The staff of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School was cited for its Growing Literacy and Inspiring Achievement Program at a May 26 school board meeting.
The program is designed to help further the education of students and prepare them for the future, including New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) testing. The school’s staff did so by creating projects with four goals in mind: strengthen literacy, inspire achievement, foster a creative collaboration and inspire community service.
“Since stepping into this role just a brief time ago,” Jefferson’s Interim Principal Stephanie Martucci explained, “I’ve had the privilege of witnessing first hand the dedication and creativity that our staff and students bring into the building each day.
“The projects you will see tonight (at the meeting) were built on collaboration, encouragement and a genuine commitment to student success.”
Among presenters of those projects was school intervention specialist Katie Martin. She addressed the work done by fifth-graders and teachers over this school year, highlighting a strategy the latter learned during a professional development day.
“This strategy teaches students how to effectively use blank scrap paper on NJSLA testing days to organize their writing,” Martin noted. “Students learned to create graphic organizers for tasks, such as literary analysis and narrative- writing prompts.
“By practicing how to recreate these organizers from memory, students are better equipped to structure their thoughts and communicate their thoughts clearly and confidently.”
The fifth graders, their parents and teachers were also at the board meeting, where they stood beside Martin as she addressed the crowd in attendance. Students wore navy blue T-shirts while teachers donned white T-shirts.
“Year after year,” Martin pointed out, “the (program) strategy has contributed to an increase in student success in the writing portion of the assessment across the district. At Thomas Jefferson, I’ve made it my mission to support our third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers with this work, not simply to improve test scores, but to develop strong, confident writers who can apply these skills across all content areas and in their future academic journeys.”
Board members and meeting guests also applauded the efforts of the students, as well as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Tricia Holmes, who introduced the audience to Jefferson Elementary staff.
“Growing Literacy and Inspiring Achievement is what happens when people have an idea that is fully centered around students,” she observed. “People buy in, they support, the community comes together and amazing things happen for our students.”
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School intervention specialist Katie Martin (second from left) discusses the strategies used to improve the performance of students as Jefferson Elementary School fifth-graders and teachers listen.
