I guess.
Okay.
Thank you.
Okay.
Welcome, everyone, to our first curriculum council
meeting for the 20 1819 school year.
We have no voting items today,
but we do have several information items, so we'll call to order.
It's 402.
Do you have our summary notes attached for
our meeting in June
for your perusal?
And we will
go right into our presentations.
These are pretty exciting things
that are going on for the school year that we wanted Curriculum Council
to know about. There are some pilots.
The first one is a STEM steam pilot
at the elementary school that was something we started working on.
We weren't really sure
if we were going to be able to pull it off or not due to some financial constraints
because it wasn't something we had really counted on financially.
We had some really enthusiastic teachers who were willing to look
at a variety of resources that were relatively inexpensive.
I gave them to second grade teachers, a budget of $500.
You could keep it under $500.
If you can do that, then we can give this a try.
And I believe we gave the
technology teachers a computer, teach a similar amount.
I can't remember what the actual, but it was about $500.
Also, like we can scrape together that much,
but this is not something we've accounted for.
So we have to be very responsible with what we're doing.
And they have really embraced it and done some some great things
and are getting ready to do some great things. So
without further commentary from me, I want to introduce Kristen Minnery
and Julia Sen, who are going to share with you
the work that is being put in place to try out for this year.
As a pilot.
If this work is successful, then you will be hearing from
these groups again about some of the changes
we might want to make for the elementary curriculum. Long term,
I think
what you think you need to be on the campus is
beautiful.
So we can.
Okay. So
good afternoon, everyone.
I'm Chris Seminary.
I'm the instructional technology coach for the District,
so I help support the teachers, integrate technology into the classrooms
with our devices, with our computers and our iPads.
And so, like CC was saying, we wanted to kind of revamp
a little bit of our computer special for the elementary school.
Kind of felt like it's a little bit outdated.
And we had some second grade teachers that went to some professional development
and learned a little bit more about steam and coding and those kinds of things.
And so it was exciting for me because it's something I've been mentioning to them,
but because they got to go to a professional development
and learn more about it and hear more about it and see it in action,
they got really excited and came back and wanted to start implementing it.
So we started with just kind of doing what we're calling a pilot
just for second grade, since they were the ones
that were kind of gung ho to try it out.
And we worked on looking at some STEM programs that are already out there.
But what we decided to do with the money, Katrina
and things like that was kind of just develop a little bit of our own
and we based it off of some different things
that we found when it comes to steam and STEM.
And so we in the black there is bolded
the different areas that we touch upon within the special.
So we look at digital citizenship, which is important
across the board, and then coding and computer programing.
So there's just a slight introduction to that for the kids in second grade
growth mindset.
And the idea that it's challenging, it's hard,
but you persevere and you work through it and then design thinking,
which is the process in which you need in order to create
and establish something for design something.
So those are the elements that we touch upon that we've built into it.
And then in white you'll see the forces, what we refer to as the forces.
So these are all the different things that they're developing by integrating
steam and STEM critical thinking skills.
And there's problem solving skills,
learning how to communicate effectively with one another and their needs
and creation, obviously, and developing new things.
And so pretty much throughout the entire time,
they're collaboratively working, whether it's in pair or small group.
So that's helping build those communication skills as well.
So that was
basically what we established created for this year.
And it's definitely a learning year
because it's very different than the traditional computer class
and what it looks like.
But we're excited about it and the kids seem excited about it.
So we'll keep you informed and help us if you just want to publicly.
Thank Tracy Landry and Chris Seminary for the work
that they did up front for the STEM Steam special for second grade
because we did not have money allocated for a lot of summer time.
We knew those teachers
who would be assigned to it could do some trade days with that time,
but we didn't have a lot of money to pay them
in the summertime to write that curriculum.
So Kristin and Tracy did a ton of upfront
work to lay out the units to be ready for lesson design
whenever the teachers came together to test, to plan,
and they did a phenomenal job with something that was really outside
the box of anything
that we've we've ever done before in pulling all these pieces together.
So I would be remiss to not acknowledge them for that work.
Thank you.
And then to piggyback off of
special, we wanted to incorporate more steam
opportunities in the second grade classroom,
and we thought the best area to do that would be our science unit.
So traditionally, Ilyas taught our foster
class kids, you know, almost in isolation.
We thought we could incorporate some more activities
that blend into what they're doing a computer special.
So we decided to find
cognitive activities or things that can be done coincide
with our insect and balance and motion units.
And so I had an opportunity to work with two other second grade teachers
over the summer and create and find other
and other
other lessons that could go with that.
The concepts of insects and balance motion.
