Parent Notification Letter (10/31/25)

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Legislation (G.S. §115C-83.15) passed during the 2013 long session of the North Carolina General Assembly provides parents with an additional measure of school performance: School Performance Grades. Beginning with the 2013-14 school year, the annual North Carolina School Report Cards display a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F for each school in the state.

The School Performance Grades are based 80 percent on our school's achievement score (student proficiency) and 20 percent on students' academic growth. At North Wilkesboro Elementary, our achievement score for the 2024-2025 school year is based on how well our students performed on Grades 3-8 Mathematics (46.1), Grades 3-8 English Language Arts/Reading (39.7), Grades 5 and 8 Science (51.1), The purpose of this letter is to inform you that North Wilkesboro Elementary, has been designated as a low performing school by the North Carolina State Board of Education. As defined in G.S. 115C-105.37: "The State Board of Education shall identify low-performing schools on an annual basis. Low-performing schools are those that earn an overall school performance grade of D or F and a school growth score of "met expected growth" or "not met expected growth" as defined by G.S. 115C-83.15."

North Wilkesboro Elementary received a School Performance Grade of D and a growth designation of Met Growth for the 2024-2025 school year. Although we are committed to improving this score, it is important to remember that just as no single score or grade tells the whole story of a student, neither does it tell you everything about the performance of a school or the opportunities that our school provides. (Terrific Kids, Science Olympiad, Spelling Bee, Soil and Water, and Hoop Shoot.) As a low-performing school, we are required to develop an improvement plan that specifically addresses how the school will improve both the school performance grade and school growth score. The plan will also include how the superintendent and other central office administrators in the district will work with us and monitor the progress of our school. We are already engaged in the work of refining our plan and will present the plan to our school board at their next meeting, November 3, 2025, where the plan will be presented for approval. The final plan will be available for review at nweswilkes.org or wilkescountyschools.org.

One of our top priorities for 2025-2026 is to improve our School Performance Grade. There are a number of key programs we have in place to help improve student performance. These include:

Goal 1: Eliminate Opportunity Gaps

We will define and communicate a schoolwide Tier I (Core) instructional framework that emphasizes systematic, explicit, and engaging instruction with intentional scaffolding to support student learning. Tier II and Tier III targeted and intensive supports will be implemented with fidelity and monitored monthly during MTSS meetings to ensure students receive appropriate interventions. Standardized PLC and MTSS data analysis protocols will guide our work, utilizing universal screeners, diagnostic assessments, and progress monitoring data to inform instructional decisions and interventions. All teachers will participate in professional development on evidence-based classroom management practices and implement schoolwide behavior expectations consistently. Daily use of SpotLight will reinforce positive behaviors and create a supportive learning environment. We will regularly review disaggregated subgroup data with particular attention to multilingual learners (MLs) and students with disabilities (SWD) to identify and address disparities in opportunity and outcomes.

Goal 2: Improve school and district performance by 2027

Our improvement plan focused on strengthening instruction, family engagement, and collaborative support systems. Teachers will send home monthly newsletters via folders and Remind that include classroom updates, learning objectives, strategies for home support, important dates, and contact information to keep families informed and engaged. Reading and Math academic nights will be hosted to build family capacity and extend learning beyond the classroom. Walkthroughs will monitor curriculum implementation with fidelity, with data collected and analyzed to identify professional development priorities and guide instructional improvement. Monthly MTSS meetings will bring teams together to analyze student performance data and respond promptly to instructional needs. Teachers will implement Walk to Read procedures and the Fundations curriculum with fidelity, providing differentiated literacy instruction across grade levels to close literacy gaps and build foundational skills. Strengthened collaboration between special education (EC), multilingual (ML), and general education teachers will ensure all students receive aligned, data-driven, and inclusive tiered supports within the MTSS framework. Together, these initiatives create a coherent system of instruction, family partnership, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative support that will drive measurable improvements in student achievement and school performance.

Goal 3: Increase Educators' preparedness to meet the needs of every student by 2027

Our school is committed to building educator capacity through a comprehensive, data-driven professional development and collaboration system. The master schedule allocates dedicated time for differentiated instruction and flexible small-group interventions. Teachers participate in professional development to strengthen foundational teaching practices. Regular collaboration with instructional specialists and grade-level teams ensures the development of standards-based lesson plans aligned to student needs. School-wide data-including FAMS, academic performance, and walkthrough observations-drives differentiated professional development to meet the needs of teachers.

We hope you will closely follow your student's academic progress and work with his or her teacher(s) to help ensure they stay on track academically. Working together as a team, we can improve not only how well our students are performing individually, but also how our school is performing as a whole. There is nothing more important to administrators and teachers than ensuring students are ready for the next step in their academic careers. I look forward to working with you to make sure your student is on track for success.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our School Performance Grade and how we plan to improve, please don't hesitate to contact Dr. LaShaunda Plain-Mamon.

Sincerely,

Dr. LaShaunda Plain-Mamon, Principal