• PARENT INPUT ON CLASSROOM GROUPINGS

    Because it takes so much thought, we start balancing classes for the next school year the 1st of May--that explains the May 1st deadline noted at the top of the Parent Input and Recommendation Form.

    We wish we could say that our goal is to accommodate all parent and child/friend preferences.  Instead, the foundational base for most of the class placement decisions are:

    We strive for “balanced” classrooms so every child has an equal chance to learn.  What that means is that all teachers in that grade level have approximately . . .

    -----a balanced number of “above benchmark,” “at benchmark,” “below benchmark,” and “well below benchmark” students. 

    -----a balanced number of children needing behavior interventions.

    -----a balanced number of children requiring Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Special Education services.

    -----a balanced number of children requiring English Language Learner/English as a Second Language (ELL/ESL) services.

    -----a balanced number of special health/physical/emotional accommodations.

    -----a balanced gender ratio.

    -----a balanced class size.

    These concerns and practices fall in line with Cache County Board policy (Parent Input Policy), namely:  “Parent input will be gathered during a minimum 2 week period in the spring. . . .  Parent input must be submitted in writing. . . .  Class groupings will be made in a manner that takes into account the individual needs of the students, as well as the composition of the whole group.  Teachers working together will compile lists and recommend them to the principal.  It is the responsibility of the principal to consider the parents’ input and make final placement of the student.”