Volume 8, Issue 1

September 2022

Greetings,


Cypress School District is committed to providing the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support our students need for school success. We recognize that students need a little extra help from time to time. Through a multi-tiered system of supports, we utilize a continuum of strategies and resources to ensure all students get what they need in school to thrive and grow. This issue of our e-Newsletter highlights a few of these practices, some of which are new this year. We hope you will spend a few minutes to learn more.


Sincerely,

Anne Silavs, Superintendent

Small Group Instruction

Teaching in small groups is a tried and true method for differentiating instruction and meeting student needs. By working with small groups of students at a time, teachers can monitor student understanding better and provide more individualized feedback and support. While small group instruction is nothing new, it’s important to consider new ideas for how we engage in it to ensure its effectiveness. In the Cypress School District, we provide intentional and targeted instruction. That means we make data-based decisions on what materials to use and what instruction to give to make sure each student is successful. This year, all teachers are providing small group reading intervention using evidence-based materials that cover everything from foundational reading skills to reading comprehension strategies. We are closing learning gaps, and students are gaining confidence using these new materials. While it is still early in the school year, we are having great success with small group instruction!

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

PBIS is a districtwide initiative that promotes a positive school climate by establishing consistent behavioral expectations. Students are explicitly taught what appropriate behaviors look like in different situations and different locations on campus. Teachers and staff encourage and recognize positive school behaviors through a reinforcement system that enables students to accumulate points. This year, all of our schools have established a “store” where students can redeem the points they’ve earned for special privileges or prizes. Not only do students enjoy earning points for their own good behavior, they like pointing out the positive behaviors of their peers and recommending them for points, too. Everyone at school loves PBIS!

Meet Up & Buddy Up

Positive peer relationships are essential for school success. Relationship-building activities enable students to learn and practice important social-emotional skills that build a mutually respectful learning community in the classroom. Our teachers are using Meet Up and Buddy Up activities this year to support students’ social-emotional learning. Meet Up is a forum where students gather as a whole class or in small groups to exchange ideas, share experiences, solve problems, and establish and monitor expectations for how to treat one another. Buddy Up is a structure that creates opportunities for students to get to know one another, form connections, cooperate, and learn together with all of their classmates. Meet Up and Buddy Up activities foster a classroom environment where all students feel connected, valued, and part of an inclusive classroom community.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
Candi Kern - Sandra Lee - Brian Nakamura - Bonnie Peat - Lydia Sondhi, Ph.D.
 
SUPERINTENDENT 
Anne Silavs