The energy and excitement here at WHS builds with every passing day. With every passing day we get closer to our opening day for the 2011-2012 school year. I am pleased to report that we are almost ready. In a little more than a week we will welcome you and your family to join us in a major celebration of our school community: our 'Warm Woodland Welcome!' But before getting into that, there is a lot to tell you. Let's get going ....
Our Building > The facility crew have been working tirelessly to clean our school from top to bottom. They are now adding final polish to the school building, and helping teachers with their final classroom preparations before school opening. We are looking REALLY good here at WHS, and we owe it all to our facility crew.
Our Staff > WHS Staff members have been in all summer to participate in professional development training, team planning meetings, and classroom set-up activities. They are now gearing up for our official school opening activities that include three full days of meetings and training to help assure that we have our 'A-Game' on Thursday when we open the school for classes.
Our Programming > You can expect an even more 'student-centered' focus in all of our subject areas and learning activities. We are moving away (slowly, cautiously, and deliberately) from commercial 'programs' to a greater focus on curriculum standards, instructional 'Best Practices', and meeting the indvidual learning needs of all of our students. The shift is one of both philosophy and practice. It is important to note that many of our teachers and teams have been effectively headed in this direction for quite a while. The difference is that we are now institutionalizing this change: we are ALL making this move, together, in a planned, organized, deliberate, and public way. You'll notice the greatest changes in the areas of Literacy (moving to a 'Balanced Literacy', 'Readers and Writers Workshop' model) and in Mathematics (supplementing our Everday Math Program with the approaches and techniques of Professor Mahesh Sharma).
Our Learning Resources > Woodland kids will continue to learn with great books and great technology. What may be different this year is an early focus on learning math using 'Cuisenaire rods' to help students better conceptualize and understand numbers and math facts. Also, students will have greater access to 21st Century Learning Tools than ever before -- new computer clusters and iPads will be available for students and teachers shortly after school opening.
Our Parent Organization > The WHS-PTO will have it's opening meeting on September 13th at 6:30pm. Our parents have big plans for a spectacular year at WHS. To learn more about what the WHS-PTO is planning, and how you can be part of the program, please consider joining us on Tuesday the 13th!
Our Student Support Team > You can expect to see our student support specialists -- special educators, Title I teachers, etc. ('Interventionists' as they are sometimes known) -- fully embedded into our grade level teaching teams and no longer operating as distinct, separate entitites/programs working with students on material that is disconnected to the work of the rest of their class peers. This 'Inclusive' model of student service delivery is considered 'Best Practice' and will complement our 'Differentiated Instruction' and 'Response to Intervention' programs. This all means (in most cases) that we will be using a 'push-in' rather than a 'pull-out' model of student service delivery (i.e., students who need additional support to maximize their learning will receive those services in the classroom rather than an office away from their classmates).
Our Health Services > Nurse Ganchi has been busy processing the medical paperwork of our new students to help them be ready for school opening -- remember, if you do not have certain medical and immunization records in order and on file here at WHS, you child cannot begin school on September 1st. Questions? Call or email WHS Nurse jessica Ganchi.
Our Food Service > Our food service department will be sending home necessary paperwork to establish lunch and/or milk accounts for your children on the first day of school. If you suspect that your family may be eligible for free or reduced hot lunch or milk, please complete and return the necessary forms so that we can lend assistance. Remember also, our food service department provides free healthy snacks for all students every day. This marvelous program helps us to meet student and family needs in a very healthy way!
Our Transportation Company > Our bus routes are now posted at school and on our website. If you have questions about busing, pick-up and drop-off times, or need more information about your child's bus stop, you can call our bus company, First Student, during normal business hours.
Our Calendar > In addition to our standard school district calendar that indicates holidays and school vacation dates, we will now offer an interactive online calendar that will include much more, completely up to date information to help you know what is going on at Woodland, and when. This is a new feature on our school website that you will want to investigate soon.
Our Handbook > Our Student-Parent Handbook for 2011-2012 has been published, and a hard copy of the handbook will be coming home with your student on the first day of school. However, we have already posted the handbook online at our website. Check it out!
