Principals report good turnout for conferences

RITZVILLE – Principals reported on student progress at the Nov. 25 board meeting.

Parent-teacher conferences were held online, with most of the schools reporting excellent turnout. Ritzville Grade School Principal Cindy Deska reported 97.6% turnout, with teachers sending home packets ahead of time so parents could be prepared with questions.

Sarah Dinkins, Dean of Students at Lind Elementary, reported teachers called parents when the school lost internet, with a 100% success rate. She said parents reported being excited to move back into fulltime school.

Lind Middle School Principal Darrel Lembke reported nearly 80% success in parents attending conferences. He said some parents liked the flexibility of the virtual conference, so they would keep it as an option in the future.

High School Principal Kevin Terris reported 54 of 80 parents attended a conference, with many rescheduling for another time.

“All those conferences were very successful, with all or nearly all of the students’ teachers able to attend those meetings via the Zoom conference call,” Terris said.

Lembke reported the number of students with failing grades is decreasing now that students are back on campus.

Terris said between now and the Christmas break, the focus would be on support systems for kids who continue to struggle with failing grades.

“We have systems in place to target those students and be more intentional with the exact work they need to complete to bring their grade up,” Terris reported, adding students with failing grades were required to attend school for two hours on Friday mornings.

Superintendent Don Vanderholm reported the school district is working with East Adams Rural Health to coordinate services for students with Individualized Education Plans who sometimes work with a physical therapist.

“We talked about what we can do in the future so we could contract with the hospital, instead of some agency from Spokane or Moses Lake or elsewhere, since they are looking to expand their physical therapy services,” Vanderholm said.