Richmond Community Schools

January 8, 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians and Staff,

As we begin the year 2024, I’m initiating a new communications tool called the Superintendent Shout Out.  The goal of this new initiative is to give kudos to deserving students, staff members, volunteers, and successful programs within our school community.  The Superintendent Shout Out will be distributed each Monday when school is in session.  This week’s shout out goes to the Richmond Community Schools’ administrative team for focused leadership in increasing our district’s performance on the Michigan School Index System over last year’s.

The School Index is Michigan’s accountability system designed to meet the accountability requirements set forth in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. The purpose of the School Index is to identify schools for support based on their performance. The Michigan School Index System provides an overall index value ranging from 0-100 for each school based on: student growth, proficiency, graduation rates, English learner progress, attendance rates, advanced coursework completion, postsecondary enrollment, and staffing ratios.

I am extremely proud of the administrators, teachers, support staff and students—each of whom had a hand in increasing our performance at all three levels—elementary, middle school and high school.  Our overall performance at the high school increased by double digits and there are multiple double-digit increases within the various components of the index.  It’s fair to say that, while we recognize we still have work to do, our collaborative commitment is paying off for the benefit of our students. For detailed information regarding the district’s data, please visit the following website:  School Index (mischooldata.org).

Over the next several weeks, our administrative team will analyze the data provided by the system and develop a plan to address areas of concern.  In the meantime, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all who have had a hand in moving the needle in this important growth area.

Sincerely,
Brian Walmsley, Ed.S
Superintendent

CLICK HERE to read the Shout Out from Superintendent Walmsley