Our School Opening Schedule > Teachers will be getting a head start on the kids again this year, with three 'work-days' (August 29th-31st)
before school officially opens for our students on Thursday, September 1st. Don't forget the Warm Woodland Welcome (described below) which is scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, August 30th. If you have any questions about student registration or school opening, please contact your friends in the WHS Main Office, and we'll do our best to help you as quickly as possible.
Our Warm Woodland Welcome > This annual beginning of school open house has become a very popular and well-attended event enjoyed by most all WHS families. Come in to WHS on Tuesday, August 30th, from 5-6pm. to renew friendships and acquaintances, see your child's new classroom, and meet your child's new teacher. This open house is 'low-key' and more social than academic (we'll have our Fall Curriculum Night on September 22nd). If you have particular questions for your child's teacher or wish to share particular information about your child with her/his teacher, you should make an appointment for a parent-teacher conference sometime during the first couple weeks of school. Alternatively, you can contact your child's teacher anytime via email or telephone/voicemail to discuss your family or student needs. We look forward to building a strong partnership with your family so that we can work together to meet your goals for your child's educational experience here at Woodland Heights.
Are you happy to be here yet? We certainly hope so!
See you on August 30th for our annual 'Warm Woodland Welcome'!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Primary School Improvement Initiatives Announced For 2011-2012
There are a constellation of interests, goals, and initiatives that we pursue here at Woodland Heights simultaneously, and constantly. As part of our continuous improvement model, and with the pace of change in our society and in the field of education, we are not at liberty to select a small number of goals for our coming school year, we must employ a multi-faceted program of systemic change that will bring us to an even better place on several fronts. However, quality schools will typically select a handful of over-arching initiatives (goals) for their future work, from which all other endeavors will flow.
For the coming year, as a result of formal and informal process, meetings, and discussions with parents, WHS staff, and Laconia School District leadership, during the 2011-2012 academic year, the learning community at Woodland Heights School will endeavor to:
A.] Improve Literacy Instruction --
No ability or skill is more critical to the success of a student or adult than the abilities to read and accurately comprehend, write and effectively articulate. It is for this reason, and the recognition that too many of our students are not 'Proficient' in the area of reading and writing as indicated on varying student achievement assessments, that we elect to significantly reform/redesign the manner in which we teach children how to read. Moving from a 'canned', one-size-fits-all reading 'program' to a more personalized 'Balanced Literacy', 'Workshop' approach to reading and writing instruction will allow us to focus more effectively on our students, and better meet the unique learning needs of each and every child in our school.
B.] Improve Mathematics Instruction --
Using the techniques and approaches of Professor Mahesh Sharma, we will strive to attain high achievement in the area of mathematics for every student at WHS this year. While continuing to use the renowned mathematics program, Everyday Mathematics, as our primary instructional vehicle, we will intelligently supplement Everyday Math with Dr. Sharma's techniques to promote greater success for all students in the area of mathematics. If we are able to implement these new approaches to the extent that we anticipate, it could dramatically improve student understanding of numeracy and key arithmetic concepts that will not only facilitate their math achievement today, but it will foster significant future success in mathematics learning in the years ahead. Mathematical thinking, understanding, application, and problem-solving will all improve for the betterment of lifelong success and fulfillment both in and outside of their future workplace. Our goal is never to graduate a student who may exclaim the familiar refrain: "I can't do math!" At WHS, all students can and will 'do math' -- well.
C.] Refine Our Response to Intervention (RtI) and Differentiated Instruction (DI) Models --
Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction are, at their core, mechanisms to promote the personalization of learning and creating opportunities for each and every child in our school to enjoy success at many levels (academic, social, experiential) and actualize growth in many worthwhile directions (as a scholar, thinker, citizen, worker, and human being of integrity and worth).
