We at Orchard Hill Elementary continue to be excited about the 2012-13 school year. We are growing - we guess to be up about 30 students this year - what a nice problem to have! We continue to be a Leader in Me building and using 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Even our new staff will be trained annually. We have been fully implementing these principles with our students in becoming a Leader in Me building. We will begin 2nd year training this year. Ask your children as we begin our year - I am sure they will be eager to teach you as well!
We continue 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. 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 increases 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 inconveniences 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
A community empowering each other to learn at high levels, 
