School Learning Focus for the 2025-26 School Year: Belonging, Literacy and Joy for Reading

Over the past two years, Maple Lane’s school goal has been to create a community where diversity is celebrated, and students have a high sense of belonging. In 2025-26, we are continuing with belonging as a goal, with an additional focus on enhancing literacy skills and fostering a deeper joy for reading. Through literature and other texts, students can develop a greater understanding of their authentic selves and their connection to community and the World. We will draw on two key Big Ideas from the English Language Arts Curriculum: 

• Language and story can be a source of creativity and joy
• Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world

Evidence-Informed Rationale (WHY)

Belonging:

Maple Lane originally chose belonging as a focus because recent student surveys (2023/24 Student Learning Survey and 2022/23 MDI Survey) indicated student sense of belonging to be slightly below district average. A survey of all Grade 3-7 students in the Spring of 2025 showed a more positive trend, with students at Maple Lane being higher than district average in two key categories: “Feel Belonging” and “Feel Welcome” (see graph below). This upward trend has encouraged our school to continue to work on belonging. Roughly 6% of students viewed their sense of belonging as negative and just below 3% had a negative response to feeling welcome. 

Literacy:

During staff meetings, professional development sessions and class reviews, teachers at Maple Lane have anecdotally reported that students need support with reading comprehension and vocabulary development. They are also curious about whether their current students have the same joy for reading that previous cohorts have shown. Data from the June 2025 Written Learning Updates shows the following outcomes for students: 4.9% Extending, 50.4% Proficient, 39.4% Developing and 5.4% Emerging (See Figure 2 below). The Fall RFRA (Richmond Formative Reading Assessment) showed reasonably high decoding skills from Gr. 1 – 7 (54% proficient); however, several areas of reading comprehension, including inferencing, questioning and making connections, showed that improvement is needed (see graph below). Maple Lane’s teaching staff would like to see more students move from Emerging and Developing towards Proficient in ELA. We would also like to foster a greater joy for reading among our students. Our literacy goal aligns well with our theme of belonging. We know that exploring stories and texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections with the world around us.

Baseline Data

See attached graphs for Spring 2025 Belonging Survey, June 2025 English Language Arts Proficiencies and Fall 2025 RFRA Comprehension Results (Gr. 1 – 7)

Priority Learners

Belonging: Our focus was informed by the small but important group of students who reported a negative sense of belonging at school.

Literacy: We are prioritizing students who are emerging or developing in their reading comprehension skills. ELL students and students with designations are overrepresented in these groups.

Action Statement (HOW)

Belonging:

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee:We will continue to work with our DEI Committee and with outside consultants to put practices in place to increase student sense of belonging within the school
• Professional Learning: An RSD teacher consultant will build our capacity for anti-racism education at a Pro-D Day in September 2025
• Representation: The school will use a variety of avenues to ensure diversity is celebrated in the school and all students feel they are represented (e.g. EDI bulletin board, library book displays, morning messages, newsletters to families)

Literacy:

• Whole School Reading Assessment: In the Fall of 2025, all classes will conduct the Richmond Formative Reading Assessment to get baseline data on student literacy skills
• Professional Learning: During Professional Development Days, Maple Lane teachers will engage in learning as a staff that will target areas of literacy that need the greatest focus (as indicated by the reading assessment)
• Collaboration: Teachers will engage in collaboration within the staff over the course of the school year. Teacher consultants from the RSD will help support this process.
• Library Connections: As the hub of the school, the library will be instrumental in fostering a love for books and reading. The library will be opened additional days at lunchtime for students and there will be “Noisy Reading” mornings when families will be invited to join their children to read before the school day starts. 

Intended Impact (SO WHAT)

Belonging: We expect students to be more confident in expressing their identity and will show a higher sense of belonging at school.

Literacy: We expect a higher percentage of students to be proficient in reading skills, especially in the targeted areas of comprehension. We also expect a higher percentage of students to achieve proficient in ELA on their Summary of Learning in June 2026.

Evidence of Impact (HOW WE WILL KNOW)

Belonging: Belonging survey (Spring 2026)

Literacy: RFRA Reading Assessment (Spring 2026); Summary of Learning (June 2026)

Alignment Statement

Maple Lane’s dual focus of belonging and literacy are clearly aligned with the Richmond School District’s Strategic Plan (2026-2030). Strategic Priority One centers on the support of students to reach their highest potential and specifically highlights literacy as a foundational objective. Strategic Priority Two focuses on creating an equitable and inclusive environment where all students experience a strong sense of belonging.

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