As has been the case for years now in Laconia, the paradigm of teachers 'having the summer off' is a vestige of the distant past.
Our teachers are almost as busy during the summer as they are during the schol year -- really! How could this be so? Although many are not teaching children during the steamy weeks of July and August, many are. Here are some of the programs that call our educators in to school to service children:
Extended School Year Program (ESY) -- This program exists to support students with identified learning needs to help assure that 'regression' does not occur (we aim to help students maintain the academic gains made over the school year, rather than let them slip away over the steamy weeks of summer).
Project Extra Summer Stretch -- This learning opportunity is extended to students who would benefit from additional support over the summer to help shore up their basic academic skills in a fun and engagin way. This program helps students be in a stronger place, academically, when they enter the new school year than when they left school the previous June.
Project Extra Summer Camp -- This fun-filled summer learning opportunity promotes the further development of social and other skills in a safe, supervised setting over the course of the summer. The emphasis of this program is on healthy recreational activities, good sportmanship, and building relationships across our community.
Kindergarten Camp -- It is through Kindergarten Camp that we offer students entering our kindergarten program a transitional learning opportunity. The kids get to come into our kindergarten classrooms for two weeks in August to work with kindergarten program staff and get a head start on their first year at WHS. Familiarizing students with life as a student in a public school, focusing on social growth and learning school routines is the primary goal of this program.
Renzulli Learning -- This technology-based enrichment opportunity is made available to advanced learners in our intermediate grades. It is housed at Laconia Middle School, and is an extension of the Project Extra enrichment programs offered in that building for middle school students.
Additionally, it is during the weeks of summer that much of our professional development (teacher training) and curriculum and program development occurs. the summer is true 'quality time' for teachers to come together and improve our school program and their own professional expertise.
Here are some of the professional development opportunities that our teachers are pursuing this summer:
College Coursework -- Many of our staff members take advantage of the summer months to take college or university courses (on campus and/or online) to further their command of their material, or broaden their perspectives of their role as public school educators. Much of this is degree-track coursework, and will ultimately result in the attainment of a professional degree (such as a Master of Education degree), or a new professional certification through the NH Department of Education (in areas such as Special Education, School Administration and Leadership, School Counselling, etc.).
Laconia Summer Institutes -- Each summer the educators of the Laconia School District have opportunities to attend professional development institutes that are organized by Laconia Administrators. A sampling of such institutes includes: Mahesh Sharma Mathematics Interventions (specific techniques to help strengthen student math ability), Mahesh Sharma Curriculum Course (staff will learn how to make mathematics program improvements to promote high levels of success for our students in mathematics), Reading Comprehension Instruction (staff will learn/reinforce the instructional techniques that are considered 'best practice' for the teaching of reading in elementary schools), Writing Workshop Instruction (staff will learn/reinforce the instructional techniques that are considered 'best practice' for the teaching of writing in elementary schools), and NWEA Measures of Academic Progress Data Analysis (staff will learn how to analyze NWEA assessment results, and use that information to improve learning in their classrooms).
Conferences and Workshops -- WHS Staff members also attend a variety of independent or team-based professional development activities away from our schools site. Some of these conferences include: RTI&I Leadership Institute (our team learned how to better lead the further develpment of our school's 'Response to Intervention and Instruction' program), ISTE (our team learn cutting edge techniques for integrating educational technology and 21st Century skill development into the everyday learning experience of our students), ASCD-Boston (a team attended a workshop on RtII & Differentiated Instruction and the common ground betwen these two approaches to meeting student learning needs), and the LRCIA Technology Institute (many Laconia teachers will work together to learn best practices for technology integration in our schools).
Team and School Based Initiatives -- This summer work for staff includes such opportunities as: School Summits (staff members come together to work on a specific issue or initiative -- i.e., School Climate, Grant Writing), Team Planning (grade level teachers come together to discuss, develop, and coordinate program for the coming year -- what they will do to meet curriculum standards in each subject area, with what materials, and using which instructional techniques), and Individual Classroom Community Set-Up -- teachers spend an exhaustive number of hours setting up their classroom community spaces to make them safe, inviting, developmentally appropriate, engaging, and conducive to high quality teaching and learning).
As you can see, at WHS the learning never stops, for kids or adults. We are a learning community dedicated to meeting the academic and social needs of our students, and the professional development needs of our staff. Our need for teaching and learning never ends; and niether do the broad opportunities for learning at Woodland Heights School.
