We’re in the final stretch before the end of the school year. The students are currently bogged down with standardized testing. Most of the students are handling the pressure pretty well, but it is always a stressful time for students and teachers. We are definitely in the home stretch of the school year at this point.
With the end of the school year coming, I am now starting to plan for our summer programs. We will continue to be open during the afternoon for pre-scheduled tutoring; a sort of “Summer Maintenance” program where we will help to maintain the knowledge the students have been learning. The other program we will be running is called “Step Up”. This is for students in kindergarten and first grades that are working below grade level (also possibly second grade as well). This program will work to build the skills that these students are missing and help to bring them to a functioning level in the classroom.
While walking home on Thursday, I ran into the principal of the school. We had a great conversation about the summer programs I will be running, and also about potential volunteer work I can do next school year during the school day (possible some sort of pull out program for those students that are struggling). Sometimes introducing new ideas to the principal can be difficult because she has too much on her mind, with so much to do in running a large school. This “run-in” allowed us to discuss ways that LIST can be of assistance to the school in a greater capacity; for instance, one fact she mentioned was that the district would not be providing summer school for kindergarten through second grades – thus, my summer program would be perfect in this gap. She and I have to nail down the details, but we will get in contact with those interested families and direct them to LIST instead of a district program! The short 10-15 minute meeting was very helpful to both the principal and myself, and I am really looking forward to what LIST can do during the summer.
