Dear Parents and Guardians,
Four years ago, Freeland Community School District began extensive reviews of our curriculum to ensure we were investing in instructional tools that aligned with the Michigan state standards. Through this process, Freeland Elementary School adopted the MAISA writing units in conjunction with Lucy Calkins Units of Study for writing instruction, and Everyday Mathematics 4 for math instruction. Both programs connect to the growth mindset model of instruction fostered at Freeland Elementary School. These resources and curriculum also follow best practices in grading and assessment that have already been established at Freeland Learning Center through a practice called Standards Based Grading. (This is an excellent website and video to explain Standards Based Grading https://www.teacherease.com/standards-based-grading.aspx.)
Complete implementation of our two curriculum choices brings us to a place where we can report a student’s progress to parents on a more specific level. Therefore, it is important for you to know that grades in the areas of writing and math will be reported differently this year. On-going assessment of a student’s level of understanding will no longer be represented by a letter grade. Grades instead will become a collection of data points demonstrating ultimate mastery of a standard which will be reported quarterly on the report card.
We know that you would traditionally begin to see Skyward grade postings at this point in the year, and felt it was important to communicate this information to you early in the year. If you have any questions about Freeland Elementary School’s transition to Standards Based Grading, please feel free to call or email me 989-695-5371, criners@freelandschools.net.
Sincerely,
Stacey Criner