The Mahomet-Seymour School board listened to presentations about progress made in the 2012-2013 school year and each school’s goals in the 2013-2014 school year from the district’s five principals Mon. night.
Middletown Principal Carol Shallenberger said full-day kindergarten gives the staff the opportunity to expand from their literacy rich curriculum to include math instruction. While Middletown will continue to focus on implementing the English Language Arts Common Core standards, the staff will also focus on helping the 10 percent of students who don’t know the alphabet letters master them by the time they go to Sangamon Elementary.
While most students will know their letters by the time they go into first grade, Shallenberger said it is a challenge for some students. Director of Instruction Mary Weaver said that the district monitors the student’s growth throughout the year, and while some students go into first grade without complete letter recognition, many of these students gain more skills and strides than some of the top students during kindergarten.
As Middletown includes a longer block of math instruction into their day, they want to work towards developing a math curriculum which includes 70 percent of their tasks related to the Common Core Standards.
Sangamon Elementary Principal Mark Cabutti said their goals for the 2013-2014 school year are similar to the goals last year because they embody the climate of the school.
The staff has readjusted the curriculum from text book instruction to reviewing new math materials which will align with the Common Core standards. The staff would also like to see students at Sangamon exceed the national average in MAP reading and math scores while continuing to broaden the gap in those numbers.
The Sangamon staff also wants to continue to recognize children for good behavior throughout the year. The very popular “Good News” card is given to students who work hard, improve or show good character throughout the day. This cost effective reward gives students on the “Good News” list the privilege of going out to lunch recess first.
He said the program continues to grow as he sees at least 20 students a day in his office. During the 2012-2013 school year, 3842 “Good News” cards were handed out. Cabutti would like to see this number grow throughout the 2013-2014 school year.
Within the year, the Sangamon staff has committed to have 100 percent of the instructional delivery aligned with the common core standards.
Lincoln Trail Principal Jeff Starwalt said the staff would like to see school wide MAP math scores to increase 1.5% over the next year. Students are tested three times a year. He said the staff has committed to helping struggling students identified in the Tier 2 or Tier 3 with 30 to 60 extra minutes of math instruction.
Starwalt said teachers have worked hard to make sure their instruction is aligned with the Common Core standards. Without Common Core textbook availability, the administration has tried to support teachers as they write the curriculum.
Third and fourth grade teachers will work towards having 100 percent of their math instruction aligned with the Common Core standards by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. Fifth grade teachers have embraced technology as their platform this year. Instead of rotating classes through the lab once a week, each class takes a 45 minute block, five days a week for a four week period to teach students about documents, presentations, photographs and keyboarding.
Starwalt said while classroom instruction is vital, the most important thing the school provides the children is confidence and self-esteem in their abilities, and that when things go wrong in their lives, there are people within the school who care for them.
Last year, Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School staff focused on revamping their curriculum to meet the math and language arts common core standards. With a fluctuation of math scores above the national norm, but declining within the school, data collected last year to show the progress of students in a 38 minute math class with those in the block math class proved to the staff that the upcoming math block schedule will benefit students.
The MSJHS staff is also working to make 70 percent of their reading and writing instruction aligned with the Common Core standards, keep MAP scores above the national average and to implement a common language and rules so students will experience consistency within the school.
While social interaction skills are hardest to measure, the implementation of a STEPS program, which reaches out to students with discipline referrals eliminated drug and alcohol offenses at the school last year, and encouraged students to use their words instead of their fists. Landrus said this program taught the staff empathy and compassion towards the students.
The MSJHS staff will build on that this year, as they reach out to students during the entire school day to make sure they have the things they need or a contact point for troubles.
MSHS Principal Shannon Cheek used the Rising Star platform to present the schools growth and goals. The high school has assigned a school leadership team to look at the school performance data. He said they have also incorporated a team structure which will be incorporated into the school improvement plan.
Cheek also said while the school continues to analyze the common assessments throughout the year, they continue to discuss ways to engage all students.
