Community
Wellness Day
Saturday, Jan. 26
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
page 2
A N O K A
WINTER 2013
-
H E N N E P I N
S C H O O L
D I S T R I C T
Transition Math
pilot a success,
expanded in
second year
Community Educator Awards
page 3
Adams students increase
science scores big time
page 4
Indian Education Program
instills pride
page 5
T
o bridge the gap between elementary and
middle school math, the Anoka-Hennepin
School District piloted a “Transition Math”
class last year for fifth grade students at Oxbow
Creek, McKinley, Rum River, and University Avenue
elementary schools. The program was so successful
that this year it was expanded to Eisenhower,
Dayton, and Champlin Brooklyn Park Academy for
Math and Environmental Science elementary
schools, with plans to include other elementary
schools in the future.
The class was created to meet the needs of
top math students on a daily basis. Laurie Resch,
director of elementary Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment, said the Transitions Math class does this
while providing a stronger foundation for students in
middle school courses.
“In the past when students have taken advanced
math courses in middle school, they often skipped
some of the pre-algebra topics that provide a strong
foundation for the study of algebra,” Resch said. “The
Transitions Math class was designed in collaboration
with sixth grade math teachers to fill these gaps and
to support the transition between fifth grade and
middle school math classes.”
Students are selected for Transition Math
through Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) scores
as well as learner characteristics. In the Transition
Math class, the pace of instruction is faster, and the
content is more rigorous. With classes that are compacted and accelerated, there is less repetition and
review and more time for work. Students receive
homework three to four times a week, which helps to
develop good habits for middle and high school.
Peer catches act of kindness
page 6
Penny Freberg, a math specialist at Oxbow Creek
Elementary School, has 32 students in Transition
Penny Freberg works with a student during a Transition
Math class.
Math she works with every day. Freberg’s students are organized and responsible, understand their work and can move
through concepts quickly.
“For the Transition Math class we really want students who
have a love for mathematics and love a challenge,” Freberg
said. “There isn’t a formal process to identify the students for
the class. We look at students’ scores and talk with fourth
grade teachers and ask them which students are performing at
a higher level in math. We don’t have a set number of students
for the Transition Math class; the class is based on what
students need this type of instruction.”
continued on page 4
Rumors spread on social media can disrupt schools;
monitor your children’s use
By Superintendent Dennis Carlson
S
tudents, parents
and staff in
several of our
schools have worried
needlessly this year
because of threatening
statements posted on
social media that spread
through the school community like wildfire. Law
enforcement and school administrators have
spent countless hours investigating threats and
rumors of threats in the past few months.
This is becoming a serious problem for
schools across the country. A quick Internet
search on social media threats in schools turns
up dozens of examples within the last few
months. For example, in Carlisle, Pa., police
beefed up security at the high school after
rumors of a shooting. The local paper reported
four or five police cars and extra officers placed
on duty at the school as a result of rumors on
Facebook and Twitter. Across the country in
Beaverton, Oreg., police determined a rumor of a
bomb threat was without merit, but the rumor
continued to circulate for several weeks with
students insisting the threat was real and would
impact classes. In Kanawha County, W. Va, three
separate threats demanding police involvement
were posted in a single month.
These threats disrupt the learning environment. They create an undercurrent of tension
within a school, causing anxiety in students and
staff and making it more difficult for students to
concentrate on their schoolwork. In some cases,
school attendance is down because students
don’t want to take a chance coming to school if
they fear a rumor may be real.
The amount of time police spend on threats
that are simply rumors or hoaxes takes valuable
resources away from other responsibilities in
the community. The more time police spend
tracking down prank threats, the less time they
have to investigate actual crimes and patrol
neighborhoods to ensure safety.
Students who issue threats face consequences
at school, including possible expulsion.
continued on page 2