Champlain Valley Union High School District - Chittenden South ...

CHARLOTTE CENTRAL SCHOOL
As co-principals at CCS we are pleased and proud to share the educational leadership for such an
amazing learning community. Being part of a leadership team has been a wonderful and rewarding
experience as we have the opportunity to work with students, families, and of course, our outstanding
staff. It is our goal to maintain and nurture a school climate where student learning is at the core in an
environment that feels respectful, safe, and engaging. We approach this goal with a collaborative
spirit, knowing that it will take all stakeholders working together to help our students do their very
best learning. We are honored to be part of this great endeavor to help every child reach their
potential as learners and look forward to reaching new heights at CCS this year.
Response to Instruction (RtI) – (aka Response to Intervention or Tiered System of Instruction and Intervention)
The National Center of RtI provides an excellent definition in their 2010 document, A Closer Look at Response to Intervention:
“Response to Intervention integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student
achievement and to reduce behavioral problems. With RtI, schools use data to identify students for poor learning outcomes, monitor
student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a
student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities or other disabilities.” At CCS we have implemented RtI and a
tiered system of instruction and intervention through a comprehensive Student Support System that is designed to help instructors
identify and meet the needs of all students in all levels. One important goal of effectively implementing RtI is to improve the
effectiveness of instruction for all learners. We will continue to examine and refine our practices in order to maximize student
achievement.
School Climate
Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS)
Much like RtI, PBIS is designed to help adults better identify and meet
the needs of students. The desired outcome in this case is for students
to maximize their opportunities to practice positive and safe behavioral
choices. At CCS, as in other PBIS schools, we go out of our way to notice
and recognize positive behavior and take the time to celebrate those
successes with individuals and with the school as a whole. A small
number of simple expectations, or rules, are identified and reinforced
with all students consistently throughout the year. At CCS those
expectations include: Respect Yourself, Respect Others, and Respect
Property. As with RtI, it is imperative to maintain quality data-sets that
are monitored continuously to help us ensure that we are being effective
in our supports to students. The School Climate Committee has
developed a multi-year action plan to support a positive school climate
at CCS.
Professional Development
Professional development for teachers and staff drives our instructional improvement and is ongoing. Since the fall of 2010, we have
embarked on a three-year embedded professional development initiative to increase our skills in providing differentiated instruction.
Bill Rich, a local consultant specializing in differentiated instruction, has been working with our faculty to enhance skills in researchbased
strategies and tactics that accelerate learning for all students. In addition, we are proud to have all teachers of mathematics
participating in a multi-year professional development journey in Best Practices in Teaching Mathematics. This course is followed by a
three year cycle of studio teaching sessions designed to grow teachers’ capacity in delivering the most effective math instruction.
Literacy
Teaching students to read, write, and communicate effectively with the English language is certainly one of our biggest foci. In order to
effectively implement RtI as described above, we utilize a variety of assessment tools to assist with the monitoring of students’
progress in literacy. One such assessment tool is the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System (BAS). This assessment
involves a 1:1 session between the teacher and student and provides valuable information about students’ ability to read and
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