Phone: 495-5252       Fax: 495-5253                                                                                       Office Hours: 7:30am -- 4:00pm

August, 2008

Dear Stetson Families,                                                   

This year we will continue with our Raider Enrichment Time to provide both intervention and enrichment based on student needs.  We found this targeted instructional time to be effective last year and we hope to see even greater success this year.  Our aim is to provide students with whatever it takes for success!

As said, Raiders’ Enrichment Time is built into our schedule to provide targeted instruction for all of our students.  Extra personnel join every grade level team to allow for smaller groupings of students.  These individuals include:  specials teachers, special education/resource teachers, paraprofessionals, specialists/itinerant personnel, counselor, library-media specialist, etc.  All of these individuals are highly qualified to support our students and are licensed teachers.  The only non-licensed personnel are our paraprofessionals, and their group work is planned for and directly supervised by licensed staff.  In addition, Stetson paraprofessionals are among the finest in the district and the work they do with kids is top-notch!   

During each enrichment intervention cycle students are grouped according to data, and the instruction they receive is very specific to their needs.  The enrichment cycles are three to four weeks in length, then there is a cycle break for planning, and a new cycle begins.  For example, if our focus for a cycle is literacy, a grade level may have eight groups and the focus of each group would be different, such as:  Group 1:  phonemic awareness activities, Group 2:  phonics and decoding, Group 3:  higher level decoding,  Group 4:  fluency and expression in reading,  Groups 5 and 6:  reading comprehension,  Groups 7 and 8:  reading practice within science and/or social studies concepts.  Students would be placed in these groups according to their data and then re-assessed at the end of the enrichment cycle.  In addition, the groups are fluid meaning that any child may move in or out of groups, even within the current cycle, if the academic need arises.

I am thrilled that our incredible Stetson staff is able to be proactive in our efforts to meet the academic needs of every student!  We have created Raiders’ Enrichment Time to support our relentless focus on student achievement.  It is always our goal, as a Professional Learning Community, for every student to be academically at or above grade level.  In pursuit of this goal we will continue to think creatively, in terms of scheduling and resources, to best meet the needs of our students.  If you have general questions about this exciting opportunity for Stetson students please contact me.  I would love to chat with you about it and answer any questions that you may have.

Warmly,

                                                            Theresa Terrones Ritz

Principal, Stetson Elementary School