By Mark Tallman
“As someone who's been in a couple of other schools, I think our school board is very good, and they do a very good job of letting us run the school with their support and oversight. When we bring in new ideas and as things come up, they listen and are always supportive. That’s been an underrated part of our school system.” - South Central High School Principal Bud Valerius.
One path to success is sometimes to turn perceived weaknesses into strengths. With about 330 students in a county-wide district on the border in southwest Kansas, Comanche County USD 300 leaders admit they are “remote.”
Superintendent Ty Theurer believes the district, located in Coldwater, has found advantages to their remoteness, a stable community that supports high standards and allows a focus on the broad skills students will need to succeed in life.
The district has strong results to back that up, considering its size and percentage of high-need students (70 percent from low-income families and special education). It has repeatedly reached graduation rates of 100 percent. Their postsecondary success rate is 13 percent higher than projected. Reading and math state assessments in 2022 were over 6 percent beyond projections.
Leaders note the advantages of the small community. With fewer students and a generally stable population, it’s easier to set and enforce expectations for students, as well as give them individual attention.
“Every time we get a new student, they talk about how they're checked on, how people are calling them by name right away,” said Valerius. “We've worked really hard on our school culture, about how we treat people and how we talk with people.”
Like many small schools, most students participate in activities and clubs. The district has a four-day school week. Superintendent Theurer believes it has major benefits on the mental health of students and staff, allowing time for recovery and reflection.
The district is committed to the State Board of Education’s Individual Plan of Study goal as well as their “Kansans Can” competencies for workforce, personal, and social success. They have expanded college course options, job shadowing, internships, and career technical education pathways. Location has somewhat limited these opportunities, so the district has placed an emphasis on preparing well-rounded students to make good choices after high school, rather than get started on career paths during high school. “It’s not just about earning college credit,” said Valerius, “but also about showing students they have the ability to succeed in college and providing the necessary support.”
Comanche County got a jump on new high school graduation requirements by implementing computer science and financial literacy requirements early. The district requires 26 credits to graduate, well above the state minimum of 21.
The high school conducts a program called Reality U. “With a help of about 60 community volunteers, kids go through various groups where they talk about different jobs, what that means for your salary, how you figure out transportation, housing, everything else,” said Theurer.
The goal is to get students ready for life after school, which means many different challenges and opportunities. “We want them to have a plan, and we also want them to have a back-up plan,” Valerius said.
The district offers a preschool for three-and four-year-olds in cooperation with the area special education cooperative. It has space for all children in the district. With a low attendance fee about 90 percent of students are able to attend.
Like every highly successful district I’ve visited, Comanche County uses a “tiered” system of student support that monitors student performance and provides varying levels of individualized intervention, similar to the state’s Multi-Tied Systems of Support (MTSS) model.
The district works with other agencies to provide mental health services to students which are part of the social emotional education program. “There are a lot of kids struggling and you must give them the tools they need to regulate themselves so that they can lean and explore,” K-12 Counselor Jennifer Kay said. “I think our community understands and really supports that.”
District leaders had high praise for the overall community support their schools receive, from mentoring and attending school activities to fundraising.
Bright idea: “Practically every kid in our high school has a community member that has ‘adopted’ them,” said Kay. About once a month, we invite those community members in to do an activity with their students. I've been surprised at how many relationships have been built. The community members then see those kids in town, like the bank or the grocery store. Those connections have been really important for many of the kids who need it.”
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