Much work has been done over the past year to move our school toward being a true and legitimate 'Student-Centered School'. It would seem obvious enough: schools exist to meet the learning needs of children, it is all about the kids. Or is it? The questions that we have been asking ourselves time and time again, fall on the line: If we are to truly be a student-centered school, what should learning look like? What should our teachers be doing? What should our students be doing? What materials would we use? How should we structure student learning experiences (instruction)? How should we organize our school, its teams, and its resources? etc., etc. This process of reflection and honest self-assessment has generated provocative discussion and some significant changes to what we do and how we do it here at Woodland Heights School. Some examples of outcomes related to this discussion include: our new student-centered (rather than program-centered) approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics, our commitment to 21st Century ('Next Generation') Learning and all that it entails, the creation of new grade-level teacher teams, the full integration of our school's 'Interventionists' (special education and Title I Reading Teachers) into the grade level teacher teams and relocating their office and teaching space into the grade level pods, a greater focus on enrichment opportunities for all children and a new emphasis on frequent, regular integration of the arts and movement into the everyday learning experiences of our students. Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction are formalized approaches/components that will help to facilitate our attainment of this truly student-centered vision for our school community.
D,] Continue Our Commitment and Leadership in the Area of Next Generation Learning (NxGL) --
This aspect of our practice here at Woodland Heights tends to receive the most notoriety but it is, in fact, just one aspect of our highly integrated, overall effort to provide our students with meaningful, relevant, and necessary educational experiences. Through our work in this initiative, the everyday learning experience of our students is punctuated seamlessly by several natural, independent, semi-independent, and/or cooperative opportunities to enhance their learning using '21st Century Learning Tools (computers, iPads, interactive whiteboards, the internet). They will use this technology in ways that are consistent with the manner in which secondary school and adult learners use tools and work as self-directed and/or collaborative partners to act as creative and resourceful creators in a project-based / problem-solving environment. No longer will students be passive recipients of uninspiring, disconnected, irrelevant education. Guided by talented teacher facilitators, they now will be active and dynamic creators of their own learning and their own future. Our students need to interact with the tools and benefit from learning experiences that with prepare them for their future, not our past.
E.] Continue to Strengthen Our Community, Citizenship and Character Development Programs --
Students cannot learn, engage, and participate in school to their fullest potential unless they feel comfortable, safe, respected, valued, and confident in themselves and their abilities. This goal indicates that as a learning community, we understand that we must nurture and work to develop the 'whole child'. Students have much to learn and many skills to develop beyond traditional academics. We want our students to make the right decisions for the right reasons, always being mindful of how their decisions and their behavior effects the quality of life and learning for others in our community. Our work on this goal will result in further developing the culture of Woodland Heights School as one where every child can and will be physically and emotionally safe, and will succeed academically and flourish socially.
As we embark on this ambitious plan for school improvement, we are energized and encouraged by the growth that we have already made in these areas over the past year, and can see clearly how our students and families will benefit from our continued effort and focus on growth in these areas.
If you would like further information on our school's plans for the coming year, or to offer feedback, please contact me at school (603-524-8733) or by email (ddobe@laconia.k12.nh.us) at your convenience.
Ready. Set. Learn!
For the coming year, as a result of formal and informal process, meetings, and discussions with parents, WHS staff, and Laconia School District leadership, during the 2011-2012 academic year, the learning community at Woodland Heights School will endeavor to:
A.] Improve Literacy Instruction --
No ability or skill is more critical to the success of a student or adult than the abilities to read and accurately comprehend, write and effectively articulate. It is for this reason, and the recognition that too many of our students are not 'Proficient' in the area of reading and writing as indicated on varying student achievement assessments, that we elect to significantly reform/redesign the manner in which we teach children how to read. Moving from a 'canned', one-size-fits-all reading 'program' to a more personalized 'Balanced Literacy', 'Workshop' approach to reading and writing instruction will allow us to focus more effectively on our students, and better meet the unique learning needs of each and every child in our school.
