2009-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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impact on children's lifelong learning and positively contribute to their health and development. Early childhood education programs with the mark of quality benefit children with greater readiness for and success in school. NAEYC accreditation has been, and continues to be, the mark of quality in early childhood education. The grants we receive from the state government require us to maintain NAEYC accreditation standards. This year our preschool program accommodated four Monday through Thursday morning and afternoon preschool sessions for children age 3 through 5 years old as well as one full day Monday through Thursday program for 4 and 5 year old children. Through the Coombs School and Community Partnership for Children, screenings outreach to families and several workshops were provided for all incoming preschoolers and their families. The Coombs School sponsored twenty-one "Countdown to Kindergarten" activities through the Quality Full-Day Kindergarten Grant such as Coffee and Chat for incoming families as well as several parent/child workshops throughout the school year. This grant also provided funding for kindergarten classroom paraprofessionals. The Coombs School continues work on the PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support Program) reinforcing Cocoa's Fab Four rules — Safety, Respect, Responsibility and Ready to Learn while dovetailing these rules with our Second Step behavior program. Students recognize these positive behaviors and self-monitor during the school day. There has been a noticeable improvement in student behavior since the inception of this program. i Staff at the Coombs School worked vigorously at Professional Learning Communities examining student achievement and student accountability. Assessments continued to show improvement in student reading fluency and comprehension, especially with below level, and at-risk students. We sponsored Math Night and Science Night to highlight activities and projects created by our students. Benchmark testing was completed in the spring of 2009. An extensive report prepared by Christopher Parker, PhD with IDEAL Consulting Services, summarizes a specific analysis of grade and sub-test information for different sub-groups. Data collected showed a "snap shot" of students' early literacy and reading skills as they reached the end of the 2009 school year. This information is helpful to teachers to monitor students' reading growth allowing them to analyze students' literacy and reading trajectories as they change from one benchmark testing period to another. Overall shifts in DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) indicate the Kenneth C. Coombs School is effective in teaching literacy and reading skills to young children as all fall, winter and spring scores indicated improvement and evidenced positive shifts and progress. Recognition Day took place in individual classrooms acknowledging each student's accomplishment while an assembly was held for students who achieved perfect attendance awards and first and second place Good Manners certificates. 164