What is LINK?

In the last post I referenced a program named LINK and since the post I have had several questions about LINK. Please keep the questions coming - I'm glad people are reading the blog!

LINK is Language Immersion for New Kindergartners. Nationally this instructional model is known as KLDM - Kindergarten Language Development Model, but we wanted a name unique to ISD 191 and something that was a little easier to remember.

LINK is focused on immersing our Kindergarten ESL students into an English rich environment so that we give them an instructional boost at the earliest possible opportunity. This program does not have a negative impact on non-ESL students; it is not costing anything extra or pulling staff from another program. In ISD 191 ESL teachers are staffed at a ratio of 40:1; 40 students to 1 teacher. During the 2008-09 school year we observed that there were approximately 20 ESL students in our kindergarten program and began to explore other instructional models.

During the 2008-09 school year Mrs. Gonzalez was working with 2-4 students at a time for approximately one 1/2 hour with each group. For our ESL students this meant they were in and out of their Kindergarten classroom and for the students in a half day program almost half of their day was spent out of the classroom receiving Title I asnd ESL services.

With the LINK program in place our ESL Kindergarten students will be in the morning Kindergarten classroom with Mrs. Peterson. They will stay in school for lunch and then move the LINK / ESL classroom for the afternoon. Instead of pulling the students out of the classroom for ESL and Title I services the students will be together in one classroom and all of the services will be provided there. This is not All-Day Kindergarten for free, but it is a creative way to deliver ESL services. The LINK students will only be in Mrs. Peterson's Kindergarten classroom for the half-day program and then they will be in the ESL classroom for the remainder of the day. I believe that if this program is successful we will see long term benefits for 1-6 classrooms, our ESL students and other students as this changes how our teachers teach.

I welcome your feedback on this exciting opportunity for our students.

We're Ready - well almost!

Summer is moving right along - there is only one more week until all of the teachers report back to duty and two weeks until all of the students are here. Almost all of the teachers have been coming in to school to check on their classrooms and starte getting ready.

I've added several photos to give you a sneak peak into some of the classrooms. Those are posted at the bottom of the page.

Here are some updates from Sioux Trail.

Placement letters:
They are ready to go and we mailed them today. In the the school district "mailing" them means they leave Sioux Trail, go to the Administrative Service Center, get processed there and then get handed over the US Postal Service. My best guess is that they start arriving in homes this weekend (8/22) or early next week.

AYP:
Sioux Trail did not make Adequate Yearly Progress according to the Minnesota Department of Education. There is a letter along with the placement Information that explains this in greater detail. For Sioux Trail teachers this means that our challenge now has a label on it. We will continue to do our very best to meet the needs of every single child and will analyze what we're doing and make sure that we're doing in the smartest possible way.

Volunteers:
The short message is that we need as many volunteers as we can get. There is a list of opportunities that is being mailed home and I hope that you will sign up to help in any way that you can.

The interior and exterior of Sioux Trail look great! Here are a couple photos to give you an inside sneak peak of what is happening.

Mr. Glende is applying wax to the floor in one of first grade classrooms. The classrooms on the lower level are getting fine tuned this week and next week. They were used by Project Kids throughout the summer and now that summer is coming to a close Mr. Glende is able to get in and give the remaining classrooms a top to bottom cleaning.







This classroom is clean and ready to go - it is waiting for a teacher! Several Sioux Trail staff members have been in and started setting up for the schol year, but that is voluntary. Teachers will return in force on August 31 for the first official day of work.




Here is the finished product! This is our LINK classroom. LINK stands for Language Immersion for New Kindergarteners and it is part of the ESL program. Sioux Trail and Hidden Valley are conducting research around the idea of immersing Kindergarten ESL students into english instruction. Keep watching for more details.

Outdoor Updates

Assistant Superintendent Sandi Novak was at Sioux Trail at the end of May and she commented on the signs that were posted by the front entrance stating that the Envrionmental Club was doing some work and to keep watching for changes. Sandi said, "I keep watching, but nothing is changing!". Well now the changes are complete and I hope these changes continue to make Sioux Trail a warm welcoming place. The benches that were added were part of an Envrionmental Club project from several years ago. Three benches were added, one on either side of the main entrance and one by the parking lot door and the project is now complete. If you are in the neighborhood please stop by and make use of these great resting places.

Where is the flag? Another change the folks in the River Hills neighborhood have noticed and comented on is the disappearance of the stone flag. This was a school project in 2001 that Sioux Trail staff and students created. I made the decision to remove it because the paint was coming off of the rocks and some of the rocks had been moved or removed. We plan to seed the area and grow grass where the flag was. A resident called, spoke with Mrs. Cenci and told her he was sorry to se the flag go as it was one of the best things the school ever did and that if he knew we needed help taking care of it he would have helped. I'm glad that we have owenership of this wonderful school in our neighborhood and volunteers are always welcome - simple call or stop in and we'll happily use your talents!

Farewell

Sioux Trail tradition calls for sending off our wonderful students with the wave. Here are two photos, first of staff getting organized and then the wave in motion.

We hope that the summer is a safe, relaxing experience for all students. It is very important that students read and get to practice math skills. There is lots of research to indicate that students suffer from academic regression (they forget what they have learned) over the summer if they are not engaged in some type of academic work. This can be anything from taking a class to reading a book, or helping plan and execute the weekly grocery shopping trip.

You can check out the Sioux Trail web page for various links to web sites that will keep helping the brain grow.

Thank you for a great school year.

I Love Burnsville

The City of Burnsville and Highland Bank sponsored the I Love Burnsville Essay Contest. The contest was open to all third grade students who reside in Burnsville and over 160 students entered the contest. Four winners were selected and those four winners were recognized at last night's Burnsville City Council Meeting. Mrs. Engdahl and I attended the meeting to recognize Dana who took first place in the contest. This is the second year of the contest and Sioux Trail students have received awards both years. Dana had an opportunity to read her essay to the Burnsville City Council, she received a $200 Savings Bond and a $100 check for Sioux Trail. Dana is meeting with Mrs. Engberg today to select the books she is going to buy with the money she won for Sioux Trail.

Congratulations Dana!

Left to right in the photo are: Mrs. Engdahl (Grade 3), Mr. Akin, Brian from Highland Bank, Dana and Mayor Kautz

The last days of the 2009-10 school year

We started of the school year with a new science teacher, Mr. Khamratthanome. He has done a wonderful job developing the skills of inquiry with our students. One of his first experiments was dropping Mentos into 2 liter bottles of pop. The post on Wednesday, September 10 featured this same experiment. Here is the experiment being done by a student and with a lot more than one Mentos.

Third Grade Spring Performance

Third Grade students at Sioux Trail had to stay after school! But it was for a wonderful reason - Our third grade students performed their spring music program this afternoon. They did an outstanding job and we had a fantastic audience. In addition to singing songs they had rehearsed with Mrs. Willemssen they also sang the Birthday Rap to her, which was a complete surprise to her. It was, of course, Mrs. Willemssen's birthday today!
Mrs. Willemssen has been hosting music programs for every grade throughout April and May. The programs provide an authentic opportunity for parents to observe music instruction, and witness the results of all the hard work that the students and teachers engage in.