Increasing their literary skills leads students to better classroom independence in all subjects, says Saline High School Assistant Principal Brad Bezeau. Which is why the school, along with Saline Middle School and Heritage, have implemented the reading instructional model. The program is trademarked Reading Apprenticeship, but Bezeau says there’s a more accurate name for it.

“It really should be called Thinking Apprenticeship,” he says. “We’re trying to frame it not as another initiative, but just as good tools for learning and good tools for thinking about how you think.” Reading Apprenticeship (RA) is based on the premise that students become better readers when they gain insight into their own reading processes, and acquire a repertoire of problem-solving strategies. The approach started at the middle school, where all teachers have had some training in it. It’s been used by about 15 teachers at the high school for the last two school, and some elementary school teachers have also been trained.

Middle school teachers Laurie Erby and Jenn Nelson have co-coordinated the RA initiative in the district for the past four years.  The program helps students become aware of their thinking as they read, while teachers focus on reading and helping students better understand the text, Erby says.  For instance, reading a science text is very different from reading a novel, so a science teacher can emphasize the need to read and think about the diagrams and captions in the textbook along with reading the text. “They can model their own thinking as they read – such as questions they have, connections they are making - and have students share their thinking aloud with other students as they read,” Erby explains. “Stronger readers develop and hone their skills, and struggling readers get to learn what strong readers do to understand the text by becoming aware of the reading process, and sharing those thoughts with one another.”

Teachers have been impressed with her students’ reading progress, Erby says. Interest in the program spread mostly by word of mouth, as teachers interested in being part of the program learned from each other. “Saline RA teachers continue to tell us that this has been the most effective professional development they have ever had the opportunity to be part of,” she says. “It’s consistent, it’s being supported by administration, it’s a place where good teaching practices are shared and modeled, and it has opened the door to effective dialogue within and between departments, grade levels, and buildings.”

The SHS Drama Club is performing its version of Once Upon A Mattress, a fairy tale retelling of the princess and the pea.  The show opens on Thursday (2/18) at 7:30 and runs Fri and Sat (also at 7:30) and Sun at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $12 adults; $7 students and senior citizens. 

As a special event, on Saturday, Feb 20th, the SWWC Culinary Arts students, teaming up once again with the Drama Club, will be hosting a medieval, family-style dinner in the Commons before the show.  The dinner starts at 6:30 p.m., costs $25 and includes reserved seating to the show (so you don't have to hurry through dinner to grab the normally general admission seats).

This kid friendly show is funny and entertaining and is sure to be one of the best musicals the drama club has produced.  Seniors Mary Johnson, Sandra Periord, Sarah Paterson, Kristin Attig and Abby Dotz together with Seniors Dillon Burns and Ian Magenta, Sophmore Nathan Tanner, Juniors Gilbert Warila and Kevin Anderson and 65 other students that make up the cast, pit and crew, are sure to amaze and impress you.

If you are interested in the dinner, please contact Ms. O'Harris (429-8050) or oharrisa@saline.k12.mi.us and she'll have your tickets available at the maître d' stand in the Commons.  All other tickets are available at the door.
We hope everyone makes a plan to come to the show--you won't be disappointed!

Saline Community,

In an effort to keep as many of our community members as possible involved in the process of building reconfiguration, we would like to invite you to a community forum.  The purpose of this forum is to provide a progress report on the Building Reconfiguration Committee's task of cost containment and building consolidation. In addition, we would like input and a chance for our community to ask questions about the proposed plans.

Currently, the Building Reconfiguration Committee has narrowed the task down to three possible building configuration options (in no particular order) effective at the beginning of the 2010/2011 school year

1) K-3 at Woodland Meadows, Harvest, and Pleasant Ridge, 4-5 at Heritage, 6-8 at Middle School, 9-12  at High School *#
2) K-4 at Woodland Meadows, Harvest, and Pleasant Ridge, 5-6 at Heritage, 7-8 at Middle School, 9-12  at High School *#
3) Pre-K programs and Kindergarten at Harvest, 1-5 at Woodland Meadows, Pleasant Ridge, and Heritage, 6-8 at Middle School, 9-12  at High School **#

* In either plan 1 or 2 PreK programs such as Pooh Corner, ECSE, Early On, Early School, and EDO would be distributed into various buildings which could include Liberty School
** PreK programs and Kindergarten could potentially be at either Harvest or Pleasant Ridge in this plan
# In all of these plans, we are also looking at moving Central Administration and Community Education offices and the Alternative Education High School out of Union and into Liberty School

Please join us on Monday, February 22 @ 7 PM in the Heritage School Cafeteria for this Building Reconfiguration Community Forum.

If you have any questions ahead of time, please feel free to contact Steve Laatsch at laatschs@saline.k12.mi.us or 429-8002.

Five weeks ago, Saline Schools decided to go green and switched to Hub Printing Services, which means that staff no longer have individual classroom printers. Instead, they share centralized printing hubs, much like a typical office.

Now, instead of 375 printers distributed throughout the schools, there are 100. The goal of Hub Printing Services is to streamline operations, reduce costs, and join the ranks of organizations becoming more energy conscious, said Heather Kellstrom, director of instructional technology. “With the decreased funding, individual printers are not directly tied to our students,” Kellstrom says, “so it’s hard to continue to support something that down the road will cost us a huge chunk of change.” The smallest school has six printer hubs while Saline High School has 32. While a printer is never far away, it’s hoped that even a small distance will cut down on the number of unnecessary print-outs.
           
Besides reducing the cost of printers, paper, and supplies, the district will save on maintenance and repair costs. The Technology Department shrunk from 13 employees a few years ago to five today, and printer maintenance and troubleshooting consumed much of their time. Kellstrom points out that because printers are expensive to maintain and there is less reason to make paper copies these days, the move simply makes good sense at a time when resources are so stretched. And, five weeks into the new system, teachers are saying the adjustment wasn’t as bad as they’d feared.  Woodland Meadows teacher Ms. Betsy Marl noted, "I have heard about a large reduction in paper use at other districts.  A teaching friend informed me that in Livonia they had reduced their paper use by pallets by using hub printing."

One change teachers liked immediately was a new secure printing function, which allows them to send a document from their computers to a networked copier, which holds the document digitally until they decide to print it. It works especially well with confidential documents. “We are working with staff and have a few bugs to work out,” Kellstrom says, “but overall the system is functioning as planned.”

(Photo: Heritage School Teacher Ms. Robke)