So we found
some things that are engaging, problem
solving and integrate and that ideas of steam.
So just wanted to show
a couple that we found and then modify it to go with our curriculum.
And that is already our program that is already being used.
So we found
a lot of things that
that we're already on Radi doing, but then kind of make the kids more engaged
and have to really think creatively, which we really want to encourage.
So I found
that engineering would be interesting
to incorporate into our and into our unit.
So we found a page that we could do with add
with each of these lessons that we would be incorporating the design process.
And then we decided to
find lessons like about build a bug,
which would you mind sharing a little bit about that?
So they're just taking a they're learning the parts physically.
Force teaches them about an insect and parts of the insects, all those things.
And it was different bugs in different parts
and that was great, but there was not much more to it.
So we wanted to start fostering the imagination aspect of it and designing,
you know, how bugs live in their habitats, how do they move, how do they function?
Can you build a prototype of a bug?
Because we know that technology and robots are becoming a thing.
So just getting them to think outside of the box, but still learning
and taking those key concepts that they learned and knew about
and just expanding it.
So these are really extension activities to what we already do with our class
lessons.
It's just it's extending their imagination and taking them out
into more of a real world scenario and how to make it correct.
And we found really inexpensive ways to use materials
that we already have in the classroom or things that could be donated.
So we designed a
some cheap recyclable materials that could be used.
And so basically we would take the ideas they learn about the six
legs of an insect.
They would have to build their own, though.
So they're they're incorporating their own creativity into that time.
And I actually have opportunity in my PMC
last year to do three of these activities for our balance in motion.
And these times when we were doing the balancing the tightrope, balancing
the spinning tops and water side
were the most engaging activities that we did the whole year.
So it's just interesting to see them take the concepts and really roll with them.
You can see that they're understanding the topics through the engaging process.
Yeah, this is a great way.
All these activities are just a great way to see the kids understand
what they're learning instead of just regurgitating the information
and spouting it back to us or taking a, you know, basic assessment
to show when they're designing and creating
and they're making it their own and they're really demonstrating
that understanding, which is ultimately what we're going to see.
SESSIONS
So are you actually doing this in certain second,
second grade classrooms, like maybe one or two or
We've designed an area in our lounge
for any teacher that would like to have these opportunities
and we have all the materials available on the lessons ready to pool.
And so we're hoping that we can encourage our peers to do all of these activities.
So the three of us designed it,
but we're hoping that the whole grade level takes this opportunity.
Okay. Yeah.
So it was, like you said, kind of pilot just to kind of see the people
that wanted to start it and get interested and get acclimated with it.
And then once I think they kind of hear the buzz
of what's going on in the engagement of the kids
and what they're learning from it, I think it will grow.
I think with anything, the teachers that are a little more hesitant right now
kind of want to see other teachers go for it first
and learn from their mistakes and then they'll take it on.
And they know that I'm here as a support for them, both in the classroom
and as a classroom, to help make that happen.
But with our Steam pilot special, all second graders are getting exposed
to some of the steam content, and that's why
we wanted to put it in a special so that it wasn't just certain students.
It's all of second grade
and we're hoping to build it out in each of our grades going forward.
But we wanted to give the kids a chance in all of second grade
to get exposed to it.
So they're computer special in second grade is already integrated,
and then they're slowly integrated into the second grade classroom
for science as both are just pilots.
So. Right. Okay. We're we're piloting for, for both.
I've never heard of I don't know, steam is just
you added the arts the same thing a stem.
Yeah.
So there's steam there and there's now something called dream as well.
Just keep changing them around.
But ultimately, yeah, that a for Steam is to add the arts component of it.
And arts can be actual art or it can be music or things like that.
So it's trying to bring that element in and ultimately what it is, steam
and dream, all of it is just great teaching
because you're integrating all the areas into it and making it move forward.
So that's just what we're trying to get back to.
So it's not so isolated.
But thank you for all your work.
Appreciate it.
So I would just like to echo kudos to Tracy, Dr.
Winslow, for supporting us.
And you ladies like the energy that was in the room
when they were planning was amazing.
Another kudos last week when we were doing our Koko assemblies with second grade.
As they were entering, I said to them, Think about something that you've already,
you know, experienced or That's going to be exciting about second grade.
And one of the kids raised their hand and said, STEM in computer.
So I do believe we're going to hear some great stories
and have some great results as a result of this pilot.
So thank you all.
And I give a report to the full board.
KENNY And it's Lisa Minnery.
Kristin out.
Kristin Sorry.
And you're what's your name?
Julius and Julius.
And thank you.
Did I get Lisa?
I'm sorry.
It's a rainy Monday.
Did anyone else have any questions?
