EMMAUS, Pa. — East Penn School District hopes a new website could add up to student success.
The district has built its own districtwide mathematics website to give students and guardians a greater understanding of math courses and more math resources online.
- Monday's East Penn Board meeting featured progress and plans for progressing math curriculum at the district
- In addition to two math interventionists joining the team, a new website focused on curriculum is being launched for students and families
- The board also adopted a new attendance tracking software and highlighted LMMS students' success in a short film competition
The website was among several ideas that curriculum supervisors Jessica Thacher and Michael Mihalik offered Monday as they walked the School Board through steps being taken to maintain and improve math curriculum through the upcoming year.
The discussion came at a meeting at which the board also discussed budget priorities for new special education and support positions at the district.
The board also discussed plans for math instruction over the next year and adopted a new attendance tracker software while celebrating students' nod at a film coopetition.
Rooted in state assessment data
Mihalik said the website has been created and will begin to be shown to teachers at different buildings soon.
"There's lots of different resources that we now have on our website, including greater transparency about these placement rubrics," Mihalik said.
They said their processes have been rooted in state assessment data and meeting with teachers to analyze when considering the current methods of instruction.
A site for middle-level math teachers also was discussed as an internal hub for resources.
Use of the "Ready Classroom" lesson plans for K-8 was reaffirmed as a useful tool for teachers to continue. They said work is being done to map Pennsylvania standards to those lessons, with pacing and resource realignment for the next year being developed.
For those grades, a "Math Tier Protocol" is being introduced, with the interventions planned for students needing additional support after being placed in a Tier 2 or Tier 3 designation.
Tier 1 math goals for grades and individual classrooms are set to be discussed in small group meeting with teachers to review data and come to agreements. Various efforts of professional development for math staff in those grades are also planned.
In K-5 specifically, standardization was a focus, along with the need for small-group instruction in addition to core classroom work.
If the programs are found to be successful, they could provide supplemental instruction materials that Thacher and Mihalik said could help with content review or to close gaps.
The board also acknowledged the addition of two math intervention teachers, provided with ESSER funding, for the upcoming school year based on projected needs in fourth and fifth grades.
In the high school, teachers are currently piloting software programs iXL, Get More Math, and Freckle.
If those programs are found to be successful, they could provide supplemental instruction materials that Thacher and Mihalik said could help with content review or to close gaps.
Board Presentation-Middle Level Grading & Reporting - March 27 2023 by LehighValley Newsdotcom on Scribd
Students lauded for film project
A group of Lower Macungie Middle School students were given a nod by the board for their project in the "What's cool about manufacturing" student short film competition, where they highlighted the ins and outs of what happens at local B. Braun facilities.
Following an online voting period, the students' project was awarded Outstanding Overall Program. It also was selected among four videos in the Lehigh Valley region to move on to the statewide contest.
In the video, which was screened at the meeting, student hosts energetically talked about what went on at the medical technology company and also interviewed many employees about their jobs and why they enjoy working there.
"What's so Cool About Manufacturing" is a statewide student short film competition first with regional contests before a statewide awards ceremony.
The annual video contest implores students across the state to explore manufacturing careers by producing creative profiles of companies.
"I sincerely express my appreciation to our students for how hard they have worked, and how very proud we are," Campbell said.
"The Most Outstanding Award is the last award of the evening, and we all kept whispering to someone, 'We had to win, we had to get something' because the video was really so awesome."
A panel of judges at the statewide ceremony on Monday, May 15, select the state’s top three videos for awards.
In other action
Also Monday, the school board agreed to a contract for the SafeArrival Two Way Student Attendance System, which provides digital services and alert capabilities for attendance and absence tracking at $6,100 per year.
Also, $10,000 was donated to the school and accepted from Lehigh Valley Educators Credit Union for the end of purchasing calculators for EPSD students.
The board also discussed and voted to approve the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit Special Education Facilities Plan for the upcoming school year.
