Student Programs administers many programs to support the educational opportunities for students in the Beatrice Public Schools. Some of the areas with a description of the program are listed below:
Assessment
Assessments are in the district to improve education, to determine success, and to communicate results. Teachers use our assessments as a diagnostic tool to determine what students know and are able to do. Information from the assessments helps parents monitor their children’s progress. Assessment provides information levels of achievement. The Curriculum Council and Staff Development Team use the information to determine the needs of the District in their respective area. Another purpose of the District assessment program is to create a process for reporting the strengths and the areas of concern on student achievement to the public. Educators share results with parents through report cards, progress reports, and conferences.
Curriculum
Beatrice Public Schools has developed a written curriculum guide with learning objectives for students from Kindergarten to the twelfth grade. Our curriculum guide is divided into eight curriculum areas with a committee responsible for an annual review and revision of each area. The Curriculum Council oversees the work of the committees in selecting new instructional materials and designing assessments aligned with their curriculum areas. The committee areas are Language Arts/Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, Vocational Studies, The Arts, Media and Technology, and Practical Living.
English Language Learners - ELL
This program offers assistance to students who need English language instruction to be successful in the academic curriculum. Students are identified by a language survey during registration and the language proficiency assessment administered by the ELL teacher. The goal of this program is to help students learn English so that they will be able to meet age appropriate academic standards for grade promotion and graduation.
High Ability Learners Program
Beatrice Public Schools believes in the uniqueness of each student and feels an obligation to provide for the individual needs of all students. Learners with high ability must be provided with opportunities consistent with their extraordinary ability and potential. A learner with high ability means a student who gives evidence of high performance capability in intellectual capacity or in specific academic fields. They may require accelerated or differentiated curriculum programs in order to meet their needs.
JumpStart
A program is offered to selected students who have experienced difficulty in learning the Essential Skills (the local standards) for math, reading, and writing. Students are invited based on their Essential Skills test scores from grades 2, 5, 8 and 10 or by teacher recommendation. One five-day session in August and two three-day sessions offered in October or March provide extra time for students to become proficient in the skills.
Preschool Program
The philosophy of the preschool program is to assist parents in ensuring that their children reach school age with a solid foundation for learning and relating to others. Children, birth to age five, who have a handicapping condition and reside in the District, are eligible for services. The District offers home visits to provide support to parents and their child’s learning. A center-based program provides opportunities for equential development of physical, social-emotional, daily living, cognitive, and language skills through active exploration and "hands-on" learning.
Safety and Crisis Committee
It is the philosophy of Beatrice Public Schools that a preplanned and organized approach is more effective in reducing psychological and social difficulties following a crisis in the school. The committee developed, and annually updates, the Crisis Response Manual with suggested guidelines and procedures designed to deal with a number of crises that could occur in the District. The manual is used in conjunction with each building emergency plan in the District.
School Improvement Process
The District Steering committee directs the continuous process of school improvement throughout the District. The process includes the following steps: Developing the Profile, Defining Beliefs and Mission, Defining Results for Student Learning, Analyzing Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness, Developing the Action Plan, Implementing the Plan and Documenting Results. Our goal is to clearly identify important goals for learning to serve as a beacon to give direction and therefore a means to access any improvements.
Special Education
The goal of Beatrice Public Schools Special Education Program is to provide individualized programs that give students with disabilities the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in home, school, and community settings. All programs are designed to provide academic and life skills which prepare students for real life situations. Typical programs include assistance in the regular classroom, resource classrooms, speech, occupational therapy, physical theory, deaf and blind education as well as specialized services for unique situations.
Staff Development
The District Staff Development Team sets the annual focus for professional learning within the District with building level teams planning the actual training. Staff development sessions are offered during four days in August, October, or March. Incentives are offered to staff to attend workshops or conferences through a flexible leave program or to pursue collaborative investigations through learning teams.
Title One Reading
Additional reading support is provided to all four public elementary schools and the two parochial schools using funds from Title One. Students are identified using teacher recommendation and assessments of student literacy. In addition to instruction in the regular classroom, students build specific reading skills in a small instruction group with a reading specialist.
Catagories:
Children & Family Services,
Disabilities & Special Needs,
Education,
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