Bearcat Wrap-up Podcast - Week 6: Points into Progress

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

Happy Friday!Thank you all for the dedication you have shown as we move into the middle of September. This time of year, the days can begin to feel heavier, and both students and adults sometimes show the strain through shorter tempers, impatience, or discouragement. Yet in these moments, we continue to see patience, encouragement, and empathy shining through in classrooms and hallways. Those small daily choices are what keep our schools strong and our community moving forward.This week, we also received our state letter grades, which closely relate to our performance targets for the year. In this Wrap-up, we want to highlight what those results mean for each building, the areas that are holding us back from an A, and the mindset we need to carry into the rest of the year, with only 144 instructional days left to make the greatest impact that we can for our students.School District Letter GradesThe Arkansas Department of Education released 2025 school letter grades for the 2024–2025 year:* Louise Durham Elementary — B (511.28 points), within 12 points of an A* Holly Harshman Elementary — B (511.28 points), officially a B with last year’s grade being preliminary and unofficial, which is a point of celebration of hard work and progress* Mena Middle School — C (441.82 points), just 3.7 points away from a B* Mena High School — C (400.07 points), with more ground to cover, but every step of growth mattersLouise Durham Elementary’s grade is unique. Although K–2 students at LDES do take summative assessments, the state has not yet developed a reliable way to incorporate those results into the school rating system. Because ATLAS testing does not begin until 3rd grade, the performance of our 3rd graders, who are enrolled at Holly Harshman, feeds back into Louise Durham’s rating. In other words, Louise Durham’s letter grade depends heavily on Holly Harshman’s tested students. This reinforces why early literacy, numeracy, and readiness in K–2 matter so much—they set the stage for what happens in grades 3–5 and beyond.How School Ratings Are CalculatedThe chart below shows how Arkansas calculates school letter grades. Each building is scored across multiple indicators, and the total points determine whether a school earns an A, B, C, D, or F.* Achievement: How many students score at Level 3 (Proficient) or Level 4 (Advanced) on state assessments in ELA, Math, and Science.* Growth of All Students: Whether students are meeting their individualized growth targets, regardless of their starting point.* Growth of the Lowest Quarter: Whether the students who start the furthest behind are catching up to their peers.* Success Ready Graduate (High School only): Whether students are graduating on time and demonstrating readiness through merit or distinction (such as AP, concurrent credit, CTE concentrators, or the Seal of Biliteracy).For elementary and middle schools, the formula is built entirely on achievement and growth. For the high school, the formula also weighs graduation rates and readiness measures.This breakdown helps explain why our district’s biggest challenge right now is ELA performance and growth at the elementary and middle levels, and readiness measures at the high school. It also reinforces the message that every student matters because growth at any level contributes to the total, and those points can impact an entire building’s grade.What Is Keeping Us from an A?* Louise Durham Elementary (B, 12 points from an A): Math and science are above the state average. ELA proficiency and growth, particularly in the lowest quartile, remain a barrier. Roughly 14–15 students moving from Level 1 to Level 2 in ELA would be enough to reach an A.* Holly Harshman Elementary (B, 12 points from an A): Growth and achievement improved enough to move from a C to a B. Like Louise Durham, ELA is the central challenge. About 14–15 more students moving up would push HHES into the A range.* Mena Middle School (C, 3.7 points from a B): Very close to a B. ELA growth and proficiency are the key levers, especially for the lowest quartile. Only 4–5 students moving levels would make the difference.* Mena High School (C, 57 points from a B): The largest challenge. Readiness measures are the single biggest factor holding us back. The keys to succes are:* Graduation rate, and* Graduating with merit or distinction (via concurrent credit, AP, CTE concentrators, or Seal of Biliteracy).Combined with weak ELA results at the 9th and 10th-grade levels, this is what keeps the high school furthest from a B. Increasing readiness is the clearest path forward.As we focus on moving Level 1 students upward, it is also important to recognize that moving students from Level 2 to 3, or higher, adds points as well. A student who meets growth expectations while moving up a level contributes not only to achievement but also possibly to growth points. In other words, every level matters, and progress at any point on the scale helps lift your entire school.The MacGuffin and the Right MindsetIn my back-to-school message, I said our focus this year must stay on students first because when students succeed, the school district succeeds. Letter grades, test scores, and accountability reports capture attention and drive our actions, but like a MacGuffin in a film, they are not the real point of the story. They move the plot along, but they are not the story itself.The real story is our students: their growth, their readiness for what comes next, and their sense of belonging in our schools. When we keep our eyes on that, the letter grades take care of themselves.It is easy to let the weight of test results add to the grind of the year. When we dwell on scores, frustration rises, stress builds, and the work feels heavier. But when we focus on helping each student grow, especially moving Level 1 students up while keeping Level 2 students moving forward, the work becomes purposeful and encouraging.That is the win-win: student growth comes first, and improved letter grades follow as the byproduct.Closing CelebrationsCongratulations to Mena Middle School for once again being awarded the Project Prevent Mini Grant. This statewide program equips youth with the knowledge and support to live free from tobacco and nicotine while encouraging their peers to do the same. The grant will allow our middle school students to continue leading prevention projects built on the pillars of Prevention, Education, and Leadership, making a positive impact on both their school and community.We are excited to celebrate this grant and others to be won this year! IMPORTANT: Teachers and other staff, if you are planning to apply for grants, please remember to complete our District Grant Notice to Apply Form before submitting your application.This step is important because there have been times when a grant check has arrived at the central office made out to Mena School District, but we did not know which school or program it belonged to or how to code it. Completing the form ensures that your funds are processed quickly and deposited where they belong, so you can begin using your grant right away.We also celebrated National IT Professionals Day this week. Observed on the third Tuesday in September, the day recognizes the often-unsung heroes who keep our school district running behind the scenes. We are grateful for our technology team—Nathan Stone, Chuck Cox, Lorrie Henry, and Cindy Brevik—for their tireless work in keeping our systems running smoothly and supporting staff and students every day.The Jr. Bearcats football team had a strong showing this week at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium, defeating Russellville 24–14. Congratulations to our student-athletes for their effort and teamwork on the field. Meanwhile, the Mena Ladycats volleyball program had a dominant night on Thursday at the Union Bank Center, with the Jr. Ladycats, Sr. JV Ladycats, and Sr. Ladycats all sweeping Magnolia. The Jr. Ladycat Classic takes place this Saturday in the UBC, and the Sr. Ladycats will face Malvern on Tuesday.It was a good week of fulfillment at Mena Public Schools.At Mena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident.Keep the #menareads posts and videos coming, and have a good weekend! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bearcatwrap.substack.com

