Principals Highlight “Success Days” and Data-Driven Incentives

Litchfield CUSD #12 Meeting | January 20, 2026

Article Summary: Litchfield school principals presented updates to the Board of Education regarding recent professional development focusing on data analysis and new student incentive programs. Administrators detailed efforts to improve student behavior and attendance through creative rewards like “Lee’s Cinema” and “Tattoo a Teacher.”

Administrator Report Key Points:

• Data Analysis: Teachers utilized the recent professional development day to review Accelerated Reader (AR) data and streamline the student referral process.

• Elementary Incentives: Litchfield Elementary is launching “Lee’s Cinema” on January 29 as a tiered reward for attendance and testing goals.

• Middle School Success: The Middle School celebrated a “Success Day” in December focused on respectful behavior, with students earning the chance to decorate teachers as Christmas trees.

LITCHFIELD – Building administrators provided the Litchfield School Board with a look inside the classrooms on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, outlining how staff utilized recent professional development days and how students are being rewarded for meeting academic goals.

Litchfield Elementary Principal Paula Dal Canton reported that staff spent the first day back from break digging into Accelerated Reader (AR) data from the previous year to prepare for the current semester. Teachers also worked in committees to streamline the district’s disciplinary referral process.

For students, the focus is on “I-Ready” diagnostic testing. Dal Canton announced a new incentive program called “Lee’s Cinema,” set to open on January 29.

“It is their incentive for doing well on testing,” Dal Canton said. “It’s a tiered incentive. So, getting attendance is of course the first tier, and then all the kinds of snacks they can get are the other tiers.”

Middle School Principal Chad Carty reported similar academic focuses, noting that preliminary testing results are showing student growth despite the typical “winter dip.”

Carty also highlighted the school’s culture-building activities. In December, the middle school held a “Success Day” focused on respectful behavior. Students who were “caught being respectful” earned the opportunity to participate in games, which culminated in students decorating teachers as human Christmas trees.

“For this quarter, our focus is on I-Ready lesson mastery,” Carty told the board. He explained that students are aiming for scores of 80% or higher on their lessons. To motivate them, the school has planned a “Tattoo a Teacher” incentive for March.

Additionally, administrators mentioned a collaborative trivia event held during the January 5 School Improvement Day, which brought Middle School and High School staff together for team building.