To: Michael Green, Superintendent
From: Phil Pearson
Date: April 19, 2023
RE: Woodland High School Board Report
MTSS
MTSS stands for Multi Tiered Support System. It’s a generic term meant to describe a system in a school whose purpose is to provide necessary supports and interventions. It’s generally divided into three levels (tiers) arranged in a pyramid. The bottom tier describes those interventions and programs we implement for all students for the purpose of support. The second tier describes those interventions which are implemented for a much smaller group of students, maybe 30% of the total student population. These are interventions that are provided to small, targeted groups of students. Tier three is the smallest tier. It describes interventions which target less than 10% of the student population and are used only in special circumstances. A strong MTSS system also describes the mechanisms and data that are used to identify students for each tier and the processes used to manage that identification.
Woodland High School is filled with big-hearted people who are busy implementing all sorts of great ideas. What’s currently lacking is a coherent system to tie it all together. Over the past several months, a team of WHS staff has been meeting to develop and describe our MTSS system, which we intend to implement in the fall of 2023. Mostly the work has been about fitting together the pieces we already have in place, like putting together a puzzle using pre-made pieces. In some cases, it has been about ramping up some things we’ve only just tried this year.
One component that our emerging MTSS system will rest on heavily is something that we’ve been struggling with for a while - Advisory/CLC. As a building leadership team, we are convinced and committed to the idea that advisory/CLC is a critical part of our tier one intervention strategy. Obviously, we have yet to crack that nut, but one thing is for sure: In all the hubbub of a normal school year, we only get to be really good at 3 or 4 things. Next year, Advisory/CLC is going to be one of them.
Assistant Principal Search
We have narrowed our search down to two candidates and are in the process of organizing site visits. The interview team has indicated strong support for both candidates and has basically said, “Your call, Phil. We’ll row whichever way you point us.” I’ve created a tough decision for myself, so yeah me … I guess. I’ll have a decision in early May.
Actually Heard in the Halls of WHS
This afternoon there were two students hanging out in the student store during class. I don’t usually just let that go, so I went up to hassle them about getting to class. It turns out they were vigorously debating Marbury vs. Madison (a supreme court case) and the Writ of Mandamus. I let that one slide after all.