Good afternoon and welcome to the week six wrap up points into progress. Focusing on school district letter grades and the impact of student growth and the daily practice of kindness. Happy Friday. Thank you for, thank you all for the dedication you have shown as we move into the middle of September. This time of year, the days can begin to feel heavier. Both students and adults sometimes show the strain through shorter tempers, impatience, or discouragement. In these moments, we continue to see patience, encouragement, and empathy shining through in classrooms and always. Those small daily choices are what keep our schools strong and our community moving forward.

This week, we also received our state letter grades, which closely relate to our performance targets for the year. for the year. In this wrap up, we want to highlight what those results mean for each building, the areas that are holding us back from an A and the mindset we need to carry into the rest of the year with only 144 instructional days left to make the greatest impact that we can for our students. School District letter grades. The Arkansas Department of Education released the 2025 school letter grade. for the 24 25 school year. Louise Durham Elementary is a B with 500 and 511 point to 8 points within a 12 points of an A Holly Harsman Elementary is

also a B with the same number of points it's but now it's officially a B with last year's grade being preliminary and unofficial which is a point of celebration of hard work in progress. Meena Middle School is a C with 441.82 points, just 3.7 points away from a B. Neena High School is a C with 400.07 points, with more ground to cover, but every step of growth matters. Louise Durham's, Louise Durham Elementary's grade is unique.

Although K2 students at LDS do take something to assessments, the state has not yet developed a reliable way to incorporate those results into the school rating system. Because Atlas testing does not begin until third grade, the performance of our third graders who are enrolled in Holly Harshman feeds back into Louise Durham's rating. In other words, Louise Durham's letter grade depends heavily on the Holly Harshman's tested students. This reinforces why early literacy, numeracy, and readiness in K2 matter so much. They set the stage for what happens in grades 3 through 5 and beyond.

How school ratings are calculated. The chart below shows how Arkansas calculates school letter grades. Each building is scored across multiple indicators, and the total points determine whether a school earns an A, B, C, D, or F. Achievement is one, that's how many students score at level three, proficient, or level four advanced on the state assessment in ELA, math, and science. Growth of all students. Whether students are meeting their individualized growth targets regardless of the starting point. Growth of the lowest quarter.

