Reading at Home

Dear Parents,
A recent commentary printed in the Teachers Leadership Network Forum, reinforced the importance of students reading at home. The report plainly states that reading at home is one of the most important indicators of educational success, beyond working hard. Students who read the most perform better in school. They are the best readers, of course, but they are also the best writers, spellers, possess the best vocabulary, and perform better in content-heavy areas like science and social studies. Clearly, reading is important, and the students who read the most possess the highest academic potential (Miller, 2010).
Teachers have tried many techniques to motivate or encourage students to read more at home. Both of my boys have brought home the reading log sheet or the famous "Book It" (get a free pizza for reading 400 minutes). Here are some simple ideas in which promotes the "love" of reading:
1. Parents should carve out reading time for their children each day. This time should be allotted for reading only. In our house, the entire family stops and reads for 30 minutes. My wife often enjoys reading chapter books with our children. Julie will read a few pages and then Jordan will read the next few pages. This technique is a great bonding experience, helps your children read more difficult text without fatigue and you can ask your children questions throughout the reading.
2. Find books that interest your child. Even if the reading material seems a little too easy, let your child just relax and have fun reading that interest them.
3. Encourage, encourage, encourage your children to read. Ask them what their favorite book is or the last book the read. Discuss with your details about the book.

Email me some suggestions that you use to encourage reading at home.

Jason Ulbrich, Education Director

Extra Curricular Activities at STRIDE

My personal goal is to have 100% of the students at STRIDE Academy participate in at least one extra curricular activity during the school year. STRIDE is proven to be an academically strong school that understands and increases student learning. Believe or not, we need to also focus on children being well rounded citizens. Extra curricular activities is one way in which we can teach students about teamwork, communication, dedication, self discipline, leadership and yes, how to fail.
At STRIDE Academy, we have increased our extra curricular offerings over the past few years. The offerings include:
Volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball, Knowledge Bowl, Spelling Bee, band, and choir.

We also offer many one-week classes during our three intersessions throughout the school year. We will always work with families to overcome any barriers preventing participation. We offer scholarships for students and have on more than one occasion helped coordinate transportation. If you ever have any questions about our activities, please contact Mr. Lutterman at llutterman@strideacademy.org...

Good Enough

How often have we heard or even stated ourselves, "that's good enough"? This is a statement that I have used or thought throughout my life, I have heard students or staff state and now my own children sometimes parrot these dreaded words (where did they learn that from). As I mature and season, I note that this statement reeks of mediocrity. It is not ok to have mediocrity in my family life, my profession and in your child's education. We will never be "good enough" at STRIDE, I will never be "good enough" at my job or as a father and husband.

I want to think of ways that we can build a culture that strives for excellence and never settles. We cannot and will not simply 'check the box". We have started the culture of excellence here at STRIDE. Going from Good to Great starts with the instruction your child is receiving in the classroom. Your teachers are committed life -ong learners and consistently meet with each other to look at data and other indicators to best meet the instructional, social and academic needs of your child.

STRIDE develops new goals every year. Not goals that are easy to attain; however, goals that will stretch our comfort zone and truly lead us to excellence. STRIDE develops and focuses on goals that directly effect academic performance. We then focus our resources around improving our goals. To view STRIDE 2009-2010 Goals, go to http://www.strideacademy.org/ and click under "downloads" at the bottom of the page.

Teaching of Religion at STRIDE

In today’s society, the teaching of religion in the classroom has all but gone away. Not because schools can’t teach about religion, but because of all the polarizing opinions concerning the issue. For the past twenty years — between the fear of stepping on toes and the fear of "the church-state thing" — it has been nearly taboo (Klee, 2002).

STRIDE Academy has been using the Core Knowledge curriculum since our inception in 2005. The Core Knowledge curriculum gives our students a deep understanding between religion and its affects on history. In the first grade alone, children encounter the polytheistic faiths of the ancient Maya, Aztecs, and Inca, as well as the Egyptians and Babylonians. First graders are also introduced to some major world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These topics reassert themselves throughout the later years of the Core Knowledge curriculum: for example, in the third grade study of Rome, the Byzantine empire, with the rise of Christianity; or in the fourth grade, the rise of Islam and the Crusades; or in the later study of such religiously inspired movements as abolition or the American civil rights movement of the 1960s (Klee, 2002).
Parts of the above artcle are from remarks delivered by Mary Beth Klee at the 3rd National Core Knowledge Conference.

STRIDEs Objectives to Teaching about Religion

Stride Academy Definition of Religion: A belief system that pertains to specific matters of ultimate concern as part of a larger literary or historic tradition and that includes specific activities and/or rituals.

Stride Academy Answer to Why is it Important to Teach About Religion?

