ESSA Information

Understanding our School’s Designation under the North Star Accountability System

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law in 2015. ESSA requires states to develop a data-driven system for holding schools and districts accountable for providing a fair, equitable, and high-quality education to all students. The Minnesota state plan established the North Star Excellence and Equity System to ensure that all schools are working well for all students. Schools were identified for support and improvement by the North Star system in August 2025. More information on ESSA and North Star is available at education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/account/.

Our School’s Designation – Comprehensive Support and Improvement

Under the North Star system, Bryn Mawr has been identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement. We have been identified for this level of support and improvement because our school was one of 5% of Title I schools that were identified for comprehensive support, based on test score and attendance rate levels set by the Minnesota Department of Education, some groups of students at our school had test scores and attendance rates below levels set by the Minnesota Department of Education, and one or more student groups with a three-year average below performance thresholds across all three steps for one identification cycle (Student groups: Black or African American Students, Students Receiving Special Education Services).

This designation means that our school will get additional support to help us meet the needs of every member of our school community, including:

A School Improvement Specialist, who will be working with our school staff and leadership teams
- Note: You can find our school improvement plan on our school’s website later this fall
Individualized support from other central office teams, including support focused on instruction, curriculum, school climate, and other support systems

Support and Improvement Next Steps

As part of our designation, we will be working in partnership with you to design and carry out a plan to make our school even better. This year, we will be focusing on:

Completing a comprehensive needs assessment looking at the reasons why the school was identified
Developing an improvement plan addressing the root causes behind the reasons why the school was identified, including at least one strategy backed by rigorous research showing its effectiveness
Implementing and monitoring the improvement plan once it goes into effect

Family & Community Partnership

We want our staff, families, and community members to all have a voice in our needs assessment and improvement process. We invite you to partner with us as we engage in these efforts to ensure that all students’ needs are being met at our school.

We are looking for parents/caregivers to:

Share your thoughts on what’s going well at school and how we can improve
Join our school’s Site Council, where we will discuss ways to strengthen our school
Provide feedback on our school’s progress throughout the year
Join us at Coffee With The Principal