• Students in grades K-5 will have math  each day from 7:45-8:45. (There will be two classes in 5th grade and three classes in 4th grade that won't have math during that time because the teachers are departmentalized.) We are hoping that by having math at a common time, it will allow us the flexibility to provide scholars with the math instruction that best meets their needs.  Classroom teachers will be differentiating instruction, but students may also go to other rooms within the grade level for math, or even to another room in another grade if the teacher feels that is best for them.
• All grade levels will be introducing Project Based Learning, which is designed to provide rigorous instruction in project format so that the instruction is meaningful and relevant for students.  You will receive specific information from your child's teacher as they begin their PBL.
• First grade will pilot a standards based report card this year for our district.  This report card is designed to provide more specific and accurate information to parents than the traditional number graded report card, and the parents in first grade who have met with us have enthusiastically agreed to be part of this pilot program.
• Our library will be a research center this year.  The district has provided 50 additional iPads for use in the library, and Mrs. Nell is expecting students to utilize the library as a media resource center.  Students will be able to check out books anytime she is in the library, but we will also have students working on assignments and research all throughout the day.
• We have two classes that "looped" to the next grade with their teacher from last year.
• We have two classes that are "paired" with a class from another grade so that teachers within those two classes can group students across grade levels if that better meets the needs of the students.
• We will have a Friday enrichment period, affectionately known as "Gatorville" that will teach real world concepts and skills in an authentic way.  Students will be able to shop in a school store using Gator Bucks, and choose their own "class" based on their area of interest.  We can use volunteers to help us with Gatorville, so if you have 45 minutes on Friday afternoons to help, please let me know.
• We have three additional digital classrooms this year, which means that all scholars in fifth grade will pick up an iPad when they walk in to class in the morning, and carry it with them all day as they rotate classes.  They join Miss Hayes' fourth grade science class who piloted digital learning at our campus last year.

I encourage you to log onto the GCISD district website and read through the LEAD 2021 documents if you haven't already done so.  These objectives provide the road map for the direction our district and our school are heading.