Santee School District students have improved in both math and reading between 2019 and 2024. That’s according to the latest Education Recovery Scorecard, which measures district-level math and reading performance.
About 100 districts in the country are performing at or above pre-pandemic levels in both math and reading. The Cardiff School District is the only other district in San Diego County included in the report that also improved in both subjects between 2019 and 2024.
Paying attention to the whole child has made a difference in Santee, according to Pride Academy Principal Kristen Bonser.
“Sometimes an academic conversation can turn into a social, emotional conversation,” she said. “That student might not be making progress in reading or math because there's something going on at home, and maybe we can support that family with something.”
Superintendent Kristin Baranski said the district used federal pandemic aid to hire a full-time counselor at each school and reduce class sizes. She said their ratio for fourth to eighth grades went from 32 students to one teacher to 29 to one.
“Even a number of kids can make a difference when you're trying to make those meaningful connections with your students and their families,” she said. “Those funds really, really helped support us.”
Baranski said the district also started back in-person earlier in the pandemic than many other districts, bringing students back for half days every day starting in September 2020.
Teachers have also completed training on math instruction to help students master foundational skills.
“We're really focusing on depth versus quantity,” Bonser said. “We're not asking students to do tons and tons and tons of problems to show their understanding. What we are doing is asking them to think about more complex problems and have more conversations around them.”
Student attendance remains a challenge across San Diego County. In Santee, more students are missing school now than before the pandemic, but attendance is starting to improve.
Reggie — a staff member’s golden retriever who’s on campus every day — has helped.
“We often will use him if a kid's struggling to get out of a car in the morning,” Bonser said. “If they're feeling upset or anxious about something, Reggie will go greet them at the vehicle and they can escort him to their classroom.”
Staff meet to analyze their attendance data biweekly and discuss individual families’ needs. Pride Academy has worked to create a sense of community using student clubs, a new visual and performing arts program and military family nights.
“When students feel a sense of belonging at school, they feel more comfortable in a learning environment,” said school counselor Gaby Martinez.
Like many other districts, Santee expects enrollment to continue to decline as the population ages and people have fewer children. State funding is tied to enrollment.
Baranski said the school board and staff are applying for grants to continue funding counselors, visual arts programs and other resources.
