Principal’s Message

We believe that reading is a fundamental skill for academic success, and that every child has the potential and ability to read fluently with strong comprehension skills at grade level expectations. As you may know from watching Dr. Conti’s presentation on BCAT or visiting the Burlington Public Schools’ website (www.burlington.mec.edu), we have developed a plan to make that belief a reality for every Burlington student. The term ‘RtI’ (Response to Intervention) has been used to describe the model we are using, which essentially means flexibly grouping students for instruction based on their skill level and need, tailoring instruction to meet those needs (known as ‘intervention’), checking progress frequently to ensure that the student is responding positively (making progress), and modifying the instruction if necessary to promote improvement. Over the next week, we will continue to administer the diagnostic online reading assessment called DORA (explained in last week’s bulletin) to all students in grades 1-5 to determine where they are as readers at this point in time. The results from this testing, along with data from other forms of assessment used by teachers to measure growth, will guide us in determining reading groups and specific instruction to help every child to become a more skilled and more confident reader. Please join us at Back to School Night on September 24th to learn more about the curriculum and learning experiences planned for the upcoming year, and how you can support your child’s success as a reader and as a learner.