Principals Present Improvement Plans Focused on Growth and Attendance

Litchfield CUSD 12 Meeting | October 21, 2025

Article Summary: Litchfield building administrators presented their 90-day School Improvement Plans (SIP) to the Board of Education, outlining specific targets for reading and math proficiency. A common theme across all grade levels was a renewed focus on reducing chronic absenteeism.

School Improvement Key Points:

• Middle School Strategy: Principal Chad Carty outlined a shift toward measuring individual student growth rather than just static proficiency scores.

• Elementary Goals: Principal Adam Favre set a target to reduce disruptive behavior referrals by 10% and increase reading proficiency to 69% by spring.

• Attendance Push: All buildings have set goals to lower chronic absenteeism rates, utilizing early interventions like phone calls and letters at the three and five-day marks.

• High School Focus: With state testing benchmarks changing, the high school is focusing on practice test growth and maintaining a strong graduation rate.

Building principals presented detailed data and goals to the Litchfield School Board on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, detailing their strategies for the 2025-2026 school year.

Litchfield Middle School Principal Chad Carty explained a shift in strategy for his building, moving the focus to “growth data” rather than simple proficiency. Carty stated the goal is for 50% of students to meet “typical growth” and 35% to meet “stretch growth” on I-Ready assessments.

“If we continue to follow that path, even our kids that are below grade level… we’ll get them at least to grade level,” Carty said. “We’re not just focusing on one group.”

At the elementary level, Principal Adam Favre highlighted behavior and reading goals. He noted that incoming kindergarten and first-grade reading scores started at 18% proficiency in the fall, with a target of 69% by spring. Favre also detailed a plan to reduce “disruptive and aggressive” behavior referrals from 114 incidents last year to 102 this year.

“We track every one of those referrals,” Favre said. “Our goal is to reduce that by 10% this year.”

Principal Paula Dal Canton addressed the “summer slide” affecting fall scores at Litchfield Elementary and emphasized Social Emotional Learning (SEL), setting a goal for 90% of students to participate in regular SEL lessons.

High School Principal Hilary Wagenblast noted that because the ACT benchmarks for proficiency are changing statewide, historical comparisons are difficult. Her focus remains on growth between practice tests and reducing chronic absenteeism, which was at 19.4% last year.

“We’re making parent phone calls and tracking that data to promote better attendance,” Wagenblast said.