High Point adjusts Intervention
NISD School Board members heard about the change in Instructional Intervention at High Point Elementary school at the monthly board meeting Monday, Feb. 21.
High Point Principal John Bathke and three teachers spoke about changes to intervention at the school. “Last month I told you guys [NISD Board] we shifted the way we are doing our intervention period,” explained Bathke. “We were looking for a more focused approach. We realized 30-minutes of intervention was not enough time to get in-depth teaching, so we extended it to an hour.” Bathke said they also switched from five days a week of teacher-led intervention to four-days with the fifth day allowing time for counseling, teaching students to read for fun and allowing teachers the opportunity to plan for the learning.
Although initially apprehensive about the change, the teachers said changing intervention has been beneficial. Whitney Grimillion, a fifth-grade teacher, said, “We knew we had a problem with intervention. We were working hard with our kids, every day but we had teacher and student burnout, and we were not seeing the growth we needed to see.”
Grimillion said teachers knew they needed additional supplemental instruction within the classroom. She stated they have great interventionalists who are hitting certain high notes, but “we knew we could hit certain things in our classrooms because we know our students better than anybody else on the campus.”
To know what areas teachers need to focus on during intervention, they use MAP Growth data. “We were recently introduced to a report called The Learning Continuum,” said Grimillion. The data helps group students into “flexible groups” with other students on the same level.
“They move around, and we constantly readjust them into flexible groups, so we can keep things fresh for teachers, fresh for students and we can see that growth. So far we are six-weeks into it and we are seeing some remarkable things.”
Other teachers that spoke in favor of the change in intervention were Regan McClain, a third-grade teacher and Sara Maher, a kindergarten teacher.
Property opens for bids
A 1.435-acre tract on the corner of South LaSalle Street and Spur 515, across from Carver School, opened for sealed bids Wednesday, Feb. 23, for the purchase of that property.
Navasota Assistant Superintendent of Operations Dr. Ronnie Gonzalez said the sealed bids would be opened March 10, at 2 p.m. in the administration building. Bids must be received before then.
“The bids will be presented at the next board meeting, March 21, and you as a board will have the right to accept or reject any of the bids depending on the amount people are bidding for that property,” explained Gonzalez. “The bid packages are prepared and ready to be picked up [at the NISD Administration Building] beginning Wednesday.” There is not a minimum bid, but Gonzalez said the property is valued on the tax rolls at approximately $62,000.
Action Items
The board approved the renewal of a year contract with Lumen, by CenturyLink for fiber internet service. Navasota Assistant Superintendent of Operations Frank Perez said the amount of the contract is $9,995 a year, paid monthly, $995.00 for 10 GB.
Board members also approved the renewal of student insurance with Texas Kids First, a supplemental insurance that covers accidents for all students in the district. Navasota ISD Director of Personnel and Administrative Services Derek Bowmen said the rate has remained the same for the past three years. He explained the insurance is supplemental only and if the student is covered by other insurance, that primary insurance will be billed first.
Cost of the insurance is $45,990 and cost for including catastrophic insurance is $1,560 for a total of $47,550 per year.
The next board meeting is Monday, March 21.