Minor Adjustments for 2008-2009
May 13, 2008
Cedar Canyon added a full section of kindergarten students this year. Next year will include a full section of kindergarten, first and second grade, combined classes for third/fourth and fifth/sixth. A committee is currently reviewing possible options to most effectively utilize Cedar Canyon.
This year we also made a significant change to a seventh and eighth grade junior high and a freshman academy. This change has allowed our ninth graders to see themselves as high school freshman. This helps them get off on the right foot in the first year of high school, critical to their future high school success. Our staff and administration are making a few adjustments for next year. Overall, we are very pleased with the operation of the freshman academy. Likewise the seventh and eighth grade junior high has work very well with the development of teams of teachers and organizing the students in to three groups. We are reviewing some possible changes regarding how students are grouped. As always, we are reviewing better utilization of staff with some minor schedule adjustments. Most changes require a few minor adjustments to improve. I continue to hear positive comments about these changes from students, parents and staff.
We implemented a new K-6 math program which will also require some minor adjustments to make sure we are properly monitoring student progress and maintaining consistent pacing throughout our four elementary schools. Obviously, each year we improve as we become more familiar with the program.
Ultimately we are focused on improving all student performance. We are providing a foundation second to none for all our elementary students. We have a much larger percentage of students leaving our elementary schools at or above grade level, enabling a higher percentage of students to be successful in challenging courses in junior high and high school. Our staff is working to make curriculum plans that will continue to provide our students with experience allowing them to reach even higher levels of student performance.
Meeting our vision, “All Gering Public Schools students will maximize their individual potential.”, allows our graduates to successfully compete with graduates state, nation and worldwide.
