TORRINGTON – Many changes have come to Goshen County School District this year. There has been much talk about the successes of the staff and students. This week, the Telegram sat down with Superintendent Ryan Kramer and his thoughts on what the 2024-2025 school year looks like. 

The first thing Kramer wanted to discuss more in depth was the three new programs which have been implemented district wide. The first of the three being the Professional Learning Communities (PLC).

What this looks like is, the staff starting their day at 7:30 a.m. and ending their day at 4:15 p.m. For two of these days, they are spending 30 minutes with their teams. These may be grade level teams or what they are calling horizontal teams which are multi grade level.

In these meetings, they are seriously discussing the students, what they are learning, and how they can improve the learning. They are finding success in this method. 

“What they’re doing in those team meetings is really asking for specific questions related to student learning. And what are the students understanding? What are they getting and how can we make improvements on this,” Kramer said. “Where this has been implemented has shown great success for teachers. Taking that opportunity to collaborate with each other, generating those lessons of high intensity, and the ability to really build on some things and gives an opportunity for kids to get some great teaching.” 

The schools have done a little work on this method before, but it has not been as successful or strong as it is now. The staff are seeing improvements by taking more time to put this program into play.  

“In previous years we had some components of strong PLC’s, in pockets, but as a district we really struggled with committing the time and committing to looking at data,” Kramer said. 

This leads into the second program they’ve implemented, Multiple Tiers Student Support. This is where the staff sit and really look at the data they’ve gathered from the work students have done and making sure everyone is really learning. 

“What tier one really refers to is, instruction that all students get. Tier 2 and tier three are meaning that it’s targeted. That there is the need for further instruction in that area. If I had a deficit in phonemic awareness, I might receive Tier 2 or tier 3 instruction in that specific area,” Kramer explained. 

This is connected to something else they’ve been working on called Branching Minds. The goal of this is to make the instructional period very targeted to make sure they are even reaching the students with higher needs when it comes to learning a specific topic. 

“So MTSS really involves taking a look at the data for students, and really being specific and targeted with interventions for kids,” Kramer continued. “So that’s one of the biggest components that we’re working on district wide, is utilizing a program called branching minds. With that, we’re really focused on how, again, can we target instruction to those that have a really high need in a certain area and make advancements in that area as quickly as possible.”  

The final piece of the three big things the district is working on is Leader in Me. Kramer gave an in-depth description of what this looks like for staff and students. He explained how this is not only for academics, but also behaviors. The goal for Leader in Me is to help the students build a variety of leadership skills. This also ties in with MTSS, as they want the first tier to really tie in with their instructional skills and using it to help build on the kid’s leadership skills as well. He understands we do not expect students to come in knowing how to read, so why would we expect them to come in and know how to behave. Behavior is something which needs taught just as much as academics. 

“But really taking a look at Leader in Me and what we want to generate and having a Tier 1 instructional strategy district wide about leadership and what kind of common language we can develop across the district to have kids working to develop those leadership skills,” Kramer said. “The same would go for any of our behavior skills. We need to teach the behaviors that we expect. We want to develop leaders to be able to go out and be part of that, as we talked today, you know, what would your classroom look like with a classroom full of leaders.” 

The staff in the district are currently going through trainings to ensure they are hitting the points they need in order to see success within this goal. 

“Right now, we’re just the initial stages. This was really the first training for teachers on how to implement the classroom,” Kramer said. “They had they had some initial training in the first day, really about the overall leader in me philosophy and then this, today’s training, was centered around more of the logistics in the classroom. The tools to utilize within there. And so, I think over the next, you know, through this semester is really about how do we implement some of the lessons, how do we get there.” 

The next smaller program Kramer discussed was within the elementary schools. They are working on literacy blocks by using Orton Gillingham reading instruction. They have seen a huge improvement with this method. Kramer reported how, at their last benchmark meeting, they saw more than 73% of elementary students are reading at or above their grade levels. This is something they have not seen since the beginning of this. 

Kramer also noted there were three Lincoln Elementary kindergarten classrooms where 100% of their students were reading at grade level and the entirety of Lagrange’s elementary students were proficient. 

Along the line of test scores, although they have not received a district wide report on the ACT scores yet, according to the individual scores, they have seen a significant increase in the student’s standardized testing. He believes the new programs they’ve implemented this year will help these scores increase even farther. 

He believes we will see majority results after the three-year implementation cycle. In the summer of 2026, the grant ends and they should have the program fully applied in the classrooms. 

Another thing the district is working on is student safety. With the amount of tragedy other schools in the country has seen, they have purchased the app LifeSpot. This will allow the staff to easier contact the police department. They have also updated the security cameras in the last year. Along with this also led to an update in technology within the school. 

Kramer said all the changes this year have not led to any noticeable changes academically. 

The district is setting goals for proficiencies for the fall benchmark. They want to see 10% more of every classroom’s students proficient by winter. By spring, they are hoping the numbers will go up to 20% at the least. Last year, 54% of classrooms were successful in the goal. They are hoping for 100% of classrooms this year. The staff are spending a lot of time pouring over the data and setting goals to make this happen. 

Another thing Kramer was very excited to share was the state of Platte River School’s ACT scores. Last year, they had three students finish with a score over 25 on the ACT. The average score was up three points which is big for an alternative school. 

Platte River School also has many students involved in electives at Torrington High School this year. He is very happy we have this partnership available in Goshen County schools. 

Kramer shared how the way students may go to school look different as well. They provide opportunities for employment practice and the students receive credits for it. There are also two diploma options. 28 and 20 credits. The 20-credit option is more job based. It allows students to focus more on the job force while also learning and graduating. They are more interest based for the students. They are equal when it comes to learning and such, it is just shaped differently. 

“Many people look sometimes, when you go from 28 credits to 20 credits, there’s this idea that oh it’s a less than, it it’s not as rigorous,” Kramer said. “What it really is, is it’s still as rigorous, but it just looks different. It’s a different type of rigor because of the pieces of where there has to be some employment skills and opportunities there.” 

Kramer believes this is more accurate when it comes to preparing students for life. Not a single child’s future will look the same. Especially, when it comes to their careers. He wants the students to be engaged. He wants to foster the learning. He wants to meet the students where they are and meet their needs so they will enjoy their learning, graduate, and become successful adults, successful leaders. 

He is grateful we have so many options when it comes to schools and types of education in the county so every student has a chance. Kramer and the staff in the county are willing to put in as much work as they need to, to give each student the opportunity for a student to learn. This is the key to their programs and skills they are implementing and teaching this year. 

Kramer also does not believe success looks the same from student to student. 

 “To have this mentality, that there are so many different ways of what success is and that’s what something is a society we always have to open up, is success isn’t defined by one singular item. Success is dramatically different for every student and even with grading, I mean, when we look at, you know, a student who has Cs across the board and giving 100% and that is their very very best, that’s equally as successful as a straight A student; Because it’s about the effort and time you put in. If you’re committed to learning that and you’re giving your full effort and you’re still going in with Cs, or even throwing in a few Ds, but there’s still success in that. Just as much as an A or B student,” Kramer shared. 

This is why Kramer fights to foster growth in the schools. When a student’s best is the best they can give, it is something to value. The effort is the greatest thing a student can give. He understands some students have different skills in different places. He wants the students to pick the path which fits them best and he wants the staff to help make it happen. 

The final thing Kramer noted was how hard the staff are working this year to make sure each student has a chance. They asked the staff to add so many things to their day to day and to get it done so quickly, and they are doing fantastic. 

Kramer is very excited to see the success he is expecting within the next few years. He is very happy with the progress they are already making and is proud of the staff and students.