B.] Improve Mathematics Instruction --
Using the techniques and approaches of Professor Mahesh Sharma, we will strive to attain high achievement in the area of mathematics for every student at WHS this year. While continuing to use the renowned mathematics program, Everyday Mathematics, as our primary instructional vehicle, we will intelligently supplement Everyday Math with Dr. Sharma's techniques to promote greater success for all students in the area of mathematics. If we are able to implement these new approaches to the extent that we anticipate, it could dramatically improve student understanding of numeracy and key arithmetic concepts that will not only facilitate their math achievement today, but it will foster significant future success in mathematics learning in the years ahead. Mathematical thinking, understanding, application, and problem-solving will all improve for the betterment of lifelong success and fulfillment both in and outside of their future workplace. Our goal is never to graduate a student who may exclaim the familiar refrain: "I can't do math!" At WHS, all students can and will 'do math' -- well.
C.] Refine Our Response to Intervention (RtI) and Differentiated Instruction (DI) Models --
Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction are, at their core, mechanisms to promote the personalization of learning and creating opportunities for each and every child in our school to enjoy success at many levels (academic, social, experiential) and actualize growth in many worthwhile directions (as a scholar, thinker, citizen, worker, and human being of integrity and worth).
Much work has been done over the past year to move our school toward being a true and legitimate 'Student-Centered School'. It would seem obvious enough: schools exist to meet the learning needs of children, it is all about the kids. Or is it? The questions that we have been asking ourselves time and time again, fall on the line: If we are to truly be a student-centered school, what should learning look like? What should our teachers be doing? What should our students be doing? What materials would we use? How should we structure student learning experiences (instruction)? How should we organize our school, its teams, and its resources? etc., etc. This process of reflection and honest self-assessment has generated provocative discussion and some significant changes to what we do and how we do it here at Woodland Heights School. Some examples of outcomes related to this discussion include: our new student-centered (rather than program-centered) approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics, our commitment to 21st Century ('Next Generation') Learning and all that it entails, the creation of new grade-level teacher teams, the full integration of our school's 'Interventionists' (special education and Title I Reading Teachers) into the grade level teacher teams and relocating their office and teaching space into the grade level pods, a greater focus on enrichment opportunities for all children and a new emphasis on frequent, regular integration of the arts and movement into the everyday learning experiences of our students. Response to Intervention and Differentiated Instruction are formalized approaches/components that will help to facilitate our attainment of this truly student-centered vision for our school community.
D,] Continue Our Commitment and Leadership in the Area of Next Generation Learning (NxGL) --
This aspect of our practice here at Woodland Heights tends to receive the most notoriety but it is, in fact, just one aspect of our highly integrated, overall effort to provide our students with meaningful, relevant, and necessary educational experiences. Through our work in this initiative, the everyday learning experience of our students is punctuated seamlessly by several natural, independent, semi-independent, and/or cooperative opportunities to enhance their learning using '21st Century Learning Tools (computers, iPads, interactive whiteboards, the internet). They will use this technology in ways that are consistent with the manner in which secondary school and adult learners use tools and work as self-directed and/or collaborative partners to act as creative and resourceful creators in a project-based / problem-solving environment. No longer will students be passive recipients of uninspiring, disconnected, irrelevant education. Guided by talented teacher facilitators, they now will be active and dynamic creators of their own learning and their own future. Our students need to interact with the tools and benefit from learning experiences that with prepare them for their future, not our past.
E.] Continue to Strengthen Our Community, Citizenship and Character Development Programs --
Students cannot learn, engage, and participate in school to their fullest potential unless they feel comfortable, safe, respected, valued, and confident in themselves and their abilities. This goal indicates that as a learning community, we understand that we must nurture and work to develop the 'whole child'. Students have much to learn and many skills to develop beyond traditional academics. We want our students to make the right decisions for the right reasons, always being mindful of how their decisions and their behavior effects the quality of life and learning for others in our community. Our work on this goal will result in further developing the culture of Woodland Heights School as one where every child can and will be physically and emotionally safe, and will succeed academically and flourish socially.
As we embark on this ambitious plan for school improvement, we are energized and encouraged by the growth that we have already made in these areas over the past year, and can see clearly how our students and families will benefit from our continued effort and focus on growth in these areas.
If you would like further information on our school's plans for the coming year, or to offer feedback, please contact me at school (603-524-8733) or by email (ddobe@laconia.k12.nh.us) at your convenience.
Ready. Set. Learn!
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