We at Orchard Hill Elementary continue to be excited about the 2011-12 school year. We have trained our staff in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Even our new staff were trained in October. We have been fully implementing these principles with our students in becoming a Leader in Me building. Although we started working on this last year, we are now in full implementation. Ask your children as we begin our year - I am sure they will be eager to teach you as well!
We are also starting implementation of Professional Learning Communities. Early dismissal is part of this. We are dismissing at 1:30 on Wednesdays this school year. Junior High and High School begin 90 minutes later on Tuesdays to accomplish the same task. Professional Learning Communities (or PLCS for short) are what Cedar Falls Schools is all about this year. It is a PK - 12 initiative. We will begin to look at our curriculum more in depth to make sure we are covering the essentials. We will look at common formative assessments, so we assess students continually to see where their needs are to drive our instruction. We are excited about this because the schools that implement with fidelity see increase in student achievement, especially in closing gaps with IEP students and those of poverty. Leader in Me sees these same results. Although we know that getting out earlier provides some incoveniences for families, please know that in the end, this will help the teaching and learning that occurs in Cedar Falls Schools. We will keep you updated on our progress!
We always welcome visitors. Please check in at the office before going to a classroom. If you are visiting your child's classroom, please make arrangements ahead of time and keep the visits limited so as to not disturb the learning climate in the room.
Sincerely,
Kim Cross - principal
