Half-Days of School

Last Wednesday was a half day of school, so I thought this would be a good time to remind folks of how useful and important these days are to us. As with other professions, the education profession has come to recognize the value of advancing practitioners’ practice by engaging in a collaborative approach to training, practice, and feedback. In Gill-Montague we now have nine early release days over the course of the school year which provide the foundation for our professional development. Here are some examples of the work we have been engaged in on these days so far this year:

• Elementary teachers received training in using a guided reading protocol to teach reading to students across a range of ability levels.
• Teachers at all levels have been learning strategies to maximize student engagement and learning when they have students work in small groups (cooperative learning).
• Elementary teachers have been trained in the use of the computer program iReady to provide individualized reading and math instruction.
• Secondary level teachers have engaged in activities to develop a clear and compelling vision for what students should learn and how they should learn it through the Powertown in the 21^st Century Project.
• Secondary teachers are working in subject area teams to create more authentic or performance-based assessments to anchor each units of instruction.

We recognize that sending students home early on these days presents a hardship for some families, so I would like to acknowledge this challenge and also emphasize how important these days are to our improvement efforts.

2018/19 School Year Calendar (One-page pdf)

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