Principal's Message

August 22, 2020

Dear Parents of Burton-Pack Elementary School,

Welcome back to another wonderful, ‘new normal’ academic school year. I am excited about returning and I am looking forward to making the best of these uncertain times. Our theme this year is ‘Our Students are Superheroes, and Learning is Their Superpower!’

Here at Burton-Pack addressing the needs of our learners and prepare them for success is at the forefront of what we do. In the spirit of preparing all of our learners to be “college and career ready” Richland One has adopted both the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and the Visible Learning models as two of its core resources that enable student success. As a learner in an AVID Elementary classroom, one of the foundational components is organizational skills. In a Visible Learning classroom, students as well as teachers are made aware of how each ‘sees’ the student as a learner.

As we engage in this virtual learning experience it is very important that we all (students, teachers, and parents) work as a team to set the stage for student success. Students will receive a supply of organizational materials to set-up their organization tool; the AVID Binder. This binder is used to house their materials for learning and time management. The materials are listed in the chart attached. In addition to the organizational tool, students are engaged in identifying as a visible learner what the learning objectives are for the day and the success criteria that will help them succeed in reaching the learning objective.

All of us will be working with students to teach them how to manage this organizational tool as well as ensuring they are experts at understanding the learning objectives and success criteria. We understand this is a “big” transition for some students; especially our Pre-K through 3rd grade students who have never engaged in such a task. Parents we really need and are asking for your support in order to experience student growth. As this year progresses, you will hear more and more about all of the remarkable AVID and Visible Learning strategies that will support your student learners. These strategies are only a couple of pieces of a magnificent educational puzzle. Please help us empower our students and set themselves up for academic success as we tread this virtual learning experience together.

Please reach out to me or my staff should you need assistance. We are all in this together!

Educationally,

Dr. Sarah Smith, Principal