Part of history
Different accounts of events
Produce literate and historically informed citizens
Understanding of our neighbors

Stride Academy Essential Features for Developing lessons, units, and presentation.

Must be objective – does not promote one religion or point of view over another.
There is an identified academic and secular purpose to the instruction.
Instruction promotes understanding of diversity within and between religions.


Supporting materials used in creating the above.

Publications from the First Amendment Center (www.firstamendmentcenter.org) about teaching about religion in the public schools.

Taking Religion Seriously Across the Curriculum. 1998. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Statement from ASCD. “The proper role of religion in the school is the study of religion for its educational value. The task is to teach about religions and their impact in history, literature, art, music, and morality. It seems natural that the art curriculum, for example, must pay attention to the impact of Christianity on the work of Michelangelo, just as a history class focusing on the colonization of America must pay attention to the religious upheaval in sixteenth-century Europe that fueled that colonization.”

Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools Position Statement from the National Council for the Social Studies. “Knowledge about religions is not only a characteristic of an educated person, but it is also absolutely necessary for understanding and living in a world of diversity. Knowledge of religious differences and the role of religion in the contemporary world can help promote understanding and alleviate prejudice. Since the purpose of the social studies is to provide students with a knowledge of the world that has been, the world that is, and the world of the future, studying about religions should be an essential part of the social studies curriculum. Omitting study about religions gives students the impression that religions have not been and are not now part of the human experience. Study about religions may be dealt with in special courses and units or wherever and whenever knowledge of the religious dimension of human history and culture is needed for a balanced and comprehensive understanding.”-- Jason Ulbrich, Education Director

What is STRIDE doing to close the gap?

There are facets of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that need reform. A positive consequence of NCLB is the attention paid to closing the achievement gap between cultural groups, students with special needs, students who speak English as a second language and socio-economic classes. STRIDE Academy has taken an honest and open look at the data over the past four years. There is a clear and obvious gap in test scores between black students and white students. This gap in achievement levels between different cultures is unacceptable and we need to remedy this situation as soon as possible. The lack of proficiency in reading, writing and math amongst black students is a symptom of deeper problems that have gone ignored, unaddressed, and unmet for far too long (Kafele, 2006).

STRIDE teachers have been meeting one time per week to participate in professional development and strategic planning to specifically raise proficiency amongst black students. The book that we have used as our tool to improvement is Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life authored by Baruti Kafele (www.principalkafele.com). The main points of the book and our training include:
- Learning about black male students to meet their classroom needs
- Learning about ourselves to meet our black male students needs
- Three Crises: community crisis, family crisis, self crisis
- Who are we as a school?
- Developing a Young Men's Empowerment Program

Thus far, STRIDE has focused on setting high expectations for ALL students. We need to believe ALL students can go to college. Our job at STRIDE is to prepare EVERY child for college. That is the ultimate goal. Teachers are now working on a three pronged approach:
1. Helping students set incremental goals in order to get to college. These goals include: academic, social, behavioral and emotional.
2. Establish trusting relationships with students. Without a trusting relationship with students, they will not be motivated to learn.
3. Include more black role models in our curriculum and visually throughout the building.

While we are still in the infancy stage of closing the achievement gap at STRIDE, we will close the gap. -Jason Ulbrich, Education Director

Jump Start to College

At STRIDE, our ultimate goal is to prepare every child for college or schooling beyond high school. Post secondary schooling is proving to be essential in today's world economy. However, we cannot look past the importance of the early childhood years. I often find my self wandering the halls here at STRIDE seeking exciting instruction and actively engaged kids. One of my favorite visits includes the kindergarten wing. These classrooms guarantee numerous smiles, hellos and even hugs. Most excitedly is the love, curiosity and engagement. Last week I watched kindergarten students learn how to care for pets and in the same day learn the seven continents. The seven continents in kindergarten? Yes! I am so impressed with what kindergarten students can absorb, their natural curiosity and mostly, for the teachers that care and nurture their students. The free all day everyday kindergarten at STRIDE has been integral to jump starting our students towards college.

What is "Core Knowledge"?

STRIDE Academy uses the Core Knowledge Sequence as our curriculum for music, art, science and social studies. The "Core Knowledge" movement is an educational reform based on the premise that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a sound and fair elementary education. The movement was started by Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy and The Schools We Need, and is based on a large body of research in cognitive psychology, as well as a careful examination of several of the world's fairest and most effective school systems. Professor Hirsch has argued that, for the sake of academic excellence, greater fairness, and higher literacy, early schooling should provide a solid, specific, shared core curriculum in order to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge. After wide consultation, the content of this core curriculum has been outlined in two books — the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and the Core Knowledge Sequence, K–8 — that state explicitly what students should learn at each grade level. Currently, hundreds of schools and thousands of dedicated educators are participating in this school reform movement throughout the United States. from www.coreknowledge.org