Whether the students who start the furthest behind are catching up to their peers, And success-rated graduate, this is for high school only, whether students are graduating on time and demonstrating readiness through merit or distinction such as AP concurrent, CTE concentrators or seal of biliteracy. For elementary middle schools, the formula is built entirely on achievement and growth. For the high school, the formula also weighs graduation rates and readiness measures. This breakdown helps explain why our district's biggest challenge right now is ELA performance and growth at the elementary and middle levels and readiness measures at the high school.

It also reinforces the message that every student matters because growth at any level contributes to the total. Those points can impact an entire building's grade. If you're listening, not reading the text, there is a chart that breaks down the specifics of how these grades are calculated. So what is keeping us from an A? At Louise Durham, they are 12 points from an A. Math and science are above the state average.

ELA proficiency and growth, particularly in the lowest quartile, remain a barrier. Roughly 14 to 15 students moving from level 1 to level 2 in ELA would be enough to reach in A. At Holly Harshman, there are also 12 points from an A. Growth and achievement improved enough to move from a C to a B. Like Louise Durham, ELA is the central challenge. About 14 or 15 more students moving up would push HHS into the A range.

Being a middle school, just 3.7 points from a B. Very close to being a B, ELA growth and proficiency are the key levers, especially in the lowest quartile. Only four to five students moving levels would make the difference. I mean a high school, a C, and 57 points from a B. That's the largest challenge. Readiness measures are the single biggest factor

holding us back. Two few students, or the factors that matter here, are graduation rate and graduate with merit or distinction and I listed those factors to determine merit or distinction earlier combined with weak ELA results in the 9th and 10th grade levels this is what keeps the high school furthest from a B increasing readiness is the clearest path forward as we focus on moving level one students upward it is also important to recognize that moving students from

level 2 to 3 or higher adds points as well. A student who meets growth expectations while moving up a level contributes not only to achievement but also possibly to growth points. In other words every level matters and progress at any point on the scale helps lift your entire school. The McGuffin and the right mindset. In my back-to-school message I said our focus this year must stay on the students first because when students succeed the school district succeeds letter grades test scores and accountability reports capture attention and drive our actions but like a mcuffin in a film they are not the real point of the

story they move the plot along but they are not the story itself the real stories are students their growth their readiness for what comes next and their sense of belonging in our schools we keep our eye on that the letter grades take care of themselves it is easy to let the weight of test results add to the grind of the year when we dwell on scores frustration rises stress bills and the work feels heavier but when we focus on helping each student grow especially moving level one students up while keeping level two and above moving forward the work becomes purposeful and encouraging

That is the win-win. Student growth comes first and improve letter grades follow as the byproduct. Closing celebrations. Congratulations to Mena Middle School for once again being awarded the Project Prevent Mini-Grant. This statewide program equips youth with the knowledge and support to live free from tobacco and nicotine while encouraging their peers to do the same. The grant will allow our middle school students to continue leading prevention. projects built on the pillars of prevention, education, and leadership, making a positive impact on both their school and community.

We are excited to celebrate this grant and others to be won this year, but there's an important announcement related to that. Teachers and staff, if you are planning to apply for grants, please remember to complete our district grant notice to apply form before submitting your application. a link to it in the text. This step is important because there have been times when a grant check has arrived at the central office made out to mean a school district, but we did not know which school or program it belonged to or how to code it.

Completing the form ensures that your funds are processed quickly and deposited where they belong so you can begin using your grant right away. We also celebrated National IT Professionals Day this week, observed on the third Tuesday in September the day recognizing that recognizes the often unsung heroes who keep our school district running behind the scenes we are grateful for our technology team Nathan Stone Chuck Cox Lori Henry and Cindy Breivik for their tireless work and keeping our systems running smoothly and supporting staff and students every day. Junior Bearcat football team had a strong showing this week at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium defeating Russ

Will 24 to 14. Congratulations to our student athletes for their effort and teamwork on the field. Meanwhile, I mean the Lady Cats of Volleyball program had a dominant night on Thursday at the Union Bank Center with the junior ladycats, the senior JV ladycats, and the senior ladycats all sweeping magnolia. The Junior Lady Cat Classic takes place this Saturday at Union Bank Center and the senior Lady Katz will face Malvern on Tuesday. It was a good week of fulfillment at Meena Public Schools. At Meena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident. Keep the Mena, hashtag Mena reads posts coming, and have a good weekend.