Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elementary Education Performance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Glenham Elementary principal outlines academic gains, math-fact focus and rising extracurricular participation
Summary
Principal Cassandra Orser described literacy, new science curriculum, intervention strategies, a push on third-grade math-fact fluency and robust extracurricular participation during a Jan. 27 presentation to the Beacon board.
Principal Cassandra Orser told the Beacon City School District Board of Education on Jan. 27 that Glenham Elementary has rolled out the district’s HMH literacy curriculum, expanded Science21 to younger grades and adopted focused interventions to address gaps in math fact fluency.
Orser said the school is using the district’s new HMH literacy materials alongside foundations instruction in pre-K through second grade, and that Science21 has been extended to kindergarten and first grade. She described classroom interventions, tiered AIS supports and a rotating four-week meeting schedule that allows multidisciplinary teams to review about 109 students’ progress without pulling teachers out of core instruction.
“The tier 1 students are currently being progress monitored,” Orser said, describing classroom-level monitoring for students not receiving AIS interventions. On math interventions, Orser said the school added a full-time AIS math teacher, which let them reduce group sizes to five or six and increase math teacher assistance pushed into classrooms.
Orser presented a specific fluency goal for third grade: “The goal specifically is that by June, 80% of 3rd grade students will achieve benchmark on their timed math facts assessment.” She said fall baseline fluency was 57% and that teachers were using Reflex Math and daily practice to drive improvement.
Orser also outlined enrichment and social‑emotional programs: a STEAM fair scheduled for March 27; Mad Science and NED Show assemblies; a sensory room and zones-of-regulation practices; and 19 fall clubs serving 373 students. She highlighted community and service activities, including a cereal-box collection that yielded 255 donations to local pantries and an annual garden project in partnership with Land to Learn.
On staff development, Orser said two teachers were enrolled in LETRS training and several staff had signed up for a PULSE micro-credential. She noted that the school has instituted a “sensory time” in physical education and that peer ‘buddies’ from older grades help pre-K students.
Board members praised the presentation during the meeting’s committee-report portion, and asked few substantive questions. Orser said many practices were part of a districtwide implementation and that Glenham’s approaches were aligned with other elementary buildings.
