Welcome to 2011-12 School Year!

Wow the first week of school has come to a close and we are off and running for a great year of work with students in Storm Lake.  Teachers were involved in a variety of professional development activities over the last two weeks and are working hard to improve their instructional practices for students at all grade levels.  We are working especially hard to develop new strategies to have students involved in classroom activities that will allow them to utilize technology.   More teachers in the district have had Smartboards installed in their classrooms and other teachers are working to integrate use of applications on computers into their curriculum.  We have put into place more laptop computer labs which teachers will be able to use right in their classrooms for instruction.

Beginning next week as a continuation of work that we are doing in Storm Lake District to determine if students are mastering the curriculum as we have planned for them,  students in grades 3-11 will be taking assessments in reading, math and science.  These assessments are called MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) and are based on the standards and benchmarks that we say that all students should know and be able to do in the Storm Lake School District.  These tests are given online and are what are considered "smart" tests which measure where students are in overall achievement and don't just compare them to what is expected of their current grade level.    The results of these tests will allow teachers to see at a glance which students are struggling and need more support and which students may need acceleration in their acquisition of skills.   Teachers were given professional development opportunities to learn how to better analyze these scores and will be sharing this information with parents at our fall parent-teacher conferences.

We hope that parents will to talk with their children about these tests and encourage them to do their best so we will have a true picture of their needs for this school year.   The partnership of parents and educators is what is needed for us all to help students grow to their potential this year.  Please let us know if you have other questions or concerns.   Our goal is to make this year the best year of education for your child!