Yeah, that's great.
Awesome.
Thank you very much.
So our next presentation
is Sarah Smith and Tracy Bedding.
And while they're getting hooked up, I just want to tell you a little bit about
their work for the last six years.
Ladies, would you say we've been looking for updates
for middle school reading intervention
to improve upon the programing that we have
and it's it's really been a struggle to find something
good.
It's just been really difficult
and Tracy and Sarah continued that search this year
and brought us all together towards May, May and said, Well, we found something.
I think you're probably going to say no, but
can we
at least look and we have looked at read 180 in the past,
but the structure of Read 180 did not fit with our structure.
It used to be a very
kind of rigid format of 90 minute lessons
that had to be done over a certain period of days. And
and I think the company probably has seen that that's just not effective
for every school.
And so they have changed their structure and they've done a lot of updating.
It is an expensive program.
And so when they brought it to us and we saw all the changes,
it was clearly above and beyond the very best option for our students,
but again, was not something that we had budgeted for.
And so I said, you know, if you can muddle through for one more year,
then we can put this in the budget.
And it is something that we can we can ask for and probably receive.
And they were super excited about that.
And when they shared that with the reps, I can
I can let you take over Tracy, if you'd like.
We were thrilled for them
to offer us the opportunity to have a pilot
because it came out of left field and we had no idea that
like a pilot really meant like the full blown
they everything like it wasn't like a partial pilot.
They gave us all the materials that we needed and all of the
the support from their program.
So here we are today now telling you about our pilot
after many years of searching for reading programs.
So So I just want to jump in real quick.
The only thing we had to pay for
for this pilot and this is a very expensive program,
the only thing we had to pay for it was one day's worth of staff development.
And in August.
And that's all due to the groundwork that these ladies did in working
with the reps and back and forth with them and talking with them
and then the reps wanting us as a client ultimately.
And so we have this opportunity to essentially use this entire program
for no expense this year, which is really, really exciting.
And more than likely we will be bringing this
to Curriculum council as an implementation piece.
Then in April
I'll stop interrupting you.
So I'm Tracy Redding.
I'm a middle school reading specialist and I'm Sarah
Smith and the other reading specialist at the school.
When we started this process, I was really excited about Read 180,
but I knew it was going to be extensive.
They have done so many changes in the last 15 years.
It's called Read One Universal now and it's a blended learning solution
and it really wants to channel struggling students
with brain science staff to technology and professional development.
The growth mindset is such a huge part of of what we're doing right now.
Our kids are learning about their brain
before we actually get into the actual reading.
And we're we're learning as we go as well.
And the kids see that we have a growth mindset.
So that's kind of great to do.
So we're very blessed that we have this.
We're learning and Tracy is going to talk about the next part.
So with the blended learning model,
one of the most important parts is accelerating instruction.
So in the past we would meet with students
and we would update their levels and conference with them.
This will give them instantaneous feedback on the results.
So they see their numbers.
They get forward feedback
up to the minute adjustments in their reading levels.
So it's really providing them with more
instructional opportunities for growth, which is what we're really looking for.
We are also looking for things to be more engaging
and this program does all of that to
not only is it the adaptive technology, but it also
allows them to be encouraged by positive
feedback, even when they're working individually and not with the teacher.
I made myself a
student account, so I've been working my way through it
and hearing exactly what's going to be said and
what kind of feedback they'll be getting and what happens when you answer this way
so that I'll be completely familiar, you know,
instead of just reading about it, knowing exactly what it's
going to do.
So it's really changing the role
of the teacher with the blended learning
because we're going to be doing whole group lessons, and then we're
also going to be having small group, independent and student application
options.
So during the whole group lesson, that would be a tradition or full class
lesson based on the needs from the reports and the data
that it's going to be giving us, and then the students will be broken into
multiple small groups so based on their learning needs.
So that will be using the data that it gives us
to target their needs, to accelerate their growth.
And they'll have an independent reading rotation which allows for choice.
And one of the things we were really looking for was quality literature,
not like fake books, you know, or,
you know, things that were really quality literature
and a variety format.
You know, they'll have some e-readers,
they'll have some audio books, they'll have, you know, print books.
So it'll appeal to different audiences.
And then the student application center station
will be like their independent work that we will show you a clip of
where they're working through like some different zones that's targeted
to their needs in that station.
It will also give them an option to choose their content
and it will adjust their level
and give them options for stretch text.
You know, as they're ready.
So there's a lot of personalized learning built
into the blended learning model.
I'm going to talk to you about the research.
Several of the programs we looked at didn't have as much research as universal.
They have over 15 years of valid research.
