implemented for students , including RAM time — a Reading and Math time designed for intervention and enrichment — and Explore time at the end of the school day , where students could explore clubs and subjects that potentially pique their interests .
“ We wanted to see what it looked like from a kid ’ s perspective , so we dressed up like kids , chose a student , went to the student ’ s house and took their school bus to school ,” says Smith . “ We followed that kid everywhere and spent the entire day going through their schedule and classes .” The experiment worked . “ We were able to come back and say that the master schedule looked good on paper , but we needed to tweak it because in between classes , kids were rushed to get to class on time because it is such a big building ,” notes Smith . “ We had to make some adjustments .”
In that spirit of helping kids to achieve , the staff is coming up with potential plans for the 2017-2018 school year . “ We have gone through our master schedule for three years now and have been consistent ,” adds Smith . “ Before you make changes you need to give things time to marinate to see how it looks and how it works . We are currently looking at schedules and taking a look at sixth grade . We know sixth grade is very different from fourth or fifth grade . We want to take a hard look at our curriculum for sixth grade , in how we structure it and see if we can make it look a little bit different so that our kids have a smooth transition from fifth grade to sixth grade , and to seventh grade .”
Another idea includes promoting EHUES ’ s Positive Behavior Program . “ We want to make it more engaging for the kids ,” says Smith . “ We really want to focus on the good that the kids are doing and recognize them for that .”
His proudest accomplishment is not the NDP award , but the relationships he has formed with the students , staff and parents at EHUES .
“ I always say school is focused so much on programs and resources ,” notes Smith . “ We always hear principals say they can ’ t do something because they don ’ t have a program or the resources to do it . But I always say it ’ s about relationships and people . If you take the time to build relationships with people and you have those people around you , the resources are there with the people . We have people here at EHUES that go above and beyond whatever needs to be done for kids .” ■
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