Two years ago, the students at Glenns Valley Elementary School saw three principals in a single year.

So when Dave Rohl arrived in 2016 with a brand new leadership team alongside him, he knew consistency was key to helping the school make gains on state tests — consistency and a lot of patience.

We did better last year, we did better this year, and we’re going to be a lot better in three or four years. It takes a while to get things going exactly the way you want them. These are cruise ships, not speed boats.

So far, it seems to be working: Glenns Valley, which has almost 800 students in preschool through fifth grade, moved from a C grade from the state in 2016 to an A in 2017.

The school’s scores jumped 10.4 percentage points to 60.9 percent of students passing both English and math exams, higher than the state average. Both figures — passing rates and growth — factor into a school’s letter grade. Last year, Glenns Valley had especially high growth, particularly for struggling students, which helped offset lower passing rates.

Read the full article on moving kids ahead by Shaina Cavazos at Chalkbeat