Five years ago in the Dietrich School District, it became clear to Superintendent Stefanie Shaw that something wasn’t working.

“We just felt like our kids were not reading to the level that we wanted them to be reading at, so we just made that our focus,” Shaw said.

That was the first of a handful of programs that Shaw implemented over the past five years. At the end of the 2020-21 school year, 50.4% of students were proficient in English Language Arts on the ISAT. This spring, 64.8% were proficient.

The nearly 15% jump is huge progress in any district but Dietrich is unique. The district serves about 170 students grades K-12.

The district has a higher percentage of low income and disabled students that the state average at 52% low income and 18 % with disabilities. Statewide about 4

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