We have had a great week filled with lots of fun and work. The most important part is that everyone makes it through this heavily charged day feeling happy.
It has been such a wonderful experience, as always, talking to you all about your children at conferences. They are all so special to us here at school and we deeply appreciate the trust you put in us as their daily care-givers.
Below, please read the letter Christine and I have written regarding the grade configurations in the first and second grade for the 2018-2019 school year. If you have further questions, please be in touch.
Have a wonderful, recharging break!
Ben and Tammy
Dear Families.
Over the past couple years, our ½ team has been doing a lot of thinking about what is best for young children at the primary level. This conversation parallels the ongoing changes in our SU on a curricular level in regards to new academic and social standards and proficiency based learning.
In order to give kids the learning that best fits them, we have decided together to group the kids by grade level, meaning we’ll have a first grade classroom and a second grade classroom. The primary way that we will address their needs is that we will loop our classes so kids will have the same teacher for two years. This allows for consistency for kids and teachers alike. We have been talking about their span of development academically, socially and emotionally over these two years. The difference in needs from a beginning-of-the-year first grader and a beginning-of-the-year second grader are vastly different. It’s our belief that the main goal of first graders is to learn how to learn whereas the goal of a second grader is to start applying that learning throughout their day.
Tentative Map
2018- 2019: Christine - Grade 1 Ben - Grade 2
2019- 2020: Ben - Grade 1 Christine - Grade 2
2020- 2021: Christine - Grade 1 Ben - Grade 2
2021- 2022: Ben - Grade 1 Christine - Grade 2
We acknowledge that there are benefits to having these age groups together, however, we feel that by focusing on one age group at a time we will better meet students’ developmental needs and abilities. In this model there will still be plenty of opportunities to work together as a primary team: (Recess, Lunch, Primary Sing, Word Study, possibly for Reading Groups) so that kids still get to see their first and second grade friends.
The social and academic needs of your children are always the focus of our decision making process. We believe that this change will help your children learn and grow to their fullest. Thank you for your continued support in our ½ program.
Sincerely,
Ben Weiss
Christine Babcock
No comments:
Post a Comment