Board of Education Update — September 19, 2025 Special Meeting
The September 19, 2025, meeting of the Board of Education included presentations on the following topics:
Progressive education program review
The Board of Education heard an update on the progressive education program review, which seeks to identify ways to continue to strengthen this long-running program. A summary of the review has already been shared with the staff at Barrington Elementary School and Wickliffe Progressive Elementary School, and will be shared with families at meetings coming up this fall.
The Upper Arlington Board of Education officially established this program in 1972. Today, it serves approximately 475 students at Wickliffe Progressive Elementary School and 330 students at Barrington Elementary School.
The program review was grounded in the 10 foundational principles that define progressive education at Barrington and Wickliffe. The process prioritized direct engagement with students, staff and families.
Five recommendations emerged from the review process:
- Clarify program identity: What is the program’s identity and where is it going?
- Enhance program coherence and coordination: What type of program coordination is needed?
- Conduct meaningful action research: How do we ensure the implementation of a new literacy curriculum and Profile of an Engaged Learner in a progressive context produces desired outcomes in desired ways?
- Strengthen role of parents as co-educators: How do we engage parents in re-centering program identity?
- Amplify program identity and recognition: How can relationships with the Progressive Education Network augment program recentering efforts?
The team shared next steps for the upcoming year, including forming a Program Coordination Team and a family engagement team; holding engagement sessions; and focusing on this work through a collaborative professional development day for Barrington and Wickliffe staff in November.
State report card data
Chief Academic Officer Jaclyn Angle, Ed.D., Director of Elementary Education Michelle Banks, Ed.D., Director of Secondary Education Kristin Robbins, Ed.D., and Director of Data & Accountability Tammy Yockey, Ed.D., shared an update on the state report card data released earlier in the week. Two areas of focus for each building this year involve building goals related to academic performance and the Profile of an Engaged Learner.
The state report card looks at six component areas: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation, Early Literacy and College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness.
Upper Arlington is one of 47 districts in the state to receive a rating of five stars overall, and this is the fourth consecutive year that the district has received that rating. The district also received five stars overall in the following categories: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing and Graduation. Upper Arlington also exceeded or met expectations on 37 of 41 component ratings at the district and building levels.
Strategic plan implementation
Superintendent Robert Hunt, Ph.D., and team shared a brief update on the implementation of the Excellence & Innovation 2030 strategic plan, highlighting the ongoing work this school year in the priority areas of Engaged Learning, Culture & Climate and Connections.
You may visit our Upper Arlington Schools Board of Education page to access the September 19 meeting agenda. To view the meeting presentation, please click here. For meeting dates and more information about the Board of Education, please visit www.uaschools.org/board.
- Board of Eduation