September 11, 2009

Dear Parents:

We recently received some very exciting news!  Pinedale Elementary School will be participating in the Kid's College academic program again this year! 

Kid's College is an Internet-based academic program that gives students the opportunity to enhance their Reading and Math skills while working on the computer.  Because it links learning, sports, and a video-game format, students see Kid's College as a fun way to master grade-level skills.  It is based on Alabama's Course of Study Standards and, therefore, is closely linked to the content students will study here at school.  Problems are presented in a manner that is similar to the ARMT and SAT-10 so there is another benefit of the program.

Students will begin by taking a short assessment that will identify each child's strengths and areas to focus on for improvement.  Teachers will receive information specific to each student and will target classroom instruction to fill any learning gaps identified in the assessment.  Once we have completed this part, students will be able to log on from their classrooms, at home, or anywhere they have high-speed internet access. 

As you may know, Pinedale is participating in the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI).  Because of the easy access to Kid's College, we want to use the program to support the math and technology component of the initiative.  Therefore, we are going to assign math "homework" to each student in the form of Kid's College activities.  To motivate the students to use Kid's College at home, there will be competitions held between classes and/or grade levels throughout the year.  Home usage reports will be generated to determine the winners.  If your child does not have access to high speed internet, he/she will be given time to use the program at school.

Again, Kid's College is free of charge to all students this school year.  However, to participate here at school each student must have on file the internet form sent home at the beginning of the year.

You can look for the program to be available for use by Monday, September 14, 2009.  Our goal is to have students spend time both in and out of school working in the Kid's College Program.  We hope that you will join us in this project as we strive to improve student learning and performance on the SAT-10 and ARMT next spring.

Sincerely,

Zel Thomas, Principal