The BCSD Board of Trustees is thrilled to recognize Wood River Middle School RTI and Reading Specialist Patrick Kinney!

The following accolade was submitted by WRMS Counselor Hailey O’Reilly:

Patrick Kinney has been our RTI specialist for 14 years. He has set up concrete systems to crunch student data, focus on students with highest needs, and collaborate with teachers, counselors, and administrators to establish student support. He runs our MTSS Team, for which he has systems in place for staff communications, collaboration, and support. When we enroll new students with learning deficits, we collaborate with Patrick to get these students support out of the gate. This makes a huge difference for that student and their families' confidence as well as relationship building with our school.

Through MTSS, Patrick not only brings attention to and develops support for students' academic needs, he also brings attention to their other needs, such as bullying, isolation, food, clothing, and more. He advocates strongly for these students.

Patrick has worked in education for 17 years, as a paraprofessional in special education, an ELA teacher, and our much respected and appreciated RTI/reading specialist. He has told me that the most rewarding part of his experience as an educator has been getting to be involved in the lives of young people and to be their advocate.

Patrick and his wife are both educators in the district, and they share a 23 year old daughter who lives in Oregon. He grew up visiting the Wood River Valley as a child. He is a musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He loves traveling, exploring the outdoors, and experiencing other cultures. Patrick is retiring this year, and I can't count how many times I've heard staff and parents ask "what are we going to do without him?" He truly is that amazing.