IN Fox Chapel Area Fall 2016 | Page 27

2015-2016 fox chapel area school district state of the schools 2016 Summer leArning AcAdemy elementAry StAr ASSeSSment reSultS 600 531 500   502 400 311 For the second year, the summer session was a full-day program and included transportation, breakfast, lunch, and snacks. This year high school students provided extra support in the classroom. 300 287 200 100   On average, students came in with a scale score of 287 in reading and, as a result of the 19 days of instruction, students scale scores increased 24 points, Mrs. Nestor said. Math scale scores jumped by 29 points. 0 Elementary teacher Amy Myer, who worked with incoming third Mean Pre-Scale Score Mean Post-Scale Score grade students in language arts, said, “I had the opportunity to teach and interact with students from all four buildings. I taught summer school before when it was half days, three days a week. Teaching it five days a week has really afforded students the chance to grow and not just maintain.”   O’Hara Elementary third grade teacher Lauren Sirianna agreed, saying, “The summer learning academy was a huge success because students were able to have fun while learning. Students that attended were able to engage in exciting, motivating, academically-based activities.”   Mrs. Nestor said, “The students are so proud of what they accomplished over the summer. They had fun while learning and that keeps them coming back.”  Reading (80 students) Math (76 students) •Three high school students won first places in the annual regional German Day Competition. •Fox Chapel Area School District students held their 26th annual telethon in December and raised more than $68,000. This was a recordbreaking total and brings the money raised by Fox Chapel Area students to more than $696,000 over the last 26 years. This year’s total also included a matching donation of $25,000 that was made by an anonymous Fox Chapel Area family. The telethon raised money for Live Like Lou, which was started by two parents in the district to help ALS patients and their families in Western Pennsylvania. Freshmen LAUNCH High School Career Redesigned and expanded, the LAUNCH program (Learning and Understanding the Necessities of College and High school) is designed for incoming ninth graders – providing an orientation to the high school and preparing students academically for success in high school and beyond. Executive functioning skills, including organization, time management, notetaking, prioritizing, making decisions, setting goals, and study skills, were the focus of the weeklong program. The sessions were led by high school teachers, and guest speakers provided motivational and instructional tips.  Fox Chapel Area | Fall 2016 | icmags.com 25