Whitefish pilots early literacy program
Whitefish School District is piloting an early literacy class this fall for at-risk students that are 4 years old. The program is not mandatory but gives a crucial jumpstart prior to kindergarten.
Last spring, the state Legislature passed House Bill 352, providing funding for early literacy targeted intervention programs in Montana. The legislation aims to identify at-risk students through a screening process and to provide a targeted intervention option such as a classroom-based program, a summer program or a home-based program for rural areas.
“After the bill passed, we set about creating a classroom-based program and hired Jessica Hansen to lead it,” said Lisa Bloom, director of curriculum and instruction for the district, at the school board meeting Sept. 10.
“It’s a dream job,” Hansen said. “I’ve loved teaching second grade and other early learners. It’s been going great. We started by learning school rules, reading stories and sharing feelings about starting school. The second week I dove into the curriculum.”
“There’s two parts of the curriculum; a listening and learning section with reading out loud, and a small group section.
“There’s also six domains throughout the school year, and the first one is ‘all about me.’ There’s a lot of hands-on learning and play centers for each domain, like our doctor center, which gives students an opportunity to practice vocabulary they’ve been learning about the human body,” Hansen said.
The district screened 27 students for the program last spring and 10 are currently enrolled. Some attend in the morning and some in the afternoon. Students who screened as at or below 40% were determined “enough at risk to benefit from the program,” Bloom said.
The program is not mandatory and leaves room for parents to decide how to proceed after screening.
Of the 27 students screened, nine qualified but declined to participate. Five did not qualify, two were too young or old, and one enrolled but didn’t start the program.
“I do think the program will keep growing as people understand what it is more. Starting the recruitment and screening process earlier this year will help,” Hansen said.
AT the Sept. 10 board meeting, student representative Jake Dunker said that the school year is in full swing.
At the high school, 33 members of the student outreach committee gave tours to freshman for orientation on the first day of school.
“It’s a great way to show new freshman what high school is like and showing them the ropes,” Dunker said.
Two weeks in, “school is fully back in swing, clubs are up and running, classes are set, schedules locked in. We have a lot of participation in fall activities,” Dunker said.
241 students tried out for high school athletics: 45 for boys soccer, 43 girls soccer, 79 football, 31 cross-country and 22 golf.
At Whitefish Middle School, over 200 kids are participating in fall sports.
Dunker said that new for this year at the high school is “base camp. It’s a little bit like study hall, but it’s structured differently this year to maximize productivity with weekly planners and guiding students who many need help, and it gives teachers a great way to further connect with students.”
At Muldown Elementary, a new English/language arts program called CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts Program) is being implemented that “teaches reading, writing, listening and speaking, while also building students' knowledge and vocabulary in literature, history, geography and science. Studies show it is more challenging but has significant benefits,” Dunker said.
At Muldown, another small difference for students this year is having more instructional time in the morning.
“Overall, throughout the district, it seems that students and staff are happy, motivated and ready for what should be a challenging but exciting year, from what I’ve heard by reports and interviews,” Dunker said.