March 6, 2021
Dear District 2 and District 157 Families,
The Joint District Stakeholders Committee held its most recent virtual meeting on Wednesday, March 3 from 7 PM to 9 PM. The Committee agenda for that meeting was to:
Review i-Ready Winter Diagnostic results
Evaluate i-Ready results
Discuss possible next steps for learning recovery
Review student responses from the student survey (administered the week of Feb. 8)
Topic #1: Address Learning Loss
During the month of February, Committee members shared multiple ideas on how to address learning loss. These ideas were prioritized based on a set of criteria ranging from the immediacy to support students, to the frequency of the idea and possible expenses.
Outcomes:
The main ideas that the team reviewed were a Learning Recovery Summer Boot Camp and ways to support parents when working with their students.
The Summer Boot Camp will be designed to support student skill recovery in reading, math or both. The Camp will have three sessions, all during morning hours, to support choice. Students will be identified through i-Ready data, student performance data and teacher input. This project is still being planned and coordinated.
In addition to planning the summer camp, principals shared interventions that are currently being implemented. These interventions include:
small group to individual sessions
after school homework help
assigned leveled readings in i-Ready
school wide number identification strategies and reading recovery steps
The ideas on how to support parents when working with their students were to reestablish a “Parent University” along with sending out simple academic (reading, numeracy or game) suggestions for parents to do at home.
Next steps:
Continue to coordinate Summer Boot Camp and formalize approach to “Parent University”, with a more conclusive picture of the program details to be shared in April and May.
Topic #2: Review student survey to inform Social/Emotional Learning approach
The Committee also reviewed and discussed the results of the recent student survey focused on dimensions of social and emotional learning elements (e.g., self-esteem, classroom management, etc.).
Outcomes:
The Committee saw that students at all grade levels provided similar responses in areas of agreement (strengths) and disagreement (areas needing attention). Students in all four schools reported that they feel positive about self-awareness and social awareness. Areas needing attention include responsible decision making and self-management.
Next steps:
A summary of the survey results will be shared with the community in April. Evaluation of SEL programs are taking place within the next month to help determine which program is most effective for District needs.
A note on Committee representation:
District 2 and District 157 is proud of the members of the Committee. We have 8 student members from Nippersink Middle School and Richmond-Burton HS. In addition, the following table identifies the adult members on the Committee. Each person on this team has committed hours of personal time to better understand learning and SEL programming. They have provided a variety of ideas to consider when planning student academic and emotional support. Their collaboration in this project is greatly appreciated.
Parents | Board Members | Support Staff | Teachers | Administration |
Amanda McClellan | Marcy Garrison, D2 | Ellen Kneller | Lisa Tate | Dr. Tom Lind, Superintendent |
Dawn Weinfurther | Jennifer Read, D157 | Jessica Bis | Stacy Peterson | Belinda Veillon, Director of PD and Grants |
Donna Saranzak | Elke Kleisch, D2 | Bob Sly | Stephanie Oslovich | Dr. Jackie Miller, Director of Special Ed |
Mary Shufelt | Tracy Highley, D157 | Kaycee Kaywood | Mike Baird, Principal, R-B | |
Abi Quentral-Quezada | Chris McBride | Tim Molitor, Principal, NMS | ||
Alie Stansbury | Colleen Koscielniak | Lisa Kuhl, Principal, RGS | ||
Christina Caruso | Chris Pittman, Principal, SGE | |||
Nancy Bowerman | Dr. Patrick Enright, Assistant Superintendent | |||
Dani McCallister | ||||
Ron and Sara Nagel |
The next meeting is April 14th. The Committee will continue to review ideas on learning recovery along with action steps to address learning recovery and social-emotional learning.
Sincerely,
Patrick Enright, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent