School Board Report for OTES
February 2019
Fundations Adopted for K-1 Classrooms in the 2019-2020 School Year
Over the past two years OTES has been piloting a program called Fundations in our Kindergarten and First Grade Classrooms. We have noticed many our students are coming into our school with limited sound/letter system and we started to investigate regular education programs that would promote and reinforce the development of sound literacy skills for all learners. Students in our K-1 classrooms will receive systematic lessons to develop foundation skills for a life-long love of reading. Fundations introduces foundational skills emphasizing phonemic awareness, phonics/word study, high-frequency work study, reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension strategies, handwriting, and spelling. All students will receive the Fundations program as part of their regular literacy programming. We will use the assessment data from this program to determine whether they need additional support as the year progresses.
As we reflect on the progress of our students involved in the pilot program, we are seeing amazing results and progress. Of the students in our 2017-2018 Kindergarten pilot, only one student has qualified for the intensive Reading Recovery services this year.
Vision of the Learner Committees
At the beginning of the school year, we were asked to develop committees to review our status as an Elementary School in terms of accreditation. Each staff member was asked to serve on a committee to review the foundational goals that impact each of the accreditation elements. Each committee met three times to investigate, review, and provide evidence that supported our progress at OTES in this process. The committees presented their findings at our February staff meeting and gave input about next steps. Committee leaders will be gathering after February Vacation to sift through the information presented at the staff meeting and to develop some areas to consider as goals in our 2019-2020 school year. This process has allowed our school to celebrate our strengths, but also examine places we can improve and grow. We know the final report and outcome will result in better student programming.
WinterKids Completed
Well, we have completed our second year of the WinterKid Challenge. As it stands now, we finished 5th overall in the STATE of MAINE. We compiled 37 of the 40 points required by the Winter Kids Challenge. We were so impressed with our staff, students, and parents. The weather was our biggest challenge, but we were able to make some changes to our final event and provide a carnival inside our gym. Our PE teacher really pulled together some great activities to keep kids engaged and excited about our experience at active learners. We also were helped by our DOG DADs and the snowmobiles on the playground were a big hit with our students.
Upcoming Events at OTES
March 2: The Resource Center will be open to our families from 2:30 to 4 pm
March 4-8: Summative Reviews for 1st year teachers
March 6: PTC meeting, Officer King will our guest speaker
March 7: Story Hour at OTES for our Kindergarten Students
March 8: Inservice Day in RSU 34
March 12: Literacy Leadership Team