was previously on summative, there wasn't consistent use of data to inform next steps instructionally on a frequent basis to support the various needs our students have.  We believe that if we increase the frequency and the data that we collect, we will be able to make timely adjustments to instruction and student learning will increase.

    ​​​​​​A positive school culture has numerous positive impacts, including improved student achievement, higher attendance rates, better social and emotional development, reduced bullying, increased teacher satisfaction and retention, greater parent and community engagement, improved student behavior and discipline, higher graduation rates, enhanced teacher collaboration, and better preparation for life beyond school. It creates a supportive and nurturing learning environment that benefits students, teachers, and the entire school community.

    How were the Root Causes were selected and verified:

    The Rocky Mountain staff spent a staff meeting on October 3rd reviewing the most recent CMAS data as well as 4 previous years of state, district, and school assessment data. The group looked deeply into the whole group and subgroup CMAS results in ELA and Math. iReady, writing, unit assessments, as well as additional school and district data were studied to identify trends in achievement across multiple sources of data. Additionally, time was spend during weekly Impact Team meetings to discuss and plan for supporting immediate needs of students based on formative assessment data. The information was shared with our parent community during the month of September, where they provided feedback and identified opportunities for family engagement. 

    Action and Progress Monitoring Plans

    Major Improvement Strategy and Action Plan

    > >

    Data-Based Problem Solving and Decision Making

    What will success look like:

    		There is clear evidence of schoolwide systems around positive student and staff culture and individual supports necessary to create a safe learning environment for all.

    Describe the research/evidence base supporting the strategy:

    		ESSA encourages schools to use data to inform teaching practices. By regularly analyzing student performance data, educators can provide targeted interventions to struggling students while adhering to pacing guides. This approach helps close learning gaps and ensures that instruction remains responsive to individual needs, allowing all students to succeed. ESSA’s focus on equity and accountability further emphasizes the importance of using evidence-based strategies like pacing guides combined with data-driven instruction to improve student outcomes.

    Strategy Category:

    		Continuous Improvement

    Associated Root Causes:

    Lack of Grade Level Standards Based Instruction: Lack of consistent use of viable curriculum. Lack of implementation of consistent grade level tier 1 instruction and use of data to drive tier 2 and 3 interventions. Lack of comprehensible effective scaffolding strategies to support English Learners.

    Implementation Benchmarks Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Benchmark Name Description Start/End/Repeats Key Personnel Status
    Teachers use data to plan for reteach or enrichment All staff is trained in Capturing Kids Hearts I. 07/03/2023
    12/31/2023
    		 Admin and teachers
    Family Engagement increase in family engagement/participation totals at each event throughout the year 09/04/2023
    05/20/2024
    		 admin, family liaison

    Action Steps Associated with Major Improvement Strategy

    Name Description Start/End Date Resource Key Personnel Status
    Family Engagement - literacy
    		Family literacy night to help support families with reading activities at home 10/14/2022
    02/02/2024     		Title funding/CSLD Grant Teachers, Instructional Coaches, Administration
    a05PU0000030IRR
    		10/07/2024
    05/04/2026     		Administration
    a05PU0000030IRS
    		10/08/2024
    05/11/2026     		Teachers
    a05PU0000030IRT
    		10/18/2024
    12/27/2024     		Administration, Instructional Support Team
    a05PU0000030IRU
    		10/18/2024
    03/13/2025     		Administration, Instructional Support Team
    a05PU0000030IRV
    		11/01/2024
    02/24/2025     		Administration, Instructional Support Team
    a05PU0000030IOD
    		11/01/2024
    01/24/2025     		Teachers, Instructional Coaches, Administration
    a05PU0000030IRW
    		11/08/2024
    05/22/2026     		Administration, Teachers, Instructional Support Team,

    Progress Monitoring: Student Target Setting

    Priority Performance Challenge : Math Academic Achievement and Growth

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Academic Achievement (Status)

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 M
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2024-2025: 55 MGP or higher for all desegregated groups
    2025-2026:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2024-2025:

    Priority Performance Challenge : ELA Academic Achievement and Growth

    Performance Indicator:

    		 Academic Achievement (Status)

    Measures / Metrics:

    		 ELA
    ANNUAL
    PERFORMANCE
    TARGETS
    2024-2025: 55 MGP or higher for all desegregated groups
    2025-2026:

    INTERIM MEASURES FOR 2024-2025:

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