Woodland Intermediate School
Monthly Update
September, 2013
Open House:
Open House took place on September 25th. It was a tremendous success. Students participated in a scavenger hunt activity that required them to introduce their parents to each of their teachers and visit strategic locations throughout the school. This activity promotes personal contacts and the development of relationships between staff and parents. Students who completed the scavenger hunt received ice cream at lunch the following day. Approximately 250 WIS students completed the scavenger hunt.
As in years past I started the evening by addressing all parents and students in the gym. Important parent information regarding student success and school partnerships was presented. Each grade level was then highlighted in10 minutes increments. The grade level highlights allow families with multiple children attending our school an opportunity to have equal access to all their children’s teachers.
Extension Block
Two primary goals of our Schoolwide Plan are based around having our most highly qualified teacher’s instruction our most academically struggling students and working to differentiate instruction based upon student need.
As we work to accomplish these goals we have implemented a daily 45 minute Extension Block at each grade level. Students are identified through data analysis as at standard, below standard or well below standard in reading and/or math. During the 45 minute block students receive instruction specifically targeting their greatest area of need. Instructional Assistants are also pushed into classrooms of below and well below standard groups to assist with instruction and reduce student to teacher ratios.
We are currently in our second week of implementation. We look forward to analyzing student data and monitoring the progress of this program.