Pullman Elementary School
Amber Mortensen, Principal
5580 South Ave.∙ P.O. Box 458∙Pullman, MI 49450
(269)236-5235 ∙ Fax (269)236-5307
School Annual Education Report (AER) for Pullman Elementary
February 6, 2025
Dear Parents and Community Members:
We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information on the 2024-2025 educational progress for Pullman Elementary. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact Principal Amber Mortensen for assistance.
The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following website https://bit.ly/3HwcWXO or www.bdalecards.com or you may review a copy in the main office at your child’s school.
For the 2024-25 school year, schools were identified based on previous years’ performance using definitions and labels as required in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school is one that had at least one underperforming student subgroup in 2021-22. An Additional Targeted Support (ATS) school is one that had a student subgroup performing at the same level as the lowest 5% of all schools in the state in 2021-22. A Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school is one whose performance was in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state or had a graduation rate at or below 67% in 2021-22. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases, no label is given.
Our school has “not been given a label.”
Pullman Elementary is lucky to serve a diverse community of learners coming from many different backgrounds and life experiences. We continue to discuss best practices when it comes to instruction that will meet the needs of our young learners. In 2024-2025, we continue to look for ways to create building-wide interventions to ensure that each child is receiving the instructional services that they need in the areas of English Language Arts and Math, as well as, improving our direct instruction strategies to assist in creating grade level readers by the end of 3rd grade. We’ve implemented the use of targeted intervention groups by using screeners that provide specific feedback on skill deficits. The interventions are provided via a tier 2 push-in model. The instructional paraprofessionals are supporting many of the interventions. In addition, students who may need additional support receive tier 3 pull-out with the Title I interventionist.
There are two elementary schools in our district, Pullman Elementary and Bloomingdale Elementary. Students are assigned to each building according to specific boundary lines and bus routes. Our district is in the middle of a 3-5 year school improvement cycle. Using the Michigan Continuous Improvement Process (MICIP), the district has a focused goal to increase students academic progress by focusing on the Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) that include a focus on core content areas along with ESL and social-emotional learning. The district has identified essential academic standards and continues to teach a curriculum that follows state guidelines and requirements as set out by the State of Michigan.
Some of our students who are identified as having one or more disabilities are able to receive educational services at specialized schools and centers in the county. The programs are run and operated by the Van Buren ISD. The decision to place a student in any special education program is made by the Individualized Education Plan Committee which includes at least one of the student’s parents or guardians, general education teacher, diagnostic personnel and a school administrator. The goal of all specialized programs is to facilitate a student’s education growth to the maximum extent possible. Many of these programs are available from infancy through early childhood. These programs include: Autism, Severely Emotionally Impaired, Cognitively Impaired, Severely Multiply Impaired, Infant, and Total Communication Program.
If you are interested in learning more about our school/district curriculum you may schedule a meeting with the building administrator. They would be happy to discuss with you each core subject area, its implementation process, and how it has been contextualized to fit the needs and demands of our students. If you are interested in learning more about our school’s performance on any local or state achievement tests, that information can also be requested from the building administrator.
Parents and community members provide tremendous support for our education process at Pullman Elementary. In Fall of 2023 we had 78% attend our parent-teacher conferences and 81% attend our Spring 2024 conferences. In Fall of 2024 we had 84% attend our parent-teacher conferences, and we look forward to having a good percentage attend our Spring 2024 parent-teacher conferences. Every effort is made to discuss with parents their child’s progress and how we can best support them to reach their goals, academic or otherwise.
Pullman Elementary continues to strive toward creating contributing members of our local community and beyond. Our mission is “Cultivating a community of lifelong learners” and our vision is “Where students of today become valued contributors to tomorrow’s community.”
Sincerely,
Mrs. Amber Mortensen
Principal, Pullman Elementary