Dear LCSD Families, Staff and Partners:

Happy February! We have lots of good news to share with you this month.

Panther Spotlight

Student academic growth is our big focus for February. I am thrilled to shine a light on Josel Suarez Gutierrez, one of our fourth graders who is an example of the learning progress we are seeing throughout the district. Since the beginning of third grade, Josel has improved his reading score significantly and he is now scoring in the top 25% of the 4th graders in the entire US who take the test! His excitement for learning is contagious, and he cares deeply about both his work and the learning process. Keep it up, Josel! Panthers, we are proud of you.

February Headlines (scroll to learn more)

• Improving Student Outcomes – Our mid-year data shows strong improvement.
• Strategic Plan – We are building out our 5-year implementation plan.
• School Merge – Family tours of LCHS and LCES now scheduled! Watch for details.

February Updates

Improving Student Outcomes: February is here and our mid-year NWEA data is complete. Our districtwide Math achievement percentile rose to 41, meaning that as a whole our students scored better than 41% of the students taking the test across the nation. A year ago this time, the districtwide percentile was 33. In Reading, our achievement percentile rose from 39 to 45 over the same period. That is significant growth in both subject areas, and I want to thank all of the parents, teachers and school staff who have helped our students on their academic journey. Go Panthers!

Strategic Plan: We have identified three major priorities for the district’s strategic plan: Pursuing Educational Excellence, Enhancing Student Experience and Expanding Family & Community Collaboration. Our leadership team is now in the process of developing goals for each priority and a detailed implementation plan that will cover the next 3-5 years. We look forward to sharing more detail as we finalize the plan!

School Merge: In the summer of 2026, we will consolidate our school campuses from four to three. Family tours of both schools are scheduled!

• Families with students who will be in 6th or 7th grade next year are invited to LCHS at 6pm on Tuesday, March 3rd
• Families with students who will be in Kindergarten through 5th grade next year are invited to LCES at 6pm on Wednesday, March 4th

Watch for more information! You can also read our Q&A about school consolidation and submit any questions in English or Spanish.

See you soon,

Kate

Kate Bartlett, Superintendent