News
According to the Webster's New World dictionary, avid is defined as "having an intense desire or craving" or "eager and enthusiastic." Students at Incline Middle School will soon come to also associate this word with the acronym AVID — Achievement Via Individual Determination — through the implementation of a system that promotes college readiness.
The Incline Great Schools Committee had suggested that this program, which has been in place at Incline High School for several years, be extended to our local middle school to address the needs of many average students, second language learners, and children whose parents had never attended college. While this had been determined at the time to be a long-term goal for Incline Middle School, grants pursued and attained by Washoe County School District made it possible for IMS to begin the process this year.
During the summer, the school administrator, the school counselor and three classroom teachers had the opportunity to attend a three-day AVID summer institute in San Diego along with WCSD AVID Coordinator Trish Shaffer and staff members of Sparks Middle School, Sparks High School and Dilworth Middle School. It was here that the initial work of developing a class whose mission is "to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society" had its genesis.
The first class will begin in January with the start of the second semester under the tutelage of IMS AVID coordinator and teacher, Scott Vaughan. Students selected for the program will receive access to the AVID curriculum four days a week for this first year, with plans to increase the class to 5 days a week for the 2012-13 school year. Students will become familiar with using Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, and Reading (WICR) to deepen their understanding of materials in core classes and empower them with the skills necessary for post-secondary areas of study.
What is exciting for everyone at Incline Middle School is that the strategies taught and reinforced by AVID are suitable for all learners and can be used across the curriculum.
Cornell note taking provides a format for information, student questions and class summaries. These two column notes can be used in many classes to organize important facts and as study aids. Socratic seminars provide a formal structure for student centered dialogue that contributes to deeper understanding of ideas and information. Students learn to read with a purpose, identify key vocabulary, and recognize important concepts through marking of the text. Tutorials can teach students to become self-directed advocates for their own education by requiring students to formulate deeper level questions about the work in current core classes.
Through these, and many other approaches such as carousel brainstorming, numbered heads, philosophical chairs, binder checks and service learning projects, teachers at IMS hope to begin to bridge the academic gap that has prevented many students from reaching for higher level educational opportunities.
By beginning this program at the middle school level and collaborating with the ongoing program at Incline High School, we are one step closer to our goal of every child by name and face to graduation, college or career ready.
— Sharon Kennedy is principal at Incline Middle School.
The Incline Great Schools Committee had suggested that this program, which has been in place at Incline High School for several years, be extended to our local middle school to address the needs of many average students, second language learners, and children whose parents had never attended college. While this had been determined at the time to be a long-term goal for Incline Middle School, grants pursued and attained by Washoe County School District made it possible for IMS to begin the process this year.
During the summer, the school administrator, the school counselor and three classroom teachers had the opportunity to attend a three-day AVID summer institute in San Diego along with WCSD AVID Coordinator Trish Shaffer and staff members of Sparks Middle School, Sparks High School and Dilworth Middle School. It was here that the initial work of developing a class whose mission is "to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society" had its genesis.
The first class will begin in January with the start of the second semester under the tutelage of IMS AVID coordinator and teacher, Scott Vaughan. Students selected for the program will receive access to the AVID curriculum four days a week for this first year, with plans to increase the class to 5 days a week for the 2012-13 school year. Students will become familiar with using Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, and Reading (WICR) to deepen their understanding of materials in core classes and empower them with the skills necessary for post-secondary areas of study.
What is exciting for everyone at Incline Middle School is that the strategies taught and reinforced by AVID are suitable for all learners and can be used across the curriculum.
Cornell note taking provides a format for information, student questions and class summaries. These two column notes can be used in many classes to organize important facts and as study aids. Socratic seminars provide a formal structure for student centered dialogue that contributes to deeper understanding of ideas and information. Students learn to read with a purpose, identify key vocabulary, and recognize important concepts through marking of the text. Tutorials can teach students to become self-directed advocates for their own education by requiring students to formulate deeper level questions about the work in current core classes.
Through these, and many other approaches such as carousel brainstorming, numbered heads, philosophical chairs, binder checks and service learning projects, teachers at IMS hope to begin to bridge the academic gap that has prevented many students from reaching for higher level educational opportunities.
By beginning this program at the middle school level and collaborating with the ongoing program at Incline High School, we are one step closer to our goal of every child by name and face to graduation, college or career ready.
— Sharon Kennedy is principal at Incline Middle School.
