Read-a-Thon Celebration
In January, elementary schools across the District organized read-a-thon events in collaboration with their PTOs. “The goal is to get students to develop a passion…
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New Fountas & Pinnell Reading Benchmarks
What is the benchmarking assessment that my child takes? Fountas & Pinnell have developed a Benchmarking Assessment System (BAS) in order to help teachers determine what reading skills your child has mastered and which she/he still needs to learn. In Ames, all K-5 students read aloud all or portions of a text and then engage in a comprehension conversation with the teacher to allow the teacher to better understand how to help the student in a variety of areas, including reading with accuracy and expression, and understanding the meaning of the text. This assessment is administered to all students twice per year. Fountas & Pinnell have created a 3rd edition of the benchmarking materials which include revised rubrics, texts, teacher prompts, and online capabilities. ACSD purchased this 3rd edition for all elementary buildings as these improvements will allow teachers to more clearly target instruction with each student. Your child’s level may be lower than in the past as the 3rd edition materials are much more rigorous. This drop in levels has been predicted by the publisher and does not indicate that your child’s skills in reading have decreased.
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Meeker Elementary Buddy Bench
Last year, a group of 5th graders at Meeker Elementary worked with the middle school builders club on a project to make their…
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Old Edwards Cornerstone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvSPToGp_0c The original Edwards Elementary was built in 1951 and the Board of Education honored the work of David Edwards by naming the “new Fourth Ward school” after him. Edwards was the owner and operator of the Edwards Coal company in Ames and was an influential member of the school board for 18 straight years. During that time, he saw a number of building projects completed, including the construction of Louise Crawford School, the reconstruction of what was the Central Junior High, as well as the Senior High School. He passed away on January 25, 1948. In 2012, when the Ames community approved a bond measure to rebuild or renovate all of the elementary school buildings, the fate of the old Edwards building was sealed. Unlike other school properties such as Meeker Elementary where a new structure could be built on the same site, there simply was no room on the Edwards property. The Ames Community School District took the opportunity to build a new elementary school in a growing part of town. History has interesting ways of making itself present. After Edwards Elementary was built in 1951, Meeker Elementary was finished the next year in 1952. Both buildings were done by the same architect and have a similar floorplan. Six decades later, both buildings are new again and followed a similar pattern. The new Edwards Elementary was completed in 2014 with the new Meeker Elementary finished in 2015. They were done by the same architecture firm, and also have a similar floorplan.
Read moreLinks to video presentations from pilot materials representatives
Thanks to everyone who came to view our video presentations from the representatives for each of our K-2 foundational skills materials pilot programs. For those…
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District seeks proposals for school-based mental health services
The District is seeking proposals in order to provide access to a full array of mental health services to students in each of its five elementary schools…
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Give feedback on Literacy Pilot materials
Materials on display through March 27 Now is your chance to peruse teacher and student resources and hands-on learning accessories for the three sets of…
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Fifth graders will display inventiveness at annual Invention Convention
This photo of a boy showing his science project is from the 2015 Invention Convention. Fifth grade inventors in the Ames Community School…
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