February 7, 2024

Dear Parents and Community Members:

We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information on the 2022-23 educational progress for Merritt Elementary School. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact Matt Severin, Merritt Principal, for assistance.

The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting MISchoolData, or you may review a copy in the main office at your child’s school. For the 2023-24 school year, schools were identified based on previous years’ performance using definitions and labels as required in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school is one that had at least one underperforming student subgroup in 2022-23. An Additional Targeted Support (ATS) school is one that had a student subgroup performing at the same level as the lowest 5% of all schools in the state in 2021-22. A Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school is one whose performance was in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state or had a graduation rate at or below 67% in 2021-22. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases, no label is given.

Merritt Elementary School was not identified as needing any additional support; therefore, it was not given one of these labels.

When reviewing the data in the combined report, you will note very little data for Merritt. Merritt is a K-2 elementary building and state testing begins in grade 3. At Merritt we focus on building the foundational skills to help our students be strong and successful readers by grade 3. All of our initiatives and plans in our school improvement work center around developing and mastering strong reading skills. The one piece of data we can pull from the Accountability Index Data in the combined report is daily student attendance. As part of our school improvement planning we are implementing strategies to increase daily student attendance, ultimately impacting overall student success. It should be noted that we are investing in teaching the whole child. We create predictable environments and feelings of safety through relationships. Quality relationships lead to higher levels of engagement between adults and students.

State law requires that we also report additional information.

PROCESS FOR ASSIGNING PUPILS TO THE SCHOOL

Merritt Elementary School is the only building in the Brandywine district for students in K – 2nd grade. Therefore, any student who registers at Brandywine in these grades attends Merritt. Once a student is at Merritt Elementary, and advances to the next grade, the principal and grade level teachers assign students to classrooms for the following year.

THE STATUS OF THE 3-5 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The school and district are in year two of a five year strategic plan. Our MICIP plan, formerly known as a school or district improvement plan, centers around the goal of implementing comprehensive DK-12 multi-tiered systems of support (M.T.S.S.) for behavior and academics. This year we have added behavior interventionists, implemented a behavioral universal screener, and intensified academic intervention with the use of IXL for targeted intervention lessons, while collecting benchmarking and progress monitoring data.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH SPECIALIZED SCHOOL

Specialized schools provide educational alternatives and opportunities for handicapped students as well as meeting their special needs. These programs are an integral part of the continuum of educational services available to special students in Berrien County. Following is a brief description of the specialized schools that serve Brandywine Community School District students.

BLOSSOMLAND LEARNING CENTER
BERRIEN REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY
BERRIEN SPRINGS, MICHIGAN

The purpose of Blossomland Learning Center is to provide services to students who have been diagnosed as moderate to severe cognitive impairment up to age 26 who reside within the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency. The school assists students in preparing for entry into their respective communities.

LIGHTHOUSE EDUCATION CENTER
BERRIEN REGIONAL EDUCATION SERVICE AGENCY
ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN

The Lighthouse Education Center program is operated as a therapeutic and educational program for students diagnosed with severe emotional impairment up to age 26 who reside within the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency. These students exhibit a severity of emotional difficulties which prohibit them from regular attendance within the resident district. The program’s goal is eventual re-integration into the resident district's educational system.

HEARING IMPAIRED PROGRAM
BERRIEN SPRINGS PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BERRIEN SPRINGS, MICHIGAN

The Berrien County Hearing Impaired Program provides educational services for hearing impaired students from Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties, which includes children from preschool age through 26 years. This program is operated by the Berrien Springs Public Schools and is funded by the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency.

In addition to classroom and teacher consultant services, the program also serves as a diagnostic center and employs an audiologist for the purpose of assessing severity and type of hearing loss. Some students, when determined educationally appropriate by an Individualized Educational Planning Committee, are educated in their resident district with the support of a teacher consultant provided by the Hearing Impaired Program.

Niles operates center-based programs for low incidence special education students needing a full-time placement. The program for the Severely Emotionally Impaired (SEI) includes students with severe emotional or behavioral problems. These students receive a very strict, highly-structured program designed to change inappropriate behavior patterns and allow learning to take place. Expectations for performance are high with the goal of successful readmission to their former school. Classroom programs serve students ages 10 through 25. Students in the Pre-Vocational program have below average ability levels, making success in their local high schools extremely difficult. Often their low ability is compounded by a weak self-concept and inadequate social skills. Once at Southside a few may pursue a Certificate of Completion, but most will follow a curriculum designed to promote independent living. Classrooms are available to serve ages 16 through 25.

Identify how to access a copy of the core curriculum, a description of its implementation, and an explanation of the variances from the state’s model:

In all areas where the Michigan Department of Education has developed state standards, our core instruction aligns with those standards. Core materials can be requested for review by contacting the building principal who will work in conjunction with the classroom teacher and Assistant Superintendent of Instruction.

The aggregate student achievement results for any local competency tests or nationally normed achievement tests:

The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) has norm-referenced assessments for Math and Reading. Merritt administers these assessments every fall, winter and spring. The data below shows the percentage of students who met or exceeded projected growth targets for Spring of 2022 and Spring of 2023.

Identify the number and percent of students represented by parents at parent-teacher conferences:

Merritt’s staff works hard to provide an education to our students that is evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, and delivered in a supportive environment. We are fortunate to have strong community support. Collectively, our parents and community donate hundreds of volunteer hours to our school and our students. We are excited about the work we are doing focusing on the whole child at Merritt. Merritt Elementary is a wonderful place to grow and learn, and our staff remains committed to engage, educate, and empower our students!

Sincerely,

Matthew Severin
Merritt Elementary Principal

Matt Severin
Principal
269-684-6511The DISTRICT AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting MISchoolData,