The James A. Garfield Local Schools have always taken great pride in providing an outstanding education for every student. The District released a Quality Profile in 2016 (this can be found on the district website) that showcases a tremendous value on a well-rounded education. One critical component of a strong educational program is its ability to adjust to the needs of students.
Accelerating students has proven to be a positive way to challenge our highest-achieving students. Acceleration has been occurring at the seventh grade and beyond in math for many years as some seventh grade students take pre-algebra and then take algebra for high school credit in grade 8.
We are pleased to share that our acceleration offerings are being expanded for the 2017-2018 school year to include students in grade 6 and beyond. Our ultimate goal is to provide the very best for all of our students and this is a researched-based way to challenge our highest-achieving students.
Accelerated students will receive academic content and curriculum that are more aligned to their ability level. Students who are accelerated will remain with their grade-level peers, while being taught the next grade level curriculum. As an example, next year, accelerated sixth grade students will remain at the elementary school and rotate classes as usual. When students rotate to their accelerated classes of Language Arts and Math, they will receive instruction from their sixth grade teacher based on the standards designed for seventh graders.
Long-term research indicates that there are numerous benefits to accelerating a student. The staff and administration feel acceleration is an excellent opportunity to provide our highest-achieving students with a program best suited to their academic needs and future career advancement. Some examples of how acceleration will enrich students here at Garfield include:
· More challenging academics for our highest-achieving students
· Matching content and curriculum to ability without removing students from their grade-level peers
· Utilizing the expertise of our gifted teacher by providing a schedule that will allow him to assist multiple teachers and students with instruction
· Providing students the opportunity to advance their education and enroll in more AP and College Credit Plus classes (classes where students earn high school AND college credit) during high school.
Student success is the highest priority at the James A. Garfield Local Schools. Presenting all students with challenging academics and a breadth of support to be successful help prepare them for the rigors of any college and/or career path. We are pleased to be able to offer an expanded offering such as this to our students.
