Allen County Primary Center students will see several changes as the school year opens Wednesday, August 6. The highlights include no-charge meals for each of the approximately 1,000 students at the school, minor changes in drop-off and pick up procedures, and an enhanced emphasis on reading.
“We will be starting the no charge breakfast and lunch from day one,” Allen County Primary Center principal Tim Wilson said. “The morning logistics of getting everybody in will be a little different. We will bringing everyone into the gym. Morning meeting starts at 7:25. Afterwards, preschool and kindergarten will eat in the cafeteria. First, second, and third grade will then dismiss from the gym to go through the lines to get a grab-and-go breakfast which they will eat in the classroom. We hope to have everybody in the classroom by the time our day starts at 7:50. So getting everybody through the lines will be a little difficult.”
The no-charge meals can be provided through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision Program. Every student is eligible to participate in the no charge meals.
A second change involves the school’s drop-off and pick-up procedures. Parents dropping students off in the morning---after doors open at 6:50---will see a slight change.
“We will not be opening car doors this year,” Wilson added. “The staff will be on the sidewalk but they will not be opening car doors. If a student can’t open the car door on their own, the parent will have to get out and open the car door.”
The after school pick-up routine will be modified as a safety procedure.
“We will be getting car tags for any student that will be a pick-up,” Wilson explained. “The name of the student will be written on the car tag. If a car does not have a car tag, the driver will have to pull into a parking space and come in and sign the student out. This is a safety issue to make sure we match the correct person with the car. This tag will be something you can hang on your rear view mirror. It’s a more secure procedure and we will make sure our staff follows this procedure. Every child that is a pick-up will receive two tags.”
As for the school day, the Primary Center has made a few minor changes in the academic day.
“We have increased our related arts time by 10 minutes,” Wilson explained. “We have also done the schedule so that all students have related arts---music, Physical Education, library, and art---for the same amount of time. We miss more Monday’s than other days so we have done a schedule so that students who have related arts on Monday’s will get the same amount of related art time as the other students. We have also redone in our schedule our response to intervention---a time that is set forth making sure that we are helping students who are struggling in reading and math.”
Not only will students who struggle in reading and math have more time for individualized work, all students will see a greater emphasis on the Accelerated Reader (AR) program.
“In September we will make a change in our Accelerated Reader program,” Wilson added. “We have increased the amount of AR quizzes we have. The AR program will be more intensive. We will have a set-aside time every day for Accelerated Reading, every classroom from kindergarten through third grade. Students will then take quizzes. Research shows that one way to improve reading skills is to read so we are given students time to read and work on that. This is not replacing reading instruction but giving students a little more time to read.”
Like all schools, the Primary Center’s teachers will be evaluated under the new statewide Professional Growth Evaluation System. Wilson notes that the implementation will be somewhat challenging for the school and reminds parents that students will be asked to help in the process.
“The new teacher evaluation system will be a challenge mainly due to our size,” Wilson said. “We have about 70 certified teachers in the building and all will be a part of the evaluation system. It’s a good system with many components including peer evaluations and a student voice survey. Parents will receive a note telling them that the student will be given an opportunity to survey the teacher and let the teacher know how they are doing. Their also a self-reflection component for teachers and a student-growth plan for teachers. This is something we are jumping in together.”
Positives from last year will also continue. In partnership with the local faith-based community, the Points of Light volunteer and mentoring program was established last fall---a program in which volunteers come into classrooms to read with or spend time with students each week. Wilson is quick to point out this will continue and adds that he hopes more volunteers and parents will be involved.
“Our Points of Light volunteer and mentor program was very positive last year,” Wilson said. “We will continue to work to find a place for volunteers and parents. One key way for parents to always be involved is to talk with their child about what they did in reading, about what they did with math, and about all the things going on at school. But the biggest thing parents can do is read with their child.”
The second-year principal also points out that two teachers have switched grade levels while three new teachers will be in the building.
“Valarie Powell has gone from teaching second grade to teaching first grade and Mary Mihok has gone from teaching kindergarten to teaching third grade,” Wilson said. “We have hired Brittany Rector to teach second grade. We have also hired Karen Stinson as a kindergarten teacher. We have added a new ECE teacher---Cheryl Rough.”
This year’s pre-school activities will start on Thursday, July 31 with a Kindergarten Open House from 5 until 7 p.m. at the school. The Open House will be a come-and-go event---a change from the Camp Stepping Stone program of recent years.
“About three-fourth of our students have been here because of preschool,” Wilson noted. “We felt like an orientation was more of what we needed. It will be more of a meet-and-greet with our teachers. For kids who have not been here, they can tour the school and get to know about the school.”
Open House for preschool, first, second, and third graders will be Monday, August 4 from 4 until 6 p.m. with first day of school on Wednesday. The school will also have a Boo-Hoo Breakfast for kindergarten students and their parents on Wednesday morning, August 6, from 8:15 until 8:45----prior to the students starting their first day of school.