Seven of the studies were peer reviewed and nine
studies are run in evidence standards and 50 district studies were conducted.
So there was a whole lot of evidence
of research going on and brain based education.
So we were very happy to see that component
because some of the programs that we looked at didn't have that
strong research background.
These are just some statistics
read 180 is used in over 40,000 classrooms across the United States,
and it is the most thoroughly researched and documented reading intervention
program that's being used in the United States right now.
So all of those combined really helped us
veer towards that program
because we wanted to make sure that we were going to get the results.
We were expecting.
And we worked with the committee to be reviewing,
you know, multiple reading programs and to be looking at, you know,
the instructional process and the research behind each program
so that it wasn't just, you know, our opinion that we had other
people, including Dr.
Spangler instructional coach, helped in that process.
So this is one of the rotations
that students would have the student app
where it really gives them that choice of their content and different options.
They don't have to work like sequentially and, you know,
doing reading always before the language option.
So they can really personalize
their learning a little bit more and feel more in control of it.
So we have a short clip
of that.
Welcome to the Read 180 student adaptation.
This is the zone menu.
From here.
You can enter that to the different zones.
This is also a place to check your overall progress.
And the second,
the segment is
where students can find all of the segments in their stage.
One. Welcome to the Explore Zone.
In this zone, watch an eight anchor video and study
the key words or power words from the from the story.
Read or listen to the definition and then read
or listen to the words in a sentence.
Create work let out into the reading zone.
Let's head back to the zone menu to floor
or another zone
in the zone students practice and apply decoding
fluency, vocabulary and comprehension strategies.
Students can practice their fluent fluency by recording a reading of the passage,
evaluating their work and submitting it for feedback and get the task read aloud.
Because of it, you
would normally hear a word or phrase by phrase.
Gustavo Dudamel has been called the rock star of classical music.
Put the
events in order based based on the test, then hit submit
that it read the question and find the answer in the piece.
Select a word or phrase highlighted.
Welcome to the language zone.
When you really understand a word,
you can identify when it's used correctly,
read the sentences and select any sentence that uses
the power word correctly.
Give it another try.
Remember the success of this color.
The Fluency Zone explores
the reciprocal nature of decoding and memory.
You have one chance to spell each word.
So listen, listen and tie carefully growing.
I dog is growing bigger every day
in the word clinic.
You'll get tips for reading your study words.
Let's listen to the word read aloud and then watch and listen to the Dakota
Classic.
As the suffix is held, this suffix often means
having characteristics of
in the in the writing zone.
Students walk through each stage of writing process process as they plan,
organize, write and publish their thoughts on the topic.
They've been studying anything about the current segment
in the stretch.
Read another text to apply what you've learned and discover.
Discover more about the topic
so students will have choices on their topics
and they will be able to have options to highlight
the evidence that goes along with their question
it in there, and then we'll be able to see, you know, their responses from that.
You know, with the language options.
You know, it's not about memorizing words, it's about having the tools
to decode the words and to use the word parts
so that when they come to new words, they'll be applying those same skills to
the other words.
With the fluency part.
They'll be recording the readings and sending it to us.
So it really has a lot of options.
That was a little rough to listen to up there
with an airplane, but it gave you an idea
of what they'll be doing.
But I think in addition to the videos that started out being engaging,
I think the student choice factor that they have, you know,
from the menu of different topics that they would be able to be choosing
from is definitely advantageous for their interests.
And I'm going to talk to you about professional learning.
As soon as we decided we were going to do the pilot,
the first thing they told us was you need to follow us on Twitter
and Facebook and Instagram because there's a whole community
across the country that we can talk to run idea size
and the amount of professional development that's available to us.
Resources blogs is unbelievable.
Like you can type in what your problem is
and find someone that is at the same issue.
This is how I did it.
So it's been great to have that camaraderie with other people
and it's all digital, but we also have a hard copy
and we're able to go back and forth between the two if we need to.
And the resources within the program are just immense.
It's I've never seen anything like it.
It's just so comprehensive.
And we've received
emails from, you know, staff from the country,
you know, already checking in on us and, you know, they're all over the place.
There's some local people that there's also national people,
and they want to make sure and, you know, we're just on the pilot, you know, so
the scheme of things, you know, like I'm sure they have other people
that they're more worried about.
And here they are checking in to make sure that our transition is going
really well.
So they're just an email away and they keep letting us know that
and the resources that they have for us to personalize our lessons
or to extend them for their online,
you know, our immense
any questions for us?
Will this be incorporated into all the ILA classes
at the middle school, or are you going to do one grade at a time or so?
We are tier two, so the classroom level is tier one instruction.
