Elementary Reading: FUNdations and Reading Units of Study
After an extensive review process including feedback and input from staff, students, and community members, Ames CSD purchased the research-based Reading Units of Study for all EK-5th grade classrooms. Reading Units of Study utilizes a reading workshop model where students spend significant time reading books of their choice and writing about those books. Students also learn with teachers in one on one conferences as well as in small group instructional teams. Finally, collaborative and sharing opportunities are built into the reading workshop.
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Temporary Relocation of Shot Put and Discus Field to Fellows Elementary
With construction now underway for the new Ames High School, and in preparation for next year's track & field season, a temporary shot put and discus field will be constructed at Fellows Elementary School. Phase 1 of construction for the new building is taking place south of Ames High Drive over top of what was the Ames High practice fields. With limited space on the Ames High campus due to the construction, Fellows was chosen as the location of the temporary shot put and discus field based on proximity to the high school and its available flat space. This last variable limits the cost of the project knowing that a permanent shot put and discus field will be located at Ames High once the current building is decommissioned and demolished during Phase 5 of construction.
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Enrich, Empower, Excel Summer School
Summer programming looked a little different this year but provided many of the great courses that families were accustomed to. Two programs within the district (ELP Super Summer and ALP summer school) and two community partners (YSS and United Way of Story County) joined together to create the Enrich, Empower, Excel summer program. Dr. Anthony Jones, Director of Equity and administrator in charge of the summer program said, “The reasons the programs joined together were to ensure all students have equal access to rich learning opportunities and to enhance the academic enrichment provided to all students.”
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Creating an Art Studio at Meeker Elementary w/ Michelle Mathias
Michelle Mathias runs her art classroom at Meeker Elementary like an art studio; full of student-choice with the ability to simply create. This means that students come to art class and get to make and create whatever they envision and desire from a number of centers, called “studios,” that are open that day. To begin the year, studios are rolled out individually starting with drawing. Each studio sets high expectations for cleanliness and safe use of tools, and provides best practice techniques and ideas. More studios are opened following the same pattern as the first and eventually students have an opportunity to work in painting, collage, paper sculpture, modeling clay, printmaking, and sewing and weaving studios, among others. “With the opportunity to use and choose from so many of the studios, students are given the choice to create almost anything. With this freedom of choice comes great responsibility and freedom,” said Mathias.
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Collaborative Proactive Solutions
If a student is having difficulties in the area of math, no teacher would ever attribute that to the student not wanting to understand the subject. They would simply need additional resources to help them learn the concepts and to practice it. Principal Steve Flynn and his staff at Meeker Elementary are applying that principle to behavior as well based on the book Lost and Found: Helping Behaviorally Challenging Students (and, While You're At It, All the Others) by Ross W. Greene. “It really is a paradigm shift to how we address behavior within our school. It goes away from the traditional notion that students will do well if they want to do well, and instead suggests that students will do well if they can,” says Flynn. Last year, Flynn saw that traditional discipline was having a limited impact on students because they were being punished without a gameplan on how to equip students to manage their behavior. “We often assume that behavior is a student choice, so we think we need to come up with a bigger punishment.” Without educating students, the behavior and frustration only continues.
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Affirmation Stones at Meeker Elementary
Students and families at Meeker Elementary recently had an opportunity to write empowering words on pre-painted rocks during their open house event. In total, about 150 affirmation stones were created that students could either take home as a personal reminder, or hide them around Ames. “I was looking to increase interaction with students and their families during Open House -- meet more parents, introduce myself and put faces to names, initiate positive relationships,” said Meeker Elementary School Counselor Kari Deal. Anyone who found a stone around Ames was encouraged to post a photo to Meeker’s Facebook page. Deal felt like this activity would also encourage interaction on our social media space.
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Elementary School Arrival/Dismissal Times
Starting this school year, we are adjusting arrival and dismissal services at all of our elementary schools. Safety and security are of…
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Super Summer Program
The ACSD Super Summer Program is a two-week summer school for students who are entering 1st-8th grades, who want to take interest oriented classes to further their passion in those areas. This year, Super Summer offered 30 different courses not accessible in the regular school curriculum to give students an opportunity to study a subject in-depth. Extended Learning Program Director Nicole Kuhns, said, “The goal is really just to provide classes to stretch our students' minds during the summer break.” Super Summer has been around in some form for over 25 years. This year, over 250 students registered for classes that included a variety of topics. Kuhns said, “We saw many teachers proposing new classes and reinventing old classes. There was literally something for everyone from students interested in STEM, art, performance, sports, business, and crafting. Many teachers focused on bringing a cultural lens into their classes and helping students learn more about the way others live. Our students left excited each day about all they had learned, which is really all we could ask for!”
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Meeker Little Cyclone Captains
Students at Meeker Elementary are using some of their free time to make an impact on the culture of their school through the building’s new Little Cyclone Captains initiative. The student leadership program provides students with opportunities throughout the day to have a positive platform to lead and be a captain for kindness. Each day, captains serve as greeters (who are called “morning sprinkles”) at the front door to provide a welcoming smile as students enter. Captains also take time during their day to write kind notes to other students. They often come in during their recess time, pick from a pile of student names from across all grade levels, and write notes of encouragement or inspiration. These notes are then placed in the student’s cubbies by School and Family Counselor Kari Deal to serve as a pleasant surprise. She has noticed that many notes remain in their cubbies for weeks at a time.
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Ames Community Gives Free Bike Helmets to Every Third Grader
For the third year, members of the Healthiest Ames Board of Directors, in collaboration with other community partners, spent a morning at each Ames…
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