Lower School News...cont. from pg 6
Over the last year and a half we have also added enrichment programs to our after-school efforts based primarily on trimester scheduling. These activities have ranged from Math Mania to ArtWorks to White Pine Nature Club. This mix of arts, athletics and science has proved to be a valuable component to our Lower School approach, and we look forward to continuing after-school enrichment next year with greater focus on advanced advertising and logistics to give the program greater value and use within the Lower School community. We discussed our approach to documenting our curriculum by way of Rubicon Atlas, our online curriculum mapping software program from PreKindergarten to grade twelve. In doing so, our focus is both on horizontal curricular alignment (grade level) and vertical curricular alignment (grade to grade). The faculty has used this approach for the last several years, and it has created greater focus in recording and evaluating our curriculum in a systematic manner. Because it is a computer-based model, we are able to access it for faculty meetings and conversations that promote greater analysis of our curriculum. In the end, the progress that we have made on our curriculum will allow us to roll out public documents which our families will be able to access as we begin the upcoming school year at events such as Back to School Night. Standardized testing and reporting on student progress has been an important part of our yearly focus. With our trimester model, we hold parent-teacher conferences in October and April and write student reports at the end of November, in mid-March, and mid-June. In the past, we have also administered the Terra Nova standardized tests in April to our second through fourth grade Lower 10
School students. Primarily a contentbased test, we have noted limitations with this tool and with our ability to work purposefully with the results both internally and with our parent community. After much administrative level review, we have decided to use two forms of tests produced by the Educational Records Bureau for the coming year in place of the Terra Nova test. We will administer the standard ERB skills-based test to our third and fourth graders, and we will have the option of administering a “junior version” of the ERB to our students in the grades below second grade. This junior version offers formative and ongoing assessment three times per year in the areas of math, literacy, and language art and would essentially be a progress report on student growth. Thus, we will not be testing the students with the Terra Nova standardized tests this spring, but rather will wait to administer the ERB tests next October. We are excited about the potential of administering the tests in the fall, so that we have more time throughout the year to work with the results. While I presented specifically on the Responsive Classroom to open the presentation, I also focused more globally on our socialemotional program near Forum’s end. We appreciate the foundation that Responsive Classroom gives to our classroom initiatives, and we have also benefitted from a social thinking program led by Marguerite Genest. Working with the students and teachers in both homeroom and unified arts classrooms, Dr. Genest focuses on ten social skills that range from eye contact, to tone of voice, to personal space. Other aspects of our social-emotional curriculum include health classes connected to physical education classes, wellness events, the fourth grade Ambassadors Program and our Community Compacts (grades 1791 Letter ~ February 2012
one through four), and Class Promises (Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten). My final Forum topic involved projecting ahead to next year. With mixed emotions, the Lower School faculty and I have recently learned of Amy Criswell’s intentions to move to the greater Boulder, Colorado area over the summer. The Criswell family looks forward to this new chapter in their personal and professional lives. We have had the good fortune of Amy’s expertise as a four-year first grade teacher and (soon to be) two-year second grade teacher at Berwick Academy. I have the utmost appreciation and respect for the manner in which she has dedicated herself to our Division during these six years. A versatile educator, Amy immersed herself in Lower School life from the outset. Our student-directed instructional and social/emotional support expectations for classroom teachers are many and varied. Yearly, Amy has expertly modeled pedagogical approaches in areas ranging from literacy and math instruction to Responsive Classroom and Social Thinking efforts. I appreciate Amy’s efforts on behalf of students and colleagues over the years. While we know that we will miss her next year, we also are excited for Amy and her family and the Colorado adventures that await them. To maintain a critical level of consistency and continuity in the Lower School, we felt it important to find a replacement for Amy who knew our school well and who had a deep appreciation for our Lower School approach. To that end, we fortunately did not need to look any further than in the direction of former Lower School Teacher and Director (and former Assistant Head of School), Ruth Rioux. Ruth will help stabilize our efforts at the second grade level for the coming year, while we have the opportunity to explore longer-term