Basic Skills (Grades 4 and 5)

• Basic Skills is a program open to all children in the school.  This remediation program is designed to reinforce concepts in reading, writing and math for children who need more time to learn the concepts.  A need assessment predates instruction, and an Individual Student Improvement Plan (ISIP) is prepared for each student.  Materials can be classroom based, but also include test preparation materials.  Students are invited into the program through performance in the classroom, teacher or principal recommendation, or low test scores.  BSI for this level can be support or remedial in nature.

Basic Skills  (Grades 6-8)

• Basic Skills is a general education program for children in grades 6, 7 and 8 who require additional support in the basic academic areas of reading, writing or mathematics. Basic skills has two tiers, and these tiers are not mutually exclusive.  Tier 1 is designed for support.  Classroom teachers work with BSI teachers to provide support on topics students have learned during the year but have not mastered.  This program meets one time per week, and occurs during a child’s PE, Elective or Cycle.  Tier 2 support is more intensive and is remedial in nature.  This course meets for a trimester and takes the place of Careers Cycle (grades 6 and 7) or an elective (grade 8).  Entrance is based on standardized test scores and grades.  An ISIP (Individualized Student Improvement Plan) will be created for all Tier 2 BSI students and the curriculum is based off of pre-assessments, not classroom curriculum.   

Study Skills (Grades 6-8)

• Study Skills is a general education course for students in grades 6-8.  The course is taught by the grade level resource room teachers (who are also the in-class support teachers for special education students).  The purpose of this course is to help children succeed in their core courses.  Generally, this course takes the place of Spanish.  The teacher will work on helping the students to create study guides to help in preparation for tests in their core content areas. The teacher will also focus on reinforcing strategies that students should use when preparing for tests at home and completing homework assignments. Emphasis will be placed on organizational skills, time management, and long-term planning for projects and assignments. 

Resource Room (All grades)

• The Resource Room is for classified students who require a substantially modified curriculum.  This program is a special education program and is designed as part of the IEP.  This class is taught by a special education teacher, and replaces the regular education class of the same name. 

ESL (All grades)

• English as a Second Language (or ESL) is designed for students whose primary language is other than English and who also require remediation to learn English.  Students are assessed on a state test, and the program is designed to teach literal and figurative forms of English in writing and speaking.  Students will also receive extra support for their core classes as part of this program.  Students are admitted to this program based on their ACCESS (state test) scores.