"We are very fortunate

at North Fayette to have these additional teaching positions. We have

approximately six to eight new students in every classroom this year,"

said North Fayette Principal Louis Robinson. "We are very grateful

that the board of education had the foresight to see our need for these

additional resources."

Another initiative of the instructional

support teacher is to find creative and innovative ways to get parents

involved in the educational process. North Fayette has organized regularly

scheduled parent workshops that will meet throughout the year to give

parents assistance and advice on what they can do at home to help reinforce

what their children learn in the classroom.

This year the school has already

had a math night for grades 3-5, two reading nights for grades K-2 and

a workshop on understanding test data. The school took a survey of parents

and organized these workshops to meet their needs and schedules. Most

sessions are held in the evening after 6 p.m. But Robinson says that the

school plans to host several lunch and learn workshops during the year

as well.

"We have had a lot of

positive feedback from parents on the workshops. The most popular one

has been the one on test data," added Robinson. "Due to popular

demand, we are going to schedule another test data workshop in the near

future."

A new partnership with Community

Christian Church offers an additional avenue for the school to utilize

community resources. The school has already had several church members

volunteer to become mentors and reading tutors. The school and the church

had a kickoff dinner in September to begin making plans for the school

year.

"We are excited about

this partnership. Our goal is to get more of our community involved with

the school and more people to serve as positive role models for our students,"

said Robinson.

Technology is also a key factor

at the school in helping students learn to improve their reading and math

skills. A new Computer Curriculum Corporation (CCC) reading and math lab

provides teachers with diagnostic information so that they can pinpoint

where their students are performing within the curriculum being taught.

Through a series of exercises,

the CCC software assesses what skills the student does and does not have

and then helps the student work through the curriculum at his or her level

and speed. The software can also tell the teacher how many sessions it

will take to get an individual student to the curriculum level desired.

Students have access to the lab before, during and after school. The school

is just beginning to see the results from the use of CCC and Robinson

says they are phenomenal.

"We've come a long way

in the last three years. Data is showing that we are making significant

gains in reading and math through the utilization of CCC. Teachers also

confirm the fact that students are progressing," Robinson added.

Robinson also says that the

school is planning to host a CCC night where parents can come to the school

and use the software so that they can have first-hand knowledge of how

the school is helping their children improve math and reading skills.

As North Fayette's student

population continues to grow, so does the need to help ensure that students

are well prepared to begin their elementary education. This year, North

Fayette was the first of two schools to receive a lottery funded pre-k

program. The new program now gives 20 four-year olds an opportunity to

become better prepared for kindergarten. In addition, the school increased

spaces available in its Title One pre-k program from 15 to 20 for a total

of 40 pre-k slots.

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