New Initiatives

• Town Meetings: Each month, we gather as a school to share what we are doing in each classroom. We also introduce a new word for students to work on, such as perseverance, compassion, politeness and courage. Students are nominated for awards each month based on how well they demonstrated the qualities we are focusing on.

• Accelerated Reader Program: Students earn points towards their individual goals by reading books and taking online quizzes. After each 6 week goal, students who achieve their point goal are rewarded. We have seen a surge in independent reading and an increase in reading comprehension skills.
  

• Study Island: This web-based program allows students to practice math and language arts MCAS questions from their home computers. Last year, our students correctly answered over 200,000 Study Island questions.
  
  
• School-Wide Social Skills System: In a school of our size, consistency in behavior and expectations is paramount. Our teachers have agreed upon and are implementing a multi-part social skills system for our students, pre-k to fifth grade. The elements include:

• Communication: Our newly redesigned website provides families with up-to-date information about events and online resources they can use. Each week, we also send out a newsletter to families telling them what is happening at the school and upcoming events.
  
  
• Professional Development for Staff: We recognize that just as our students need to focus on their learning, so do we. In the last two years, we have hosted workshops by Collins Writing, Wilson Reading, the HILL Institute (DIBELS reading), Handwriting without Tears, Teachers 21 for Mathematics, and Salem State Collaborative. This year, we will also be offering workshops for families on dealing with anxiety and difficult behaviors in children.