September, 2013
Dear Amistad Elementary School Parent/Guardian;
Dave Bond, Superintendent
Dr. Chuck Lybeck, Associate Superintendent
Ron Williamson, Assistant Superintendent, Secondary Education
Greg Fancher, Assistant Superintendent, Elementary Education
Beverly Johnson-Torelli, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
Vic Roberts, Executive Director, Business Operations
Robyn Chastain, Communications Director
Two years ago states were given the opportunity to apply for a flexibility waiver to the National Elementary
Secondary Education Act, (“No Child Left Behind”). Washington State applied and received a waiver from the
United States Department of Education. This waiver exempts the state from many of the requirements of the AYP
(Adequate Yearly Progress) regulations and was needed to help Washington schools utilize the federal funds more efficiently. It also frees up $58 million dollars across the state allowing individual school districts to utilize the funds to address the unique needs of their struggling students. The flexibility waiver has replaced AYP with
Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO). This means that schools are now identified by where they rank with all schools in the state on Washington’s state assessments. This system has been replaced by one that identifies schools as; Reward, Priority, Focused or Emerging .

A “Reward” school is a Title I school that has met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) or Annual
Measurable Objectives (AMOs) in both Reading and Math for three years for the school and for all subgroups.
 “Priority” Schools comprise the bottom 5% of Title 1 schools in the state. For the 2013-14 school-year, schools were added to this list based on how their students scored on the 2010, 2011 and 2012 MSP
(Measurement of Student Progress) state exam.
 “Focused”
schools represent the next lowest 10% of Title 1 eligible schools.
 “Emerging”
schools include the next 10% of Title I schools from the bottom of the list.
Amistad Elementary School has been identified as a “Priority” school based on their three-year average on the
MSP state test in reading and math for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 school years. Because of this identification, the
Kennewick School District and Amistad must adhere to a set of regulations and changes that include: providing strong leadership; reviewing test and assessment data; ensuring that all staff are highly qualified and effective; providing on-going job-embedded professional development for teachers and staff; implementing a tiered intervention system that helps students who need help the most; and utilizing data to help guide instruction and professional development for staff.
School districts are required to notify parents/guardians when schools that their children attend have been identified as a Priority school. Amistad was identified as a Priority school because of low state achievement scores in math and reading over the past three years (spring of 2010, 2011, and 2012).
The principal and staff of Amistad Elementary School continue to work diligently to prepare students to meet the high academic standards established by the state of Washington and Kennewick School District. Most of the indicators of student academic progress show that students at Amistad are making good progress toward achieving the state goals.

Parent Involvement
As a parent/guardian your input is valued and encouraged. There are many ways that you can be involved in helping us to address the issues around school improvement. Some of those include communicating with teaching staff through the Parent Portal and student planners, participating in school parent activities, and by monitoring your child’s academic progress, and reinforcing good study habits at home.
In closing, Amistad Elementary School staff are committed to the success of our school and to serving all of our students. Intentional and innovative steps are being taken to address each student’s academic performance. The
21st Century Community Center is being offered after school for homework help, and instruction in reading and math is being increased during the school day. Amistad is not alone in their efforts; the district is working very hard to assist the staff and students at Amistad. The central office administration is supporting Amistad by providing: literacy and math coaches, including a bilingual literacy coach, and staff training on instructional strategies and best practices for helping students learn.
If you have any questions, please contact Amistad Elementary School at 222-5100. More details about the movement of our state, district, and school in pursuit of ongoing improvement for all our students can be found at http://www.k12.wa.us/ESEA/PublicNotice.aspx
).
We are excited and optimistic about the future and we hope that you will join us in this important effort.
Sincerely,
Dave Bond
Superintendent