Hunterdon Central presented an update on its Multi-Tiered System of Supports, a district initiative to coordinate academic, behavioral, social-emotional and attendance interventions so students receive timely, graduated help.

The presentation matters because MTSS determines how the district identifies students who need extra help, what interventions they receive and how progress is monitored. District leaders emphasized that attendance is a required component of New Jersey’s MTSS approach.

Matt Hall, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, told the board that the system has “four legs” — academics, social-emotional growth, behavior and attendance — and described MTSS as a pyramid of supports. “Tier 2 tends to be, you know, a smaller percentage, 5 to 15% of the students,” he said, describing the graduated intensity of interventions.

Using a hypothetical ninth-grade student the presenters named “Jonathan,” the district illustrated how supports work across tiers: tier 1 is high-quality classroom instruction and differentiation; tier 2 can include required tutorials, small-group instruction or response-to-intervention blocks with biweekly progress monitoring; tier 3 comprises more intensive, programmatic changes or individualized services. Presenters described behavioral supports such as counselor check-ins and classroom signal systems, and attendance responses including family contact and attendance contracts.

Assistant staff member Mr. Brandt said the initiative’s early steps have been creating a common language among staff, informal classroom walkthroughs to identify effective strategies, professional development days devoted to high-impact instructional practices and work on a dashboard to monitor MTSS data in the district’s student‑information system.

Board members asked clarifying questions and noted that New Jersey’s requirement to address chronic absenteeism is a reason the district explicitly includes attendance among MTSS pillars. The presenters said the district is working on data reporting capabilities so staff can identify needs before problems escalate.

No board vote was required; the session was an informational presentation and the board took no formal action beyond receiving the update.