Our students work very hard during the school day and deserve a break during to rest their minds and engage their bodies. It was great having the opportunity to jump rope with some of our 5th grade students at recess.
An American Preparatory Academy School
As part of the data we collect to measure student mastery and of academic skills we have our teachers work one-to-one with their students three times a year giving a DIBELS assessment. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. These tests measure students reading rate as well as their comprehension of what they read. There are established national standards that we use to assess whether students are meeting these benchmarks to be considered reading at grade level. Mrs. Hall is working with Elena Park on the mid-year DIBELS assessment.
Our Draper 2 campus hosted all our teachers from all 5 Utah campuses for a professional development seminar where they get to learn together and collaborate on the important details of a highly effective school. Spending this quality time learning and collaborating is important so we can continue to improve what we do in our schools. As per American Prep tradition, our teachers worked diligently to help stack the chairs at the end of the session. A big thank you Mr. Dain (West Valley AP Chemistry Teacher) and all those teachers that helped us get the gym ready for the after school activities scheduled.
All of these 6th grade students have achieved a “level 6” in their classrooms. Based upon Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, students that reach this stage of development have become self responsible and are prepared to begin their transition to our secondary school. Since our secondary schools eat their lunch in a cafeteria setting, these 6th grade students have earned this privilege and are enjoying this extra time socializing with their friends.
One of the strengths of our schools is how our parents contribute by volunteering. There are many ways to contribute and all are extremely valuable. Today we had Sean and Chantel Estes come in to Mrs. Henry’s 1st grade class to check out library books to the students. Our libraries are located in the classrooms and our wonderful parent volunteers come in every week to help with this important task. Thank you Sean, Chantel and ALL of our parents that volunteer in our school.
One of the hallmarks and traditions of American Prep is the involvement of our parents. I ran into Master Hong this morning when coming in from carpool. He is looking good in one of our spirit wear hoodies that he got for Christmas and will be offering a Tae Kwon Do class for the next three weeks! All the money from this introductory class goes directly to American Prep Education Foundation and “Friends of APA”. Thank you Master Hong!
In our K-6 Classrooms, students eat lunch in their classrooms. During lunch “chew time” our instructors and parent volunteers read books to the students. I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Foster’s 2nd grade classroom where Ms. Nield was reading from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. What a great way to eat lunch and what a great book to hear during the class chew time.