So the students that are working with us
get additional reading instruction in addition to their ELA instruction.
So this is for the students who are placed into Tier two reading class.
So so what does that mean?
Again, what does the Tier two is that is that for kids that need extra help?
Yes. Thank you.
So they still have their ELA instruction, but then they also receive additional
reading instruction, you know, to help them progress at a faster rate.
Okay. Thank you,
ladies.
Thanks for your strong work on this important issue.
Just curious what what's your sense as to why
a good program was hard to find, why they're so scarce?
I think one of the factors like we
we have high standards, which is definitely one of
and I'll be honest, you know, like we weren't just going to pick anything,
you know, like there were a lot of programs that had, like,
you know, one good factor, you know, but then you look at something else,
you would be like, Well, this is good, but oh, look at that.
Yeah.
I mean, they all have to say that they have research, you know,
But when you actually look at the quality of the research
and you know what the targeted studies were
and you know how vast they were, there was like immense differences
behind, you know, how well-supported those programs were.
The interest factor.
And the engagement,
you know, was one of our top criteria dealing with middle schoolers.
You know, like we wanted something that we were going to like that
they were going to like, you know, So
we we had a lot of things we were looking and I mean, Stacy can attest to that.
We were we were reviewing programs when she was our principal.
So that's how she knows, like how long this is.
Yeah.
How long we've been looking for something.
And we weren't just going to buy something to replace something.
So we've been supplementing with this and that here and there.
And, you know, we've had some like other fluency programs
and things that did different parts, but we weren't looking to purchase
something, you know, like until we found something
that was really going to better meet our students needs.
And I think I think a big part of it,
certainly a big part of it, is that
it's a tier two intervention.
So this is something that students have to do that they're not very good at.
And so you want to be sure that what you're offering is something
that they actually feel
that they're successful with and that they want to engage with.
And a lot of programs I've heard I'm sure you've heard them mentioned some
some reading words like fluency and vocabulary and comprehension.
A lot of programs focus specifically on one of those pieces.
It's very hard to find something that's comprehensive.
So we were also reluctant to buy this fluency program,
this comprehension program. This student,
you know, and there were just a lot of different factors that went into it.
And a lot of the programs are also very scripted,
which is
deadly, both for the teacher and the students
and doesn't always take into account individual student needs with
with any level of flexibility where this program is going to offer
all of the ranges of of needs,
as well as a tremendous amount of personalization and flexibility.
It's really, really exciting.
Looks great.
Thank you for doing all the work.
How many students do you think we have in each grade?
Six, seventh and eight that need to?
It varies by the year, right?
Because data is reviewed and then students are placed from a data team.
So typically for the middle school, you know, right now
we don't have more than 70 students, you know,
in tier two, you know,
and then tier three is learning support,
You know, when they need an extra level of support,
some students will have learning support for like
reading or writing, you know, instruction as well.
Okay.
I guess that it's good that they each have an iPad, too,
because they could probably even use that app at home.
Or they can continue their work. They can or
they can go right into the app.
Yeah, that's really nice. Yeah.
And that was another thing.
Some of the programs had targeted you know, that it was iPad friendly and
you know that they had a tech component.
But, you know, we had to look at the quality of what they were doing.
You know,
when the computer or the iPad, you know, whatever it was they were showing us.
And, you know,
we had even done some site visits on some other iPad friendly things.
And, you know, the level of the instruction, you know,
it wasn't what we needed, you know, So although it looked good,
you know, it wasn't what our students needed.
And one thing we didn't mention provides us with so much data,
like we can see their lifestyle number, we can see their growth,
and it will actually group students by needs for us.
So it's going to say, my kids need to be in this skill level, need to go.
You can follow their achievement and what they're doing.
That's really nice across the
I mean, they actually told me
I did the reading inventory with my students
and it tells me what their projected lifestyle
growth is by the end of the school year.
So that's great to see that data right there.
So this is a pilot for this year, but will all 70 students get to use it?
And then you'll see if you like it and then we'll possibly come back
and purchase it for the next year. Right?
Okay.
And that's what we thought they might say to us, something like, Oh, we'd love you
to do a pilot, but, you know, maybe just like sixth grade,
you know, because they were really covering the cost
of all of the materials, you know,
So we kept thinking there was going to be a catch when
they're waiting for it, you know,
And even like in the independent library, like, we thought, well,
they'll send us one,
you know, because they knew our classrooms were fairly close and the kids
could probably come over and borrow books from each other back and forth.
And when our shipment came in, like they sent us to
independent reading writers, and we were like, Oh my goodness.
And they're real books.
They're not Faisel readers.
