by Cindy Plantecoste, MS Dean of Academics
Recently MS and ES teachers have been visiting each others’ classes to see what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like during a day in the life of an ES student in grade 5 or MS student in grade 6. We’ve encouraged these cross-divisional visitations, supported by a ‘look for’ protocol, so that as teaching teams in ES and MS, we can have a better understanding of where the kids are coming from in ES, and where they are headed in MS. Our hope is to identify areas where there may be gaps in expectations related to student independence, for example, so that we can be proactive in putting measures into place that will provide the scaffolds, supports, or training for a better transition between ES and MS. Later this year, teachers will also be looking at student work samples between the two schools to ensure that we have tight alignment of our assessment expectations as students move from ES into MS.
We’re excited about this on-going process and the benefits it will provide to our students!