The Hudson School District Board of Education was presented the results of the districts 2010-11 SMART goals at its Aug. 9 meeting held at River Crest Elementary School.

SMART goals is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. The district set specific goals at for the 2010-11 school year, pertaining to all elementary schools, as well as the middle school and high school.

The SMART goals set for the Hudson High School were:

1. By June 2011, the number of students in Advanced Placement (AP) courses who represent various subgroups will increase an additional 10 percent from October 2010.
2. By June 2011, the number of ninth grade students considered "at-risk of academic failure" will be decreased by 50 percent.
3. By June 2011, 95 percent of all students will report a positive personal connection to at least one staff member at the high school.

The high school did a good job at reaching those goals. The number of students enrolled in AP classes increased by 14.8 percent from October 2010. This increase closely reflected the demographics of the school.

The high school also fared well with achieving the second goal. Teachers identified 32 students who were at risk of failing one or more courses within the first five weeks of the school year.

Hudson High School Principal Laura Love noted that "some of those students identified weren't yet failing, but they were on the downslide already, within the first three weeks of high school."

Of those ninth grade students, 21 of them (or 65 percent) had reduced risk of failure, benefiting from guided study hall.

The only disappointment came from the final smart goal, wherein anywhere from 58 to 74 percent of male students reported a positive relationship with one staff member, and 61 to 77 percent of female students as well, depending on their grade.

Love commented that "the results there aren't as good as we'd like to see." She added that "it could be the way we worded the statement" as the question asked students "there is at least one adult in this school I can talk to who really knows me."

Love also noted that grade level makes a difference in the last goal as well, as "there is an increase by the time they are in 12th grade."

The SMART goals set for the Hudson Middle School were:

1. By June 2011, 90 percent of sixth- through eighth-grade students will demonstrate proficiency in multi-numeral computation skills in math classes.
2. By June 2011, 90 percent of sixth- and eighth-grade students will score proficient or higher in writing for science based-classes. For seventh grade students, 90 percent would score a 6 on a differentiation skill rubric.
3. By June 2011, 90 percent of sixth- through eighth-grade students will demonstrate proficiency on a writing rubric in Global Awareness as measure by Written Response.

The middle school had great results as well. 91 percent of sixth grade math students and 92 percent of seventh grade math students demonstrated proficiency in their classes. Only eighth grade math students fell short of the goal, with 86 percent of them demonstrating proficiency in their classes.

The results for science-based classes were also quite impressive. 86 percent of sixth grade students, 90 percent of seventh grade students and 85 percent of eighth grade students met the second goal for proficiency in their science classes.

For social studies, 89 percent of sixth grade students and 85 percent of eighth grade students demonstrated proficiency on a writing rubric in Global Awareness. Only seventh-grade students fell significantly short of this goal, with 75 percent meeting the goal.

The SMART goal set for the elementary schools through the district was:

1. By June 2011, 88 percent of K-5 learners will be reading at or above grade level as measured by common assessments.

Elementary schools met their goal, with 89 percent of K-5 learners reading at or above their grade level.

River Crest Elementary teacher Travis Barringer spoke to the board about the elementary results. Barringer stated that "each of the grade level teams developed specific goals that were directly linked to the overall elementary reading goal."

Amanda McCarthy, a fifth grade teacher at Hudson Prairie Elementary School, told the board of one success story she had with a student.

"For me, I had a student come in two years behind, reading at a third-grade level. We gave her some very focused instruction, focused on goal settings, and when she left my room, she was reading at grade level," she said.

McCarthy added that her student "now see's herself as a reader; and we feel as a team that when she goes to middle school she will be successful there."

Board member Mark Kaisersatt was quite impressed with the results.

Kaisersatt remarked that "when you stop to think about, some of these goals here are at or approaching 90 percent, to be at that level is really a testament to all of our teaching staff."

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Other Board of Education News:

Student/Staff Recognition

• Recognized the districts R3 team for receiving the Green Leaf Award for best sustainability citizen leadership. 
• Approved the July 12, 2011, Board Meeting Minutes.
• Approved the payment of expenditure's for the district.
• Approved a new health insurance proposal from HealthPartners, as well as a dental insurance proposal through Delta Dental. Financial Services Director Tim Erickson noted that the new plans would "save the district somewhere between 1.1-1.2 million dollars."
• Hudson High School Principal Laura Love announced that Associate Principal Scott Huffman would be leaving his position in the district. Love recommended Kevin Moore, current Dean of Students for the school, as his replacement.
• Approved the Employee Handbook.
• Approved personnel hires, changes, retirements, resignations, terminations and leaves.
• Adjourn to Closed Session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 19.85(1)(c)(f) to consider employment, promotion, and compensation of specific employees; and (e) to deliberate regarding the purchase of public property.