They're jumping on literature.
Like the kids are looking at them because they haven't unwrapped them yet.
They're like, Can I read that book when you unwrap it?
And I'm a person? Yeah.
So they're excited as well.
Yeah.
So we we are so very fortunate
to be given
this opportunity and, you know, we have thank them on behalf of the district
and the representatives that worked with us
because it was something
that we it's new for their company, I think, and wasn't
something that we could have ever imagined happening.
Thank you.
I appreciate your enthusiasm, you know, sitting here and going through
all the things we go through.
It's so nice to see what's happening and to know that in some way
what we're doing has an impact.
And that's, you know, like my son's been studying for the A.C.T..
So when you when I see that, I'm like, wow,
that's kind of what he's been studying, reading passages and answering questions.
So this is all preparation that can probably help these kids.
And I was thinking that during the first presentation,
because sometimes I'll look at some of these things online,
you know, like the minutes from and I was like,
gosh, well, it's kind of fun to hear these presentations in person.
Instead of, you know, just reading about it.
So, yeah, thank you
know, questions.
Okay. Thank you very much.
And thank you.
Just a few other
informational items that I wanted to make sure that you are aware of.
As we
get vision for this year.
I don't I want
I don't want to be remiss in mentioning that we did launch full day kindergarten.
They didn't put it on the agenda, but it's been a very exciting two weeks.
Things are going wonderfully.
I had the opportunity last week to to spend some time in the SCC
and see the children transitioning in the hallway
and spend a bunch of time at lunch during the first week,
which went much smoother than what we ever anticipated.
Just the brilliance of Mrs.
Castleman and and Ms..
Schmidt and during the lunch in waves
that just has turned out really great,
great Hummel staff and the the aides have done a fantastic job.
We've had some parent volunteers coming in and helping,
but just really great
and last week I was in Mrs.
Strauss classroom for a little while. She actually invited me.
She's at Q staff are just kind of popping in and out of classrooms that can stay.
We're going to do a story from nursery rhyme from the new program,
which is also something that went through
Curriculum council, the open court program.
And I was like, Oh yeah, absolutely.
I want to see it in action.
So they were doing first they went through,
they kind of did a review of Baba
Black Sheep and rhyming words, and then they went into higgledy piggledy.
Haggerty Piggly Wiggly
I can't remember how to say Baby Piggy, it's they go to the market
anyhow.
And I was like, Can I sit on the floor?
The kids said, okay, let me too much of a distraction.
And she's like, No, that's great.
And I had been talking to some of the students
ahead of time and like, What are these lines on your floor?
What are they for?
And they're like, That's where we line up.
And there's a line leader and whichever line is the quietest gets to go first.
And they knew exactly what they were doing and how they were like.
The routines that were in place already were phenomenal.
So then they had their restroom break.
It never occurred to me that as a kindergarten teacher
you would have instruction instruct on how to use a urinal,
instead reminded them that it was to be used.
So things you don't think of,
but they do think of it and do a fantastic job and do it well.
When the students came back, I was sitting on the carpet ready for Bob.
I'd like actually, and to the students that I was talking with
came and sat down on either side of me, squished up against me.
It was like, Oh, this is great,
so cute.
But watching someone like Mrs.
Shrift, who is a veteran teacher, extremely experienced
and really a master at what she's doing, it was amazing.
And the pace of the classrooms that I was in
compared to what the pace felt like for half
day was wonderful.
It was so
calm and
I think the students were feeling calm and they felt like they had time
to ask questions and to take their time with the things that they were working on.
And it was it was wonderful.
She worked on they identified rhyming words in their new nursery rhyme,
and then they were going out to recess.
And when they came back, they were going to pick up
and talk about the illustrations.
So she didn't feel the need to squash all of that in to a little like six minute
period of time, which was really great for their attention span also.
So I did one that's not a formal update on full day kindergarten.
Just a wow.
You know, just that early.
We've launched it.
It's it's going great so far.
And it's it's really, really exciting.
Did you find out anything, Mrs.
Castleman?
I think you captured it.
I'm wowed every single day so far.
And it was interesting today being like the first full week, a rainy day,
the kids, the transitions are amazing.
Like it is like clockwork, but that there was a lot of training
that went into that and there's a lot of support.
So I can't say enough.
You have to come see it.
Come spend some time with us.
The kids are really fun to be around
and the staff have been incredible.
And by the way, we did even have to teach.
And there are signs in the bathroom pool for like two pieces of toweling,
like breaking it down.
So that they would know what to do.
So they're not,
you know, spending 5 minutes, are pulling ten sheets of toweling out.
So kudos to everyone.
