Our Bobcat Block time (1:40 PM to 2:10 PM) is a part of the day that students are provided targeted support based on their academic needs. Our Bobcat Block interventions and supports have really started to show academic improvement for students. We want to give a special thanks to Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Maldonado, and Mrs. Weyman for organizing the spelling and math lessons. Thank you to all the encore teachers who filled in at a moment's notice and helped cover classes. Our Bobcat Block success was a team effort, and so many of our students succeeded!
2nd Quarter Results:
We began the school year with 164 students identified as phonetic spellers based on the Developmental Word Knowledge Inventory. We had 79 students advance to the transitional level and beyond! 306 students were identified as transitional spellers. Out of that group, 75 students moved up to the fluent or advanced stage! Again, these are great results for the first quarter we implemented this school-wide support for our students. Our work with the students shows in our academic achievement.
3rd Quarter Focus:
As we return from Winter Break, we will make several adjustments to student placement. We have a short week when we return, so that students will stay in their homerooms during our first week back from Winter Break. We will continue focusing on the 85 students who need continued support to advance out of the phonetic stage and the 264 students in the transitional phase. The remaining 500 students will move on to receiving help in mathematics with a focus on number sense routines.
Additionally, Bobcat Block groups will take place Monday-Thursday. On Fridays, students will stay in their homeroom classes to conduct class meetings, complete missing assignments, set goals for upcoming weeks, or receive additional support that the homeroom teachers have identified.
Students considered Chronically Absent will have weekly campus meetings with an administrator or another staff member on Fridays. The Chronically Absent meetings are a new approach that we are taking. It will be similar to the first Chronically Absent meetings that Mr. Sanderson and I hosted for students a couple of weeks ago.
4th Quarter Focus:
Based on the results from the third quarter, we will make adjustments. However, we will begin focusing on 5th-grade science support as we work to prepare our students for the 5th-grade SOL and provide additional time. I'm currently collaborating with Leslie Jones, the division science content specialist, to develop a lesson that can be taught during a 20 to 25-minute time frame and review key concepts that students need to understand from the 4th and 5th grades.
