One of my favorite moments in the school day is when I get to spend time eating lunch with our boys and girls. The conversations that we have together are truly the highlight of my day and allows me to get to know more about them other than what I see in our classrooms. I am very thankful for them allowing me to be apart of their lives in this capacity. I am guaranteed that at least once during our lunch time together that they will certainly bring a smile to my face...LOL!
We have great teachers here at Columbia Elementary. Each year, I sit down with our teachers and have conversations about their goals for the school year. Then we revisit these goals as we move throughout the year. This past week I spent a lot of time with our teachers reviewing their goals with them. These goals focused on the academic growth of our students and the professional development of each teacher. In each of these meetings, I was very impressed by the unbelievable passion that each one of these teachers has for our students. They are people that are strongly focused on what is best for our students. They are not only focused on what is best, but they are also open to suggestions on how to improve. I am also impressed that they are willing to try new things even if they may not work out well the first time. There is no other group that I would rather work with to improve the lives of your children. Your children are in great hands!
On Friday, The Ohio Department of Education released their annual State Report Card for all public schools in the state. Before we get to the results listed on this State Report Card about Columbia Elementary, I want to give you a better understanding of these results: Last year, we instituted a number of improvements over the course of the school year: 1) We hired two Reading Specialists to work with struggling readers in February 2014. 2) We created an After School Reading and Math Intervention Program for students in Grades 3-5 in February 2014. 3) With Ariel Foundation's financial support, we implemented an English Language Arts Intervention Program for 25 of our students, called Fast ForWord in January 2014. 4) We focused Mrs. Davenport's efforts on only Math Intervention instead of splitting her efforts on both Reading and Math (starting in February 2014). 5) The District purchased a new Math Program, called Go Math, and the teachers began it's new implementation beginning the 2013-14 school year. As with every new program, it takes time to work out kinks. 6) We hired six new teachers at the beginning of the 2013-14 School Year. All of these programs take time to get results before the tests that occurred in April 2014. I do not believe we have seen the true fruits/results of these new improvements to Columbia's educational package. We are on our way to great results at Columbia Elementary!
Last spring, we started polishing our Academic Schedule of our school day. It is a belief that we need to increase our time on task for our students, and we need to be more intentional with the time that we have during the school day. Increasing and better focusing our students' time on specific tasks will produce better academic results. With these beliefs, our teachers and I created an Academic Schedule that is more organized beginning the 14-15 School Year: We are ensuring that all students get 1 1/2 hours of both Reading and Math during their school day. All special classes (Physical Education, Art, Music, Library, and Technology (new and will be starting the second 9 weeks (bi-weekly)) have 40 minutes of instruction per week. All other tested academic content areas other than Reading and Math have at least 45 minutes of instruction per day. To say the least our goal of excellence is the same, but our work and improvement is far from being completed. We need to continuously improve as a school in order to best serve our students' educational needs.
On our State Report Card, our Ohio Achievement Tests scores from the end of April 2014 indicated that we earned the following achievement results (i.e. one test score on one day): Third Grade Reading 77.8%, Third Grade Math 77.1%, Fourth Grade Reading 86.8 %, Fourth Grade 82.1%, Fifth Grade Reading 60.5%, Fifth Grade Math 67.4%, and Fifth Grade Science 72.1%. We also earned a letter grade of an "A" on our Overall Value Added Data (i.e. the amount of the academic growth that a student makes in one school year). I promise our work towards excellence is not done. We are on our way to great achievements and progressions! We already have the best and the brightest students, great teachers, and a supportive great community. Therefore, I am confident that we will achieve our goal of excellence! "Rome was not built in a day," so watch out for Columbia Elementary! We are excited for the great celebrations that will occur in the future from our great students!
Go Tigers!
Matt
On our State Report Card, our Ohio Achievement Tests scores from the end of April 2014 indicated that we earned the following achievement results (i.e. one test score on one day): Third Grade Reading 77.8%, Third Grade Math 77.1%, Fourth Grade Reading 86.8 %, Fourth Grade 82.1%, Fifth Grade Reading 60.5%, Fifth Grade Math 67.4%, and Fifth Grade Science 72.1%. We also earned a letter grade of an "A" on our Overall Value Added Data (i.e. the amount of the academic growth that a student makes in one school year). I promise our work towards excellence is not done. We are on our way to great achievements and progressions! We already have the best and the brightest students, great teachers, and a supportive great community. Therefore, I am confident that we will achieve our goal of excellence! "Rome was not built in a day," so watch out for Columbia Elementary! We are excited for the great celebrations that will occur in the future from our great students!
Go Tigers!
Matt
Great change is led by great leaders! Thank you Dr. Dill and the entire Columbia team for leading our children to greatness!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the updates! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThank You for the updates!
ReplyDelete