Yeah, yeah, we did go over listening.
Larry's expectations for the restroom.
Two pumps of soap, two towels.
Wash your hands thoroughly.
This is awesome.
So I did want to share that.
Did you have any questions about full day kindergarten?
Was there anything that was on your mind?
How are the waivers? Everything going okay?
Yeah. Seems to be going fine.
We started out with 11 and actually last week
this one little girl was elated on Wednesday
because it was her first day she was going to stay the full day.
So we knew that was going to happen.
Yeah, right. Yeah, it's going to happen more.
Mr. Shriner, our school counselor, collects the kids
and takes them to meet their parents.
I told him he needs to work himself out of that job.
Just joking.
And I do think there is at least one kiddo
who, by the time after noon hit
a waiver student that parents were right on target.
He really did need to go home, take a nap.
So I'm really glad that we did offer that option
to our parents because they do know their kids best.
And maybe as that kiddo matures and throughout the year, maybe
at some point stay, maybe maybe he or
will stay halfway the whole year.
But it was
it was kind of and it was kind of neat to hear a teacher articulating that.
I understand why these parents want the child to go home.
This was smart.
So very glad that we offered offered that option.
And but it's just going great.
It's really, really exciting.
So thank you for letting me take a little detour
there and I can give you a brief update on that.
So some other pieces that I did want to share, the Future Ready
index is getting closer to being ready.
This is a preview page.
And I just wanted to give you just a real quick look at it.
There's not a lot of data in here yet
and there's not a lot of depth that you can dig into.
Very similar to the Aspie page
and its opening where you can click on one of our schools.
So I'll just pick the high school
and what you can see that it will give us
is this, will this blocked out
or grayed out portion will eventually be the state assessment measures.
They're not loaded yet.
These are the on track measures for
how are kiddos doing as they progress through our system.
And then these are the college and career readiness measures
and all of these are ones that you can dig into a little bit deeper.
There's not a lot in here yet because again, this was just a preview.
I did put the link in here.
You will not be able to get into it on your own.
The password is
is specifically for me and it's
this service.
So I did want to let you know I put the link there,
but you're not going to be able to see anything yet on your own.
But you can see
our attendance numbers are part of this.
Early indicators of success will be grade three, reading, Grade seven mathematics.
We're just using our PSA, PSA scores for that.
We did not find that it was necessary to spend more money
on other testing than test our kids one more time.
You can see the school fast facts in here, which is also very similar
to what the SVP page was for fast facts.
So it has like our percent enrollments,
it has the grades that are offered.
It has our percent of gifted students.
It has a percentage of economically disadvantaged
English language learners, special education.
Apparently, at some point it's
going to have foster care, the homeless and military connected.
I'm not quite sure how I feel, quite honestly.
I just want to share that out loud.
I did share it out loud at a session where this was being presented to us.
For schools like ours, where those numbers are pretty small,
I'm hoping that it will say nay because the numbers are too small,
because I feel that that's something that can be a very identifiable trait
and that's nobody else's business.
So I'm hoping that
that's how they're going to address that.
You can also click on District Fast Facts
to get a look at our whole district numbers.
Not not too different from
the school performance profile page, the college and career measures
and the way that you can dig into these are different
and this is in here.
You can you can see our stand.
Our students are at 99.6% of the high school for meeting
those college and career readiness standards, which is nice.
You can see where the state averages and
I'm not sure what statewide performance standard means versus statewide average.
And I'm not sure what to look into that a little bit further.
You can dig deeper into it
with demographic breakdowns.
There is a key for what do these different
circles and arrows and whatnot mean?
You want to be a blue or a green
and you want your arrows usually to be up.
You don't want them to be
decreasing in performance.
You have the graduation rates with the five year cohorts.
I'm not sure if they're going to put the four year one on there or not.
And then they have the industry based learning,
which is the CTSI component.
So not a lot of that will show for us because we're not a comprehensive school
that way.
And then rigorous courses of study will also go in here.
And that's where our
AP courses and college prep
college enrollment statistics will be showing,
and that eventually they'll have the post-secondary transition.
I'm not sure how
they're tracking that piece of it entirely, but that will be there as well.
So that is available for each of our schools.
So I have
to click back through it because of the way it's set up right now.
So each school can be looked at with that level of of information.
Like I said, the data in here right now
is pretty sparse because it's still under review.
The last webinar I watched, they said that this will be ready
in late fall.
They did not putting month on late fall.
I did want to share that with you simply because normally
I do of the data presentation for the school board.
Sometime in either the first or second meeting in October,
We're planning this year to do it in the first meeting in November
because we're not sure when this is going to be ready
and they're not going to release the ESP scores until after this is ready.
