Deer Valley Middle School Demonstrates Great Improvement and Receives Copper Apple Award

After the 2022-2023 school year, Deer Valley MS had a D (56.09%) letter grade as a school. By implementing clear goals, expectations, best instructional practices, and strong protocols around collaboration, their letter grade increased to a strong C (63.78%) for the 2023-2024 school year, and then high C (71.05%) for the 2024-2025 school year.  

There are many areas where Deer Valley has demonstrated success and growth over the last several years. Their focus on ensuring that all classroom teachers post daily Learning Targets that are visible, tied to essential standards, annotated, closely tied to the lesson of the day, in kid-friendly language, and referenced throughout the lesson has become an established practice at Deer Valley Middle School. Deer Valley has also focused on implementation and use of frequent common formative assessments. Content grade level teams administer CFAs on a frequent basis and then use that data to inform instruction and determine necessary interventions.    

In addition, Deer Valley MS has implemented a common agenda for all PLC meetings so that there is consistency, clarity, and accountability for what teams should be planning, discussing, and implementing during their time together.  Solid plans are put in place for interventions leading up to the AASA to ensure that students (and parents) are informed, prepared, and eager to do their best when taking their exams. A common intervention tracking tool was put in place to support this particular goal. 

The entire school staff should be proud of their efforts in ensuring that student achievement and growth were always at the center of their discussions and efforts. The jump in scores and their overall letter grade has been a reflection of their collective dedication, care, and hard work they provide for the students they serve.