2014-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Coombs School continues work on the identification of learning and behavioral problems, Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) improved instructional quality, provides all students program reinforcing Cocoa's Fab Four rules—Safety, with the best opportunities to succeed in school, and Respect, Responsibility and Ready to Learn while assists with the identification of learning and other dovetailing these rules with our Second Step behavior disabilities. program. To facilitate consistency between home and school, parents were informed of the progress of the Continuing the tradition of a parting gift and Second Step units throughout the year. With staff and lasting memory,Art Teacher Kim Palmer,together with parent support, students developed social competence community artists,worked with our grade two students and bully-busting skills in the core areas of empathy, and created hanging canvases depicting scenes from a emotion management,and social problem solving. favorite storybook. These hanging canvases are displayed from banisters overlooking the library. We Educators have used the opportunities of routine intend to continue this tradition until all banisters school issues to teach positive social-emotional skills to overlooking the library are covered with hanging all children. Additionally, Adjustment Counselor canvases depicting favorite storybook scenes. Eileen Manganella provided newsletters and information on her website to educate families on how Through the Physical Education Program (PEP) to best support their children to cope with challenging Grant,a federally-funded grant to initiate,expand and situations. She provided lessons in classrooms to improve physical education programs, our students further support the PBIS Program. were assessed using pedometers to monitor their daily physical activities,and surveyed to track healthy eating Teachers have received professional development habits and physical endurance and agility. in implementing specific interventions for reading. Targeted support and interventions were provided to They were able to participate in weekly before small groups. Teachers continued implementing and after-school physical activity programs designed differentiated,targeted instruction based on results and by teachers that included soccer,karate,obstacle course conclusions from the data. Much of the work of with sensory integration and walking activities. analyzing data and developing interventions was Quality physical education programs are one of the best carried out in professional learning communities which ways to help fight the obesity crisis in America, met weekly, as well as on full-day professional increase the activity levels of our youth,provide school development days. Staff worked collaboratively in children with a positive physical education Professional Learning Communities to examine student experience and produce other favorable results,such as work, identify academic needs, and create effective more active and fit students who exhibit higher interventions in reading. Dynamic Indicators of Basic academic achievement in the classroom. Testing of Early Literacy Skills(DIBELS)benchmark testing was more than three million students has shown a direct completed in the fall, winter, and spring and a report, correlation between fitness and performance on which produced a specific analysis of student standardized tests ... "a healthier body = a healthier achievement in reading throughout the school year,was mind". A quality physical education program has led produced at the end of the school year. This to a reduction of absenteeism,disciplinary issues,and information helped teachers to monitor students' out-of-school suspension days. Before and after-school reading growth, allowing them to analyze students' programs were so well received, we are planning on literacy and reading trajectories as they change from continuing some of these activities next year. Thank one benchmark testing period to another. you to the final year of the PEP Grant funding. IDEAL Consulting provided Response To The preschool therapeutic playground came to Intervention (RTI) training during professional fruition at the end of the school year. Some of the development. RTI, the rigorous implementation of a fundraising events for the playground included a very combination of high quality, culturally and well attended Harlem Wizards basketball game at linguistically responsive instruction, assessment and Mashpee High School with many students from all evidence-based intervention, was put into practice grade levels,their friends and families,as well as many, during the school year. Comprehensive RTI many members of the community in attendance, implementation contributes to more meaningful making for a full house event; another well attended 122