Also in that ESP score, while that's not going to be the public
face of school report cards anymore, it is still vitally important to schools
because legislation is tied to it
for teacher and administrator evaluation.
So the way that our schools score is how we then
get points for on our evaluations as well.
So it is still important to to us.
Any questions so far on this?
I've been kind of, you know, throughout the year last year giving you
little bites and in this future any index piece.
But is there anything that you want
refreshed on or any questions that this brings up looking at it I'll
be happy to try to answer them for you.
I just wanted to ask for the to future any index.
Are we are we at a place where we've incorporated everything
that we need to meet those requirements or are we still tweaking that or.
No, we're more there.
Were there.
We have everything in place.
I mean, it was just introduced last year.
So it's. Yes, impressive.
There were several pieces of it, especially with the career
readiness pieces that we were doing some stuff
anyhow, like like our job is town trip, right?
There's several components of that
that count as evidence for fifth graders in their career readiness.
So we were doing that anyhow
because it's the right thing to do and because it's a really great program,
not even knowing
that we were going to need
something like that for this when we started exploring it.
Same with like the middle school career day.
That's something that Mrs.
Gillespie and Michelle were working on before we ever knew
that we were going to need certain components of that.
And we were able to because that was already kind of in place.
We just added a component of reflection to it,
which is what this is looking for as a piece of evidence.
So these things we already had, we were able to just add
another little piece.
Same with the high school.
We have a lot of pieces in place and they were kind of scattered all over.
So we spent some time figuring out where they are and then what do we need to do?
Were there any pieces
that we needed to beef up a little bit, But it was stuff
that we were already doing.
So we're very fortunate that way.
Great. Thank you. Sure.
Any other questions
with the future Ready index?
Okay.
All right.
I will keep you posted on on on that as it
grows and materializes and whatever else happens there.
Another piece that came into play
this summer is school code was updated.
And the piece that specifically applies to curriculum council.
In the past, school code actually dictated that
we could not evaluate textbooks for board
approval until April each year,
which was a little late in the year,
although it did give us plenty of time to do evaluations and
and and put into the budget what we thought we were going to need.
They have removed that restriction at this point.
So we will need to update our policies to reflect that
because our school board policy obviously reflects school code.
So for this year, our thinking is
we'll just stay the course of what we would normally do
and then next year, once policy is updated in place,
then we'll have some some leeway in freedom for that.
It is possible that we'll still stay in a march April timeline
because that does give us plenty of time for an in-depth evaluation of tax.
But it also gives us
a little flexibility of some things should come up during the year
that we would want to maybe take a look at sooner
that policies on the policy committee at 5:00.
That's what Mr. Reiss later told me.
Then it'll if it's approved or go to 30 day review Right.
And then the full board so it could be approved.
It could be I just I felt bad like taking that
to teachers and making changes on them
two months into the school year.
It's not really what they're prepared for.
Nobody has kind of planned for that this year.
But if something comes up that we want to look at sooner,
that would, you know, we will then have the flexibility.
Right?
So it's good.
Any questions about that?
Okay.
I do like to share with you annually
at this time of year the summer work that was completed,
because I think it looks impressive.
All the work that our teachers do with curriculum over the summer,
that's not a serving of word document.
I want a word document.
Glasses on.
Thank you so.
So you can see there's 31 pages
of completed curriculum projects.
And these are all groups of teachers
who worked in committees to update, revise, review,
develop
curriculum, some based on courses that were approved, some based on revisions
that were approved, Others because it's their turn in the revision cycle.
And so they're they're looking at others because as they worked through things,
they found pieces
that were no longer acceptable, that they asked if they could work on.
This work is all accounted for.
We start budgeting for this in November and the department chairs and grade level
coordinators have to have and coaches have to have this information to me by
by the time they leave for the holiday break in December.
And that's why when something like the Steam project comes up,
we have to get a little creative
because we do account for this very early.
So something comes up and in March or so we have to
be a little creative with our time.
But I do like to put this in here so you can see the work that was done.
And then the majority of this was also updated.
And Ruben Canals
and let's see,
I did attach our meeting dates for curriculum council
just over there and part of the public record.
And I also attach to our council goals
in case anybody wanted to look at those and review them.
Once we get our new citizen advisors,
we will go through kind of a welcome in introduction piece again and the role
of curriculum council and review the goals again at that time too.
So all of our new folks can also be a part of that
and that is all that I have for the agenda.
Are there any questions or anything that anybody wants us to consider
for next month?
Okay.
Will adjourn at 456. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
You whenever you're ready.
And then 447 let me make sure it was actually
okay.