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Show Page A6 Che Ttmig-ttfrepenfrc- Thursday, July 15, 2004 nt Grand County School District by Sherrie L. Buckingham, Principal, Red Rock Elementary schedule changes . . . explains Principal Some parents have raised concerns thematic content presented in the classroom re- garding the change in dismissal time for first school year. I graders during the 2004-200- 5 would like to provide them with some background and understanding about the schedule change and the reasoning behind our decision. A bit of background information: Around 1987, the decision was made to bus all elementary students home at the same time. This allowed for two rather that three bus runs per day. Declining enrollment forced the district to save funds by closing HMK and transporting all students home at one time. Prior to this decision first graders had dismissed an hour earlier than the older students. There seems to a misperception in the community that the decision to revise the first grade schedule was based on financial savings for the district. In fact, because we are still operating two bus runs rather than three, the decision to dismiss first graders with kindergartners, at 2:15, rather than 3:15, does not impact transportation costs to the district either way. State law requires that students attend 810 hours of school during their first grade year. The state requirement for grades two through twelve is 990 hours per year. Our current situation: Legislative changes during the past four years have set forth expectations that require sweeping educational changes by schools throughout the state. At Red Rock we are working on making a systemic change that will improve the quality of instruction and expand learning for kids. On the surface it would appear that less time spent at school would equal less learning. In fact, it is the astute use of school time, rather than the amount spent, that equals more learning. Therefore the current challenges in education require us to make some tough choices regarding our use of time. Although the Specials program at Red Rock is valuable for students and the Specials staff is dedicated and hard working, there is little connection between the content taught in Specials and the concepts learned in the classroom. Why? Adequate time has not been available for collaboration between Specials staff and classroom teachers. First grade students will still attend Specials classes in the new schedule configuration, but for an hour and a half per week rather than one hour every day. Since teacher planning time has been built into the schedule at the end of the day, they are now able to attend Specials sessions with their students and collaborate directly with Specials staff. Research consistently demonstrates that teacher learning and collaboration boosts student learning. Right now kindergarten and first grade teachers are engaged in extensive professional development. Our teachers need time to plan, and even more importantly, collaborate on ways to implement the knowledge they are gaining. The new schedule allows for this. The schedule also allows for integration of literacy and to happen throughout the day, including during computer, library, and even PE sessions. t The goal is to help students directly what they are learning in the classroom to the skills they are acquiring during their computer or library time. A direct connection between instruction in the classroom and Specials expands, not reduces, instructional impact for our students. Research also shows us that the first two years of school attendance are critical in terms of acquiring the necessary literacy skills for future school success. It is critical, then, that we are very strategic in how we meter out our time for these students. This is why the schedule has been reconfigured for the kindergarten and first graders only and not all grades. coiv-nec- understand that the new schedule a hardship for some families create may who will need to provide additional day care for their first graders. The school I would like to be in a position to provide an additional hour of campus time in order to help families cope with this responsibility. However, as I previously mentioned, the. current challenges in education require us to make tough choices regarding our use of time. In the effort we are making at Red Rock toward whole school improvement, the focus of school time must be on honed instruction for learning progress. This is the existing reality for our rural district in the face of current legislative requirements for student achievement. I am also aware that some parents have felt that they were not allowed sufficient input and information regarding the schedule change. The funding for full day kindergarten came from a new legislation passed this spring (Senate Bill 230). By the time the requirements to receive this funding were made clear to us it was very late in the year. Understanding what a significant systemic change to Red Rock full day kindergarten would mean, we knew that we must have our planning in order and a decision made before June. This was the reason that a campaign was not launched for parent input, or to inform parents of the research base behind the decision to change the first grade schedule. There simply was no time before our plan was due to the state in order to receive the funding, The decision to adjust the schedule at Red Rock is based upon the goal of improving student progress and a need for the systemic changes that allow for this to happen. Like money, if time is managed astutely, more can be gained from it. Large quantities of money dont necessarily need to be expended in order to end up with something of significant value in the long run. A decision made to not spend four hundred dollars today may well produce twelve hundred dollars if that money is managed strategically. It is our belief that a more strategic expenditure of time will allow us to produce a higher quality educational experience for students in the long run. BARRISTER BOOKCASE x 28-3- 4 13 x 60-1- Light Woodland oak finish storage shelves with safety tempered glass doors which flip up & slide back Ready to assemble 26 2 4 4819710 Jf Whittier Wood Products Beautiful Pine Furniture . 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