This year's theme for our Oconomowoc Area School District (OASD) School Board presentations is Every Student Has a Story. The teachers and staff at Park Lawn Elementary School work hard every day to understand each student's story, but also know how important it is to understand each family's story too.
At the November 13, 2018, OASD School Board meeting, Park Lawn Elementary Principal Jennifer Jones was joined by the LePage family and Park Lawn staff members, Laura Schleicher, Taryn Trost, Samantha Speich, and Becky Scheltz. The group came together to share their story of academic variability within a family and how that mirrors the academic variability that our teachers strive to address each day. Mrs. Jones introduced the LePage family and shared the strengths of each student – Sam, who is in sixth grade and is gifted in math; Sophia, who is in first grade and talented in art and creative expression; and Gabe, who is gifted in reading and is a child with autism.
Kindergarten teacher, Taryn Trost, and Learning Strategist, Samantha Speich, shared some of the tools they use to ensure the curriculum is meeting the needs of all the students in their classroom. They specifically shared some of the tools and approaches they created to ensure Gabe's academic needs are met.
The team emphasized the crucial role of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in their efforts to proactively plan and tackle barriers for learners, instead of waiting for a learning barrier to occur. Principal Jones said, "Thank goodness we have the kind of common planning time that our teachers have, that we have professional development opportunities where our teachers can collaborate and learn and grow together, so that they can learn about the students and plan the necessary action steps that they need, so they can meet that variability academically."
4K Teacher, Laura Schleicher, talked about teaching Sophia and Gabe and the changes she needed to make in her approach. She also worked closely with Samantha Speich to design the right curriculum for both students, adding, "We also planned a lot. Things that worked, things that we needed to fix, we talked on a daily basis and constantly were collaborating."
Mrs. Jones concluded the presentation by saying, "It's nearly impossible to predict the combination of strengths and weaknesses any student will possess. The flexibility of presentation, materials, and the physical environment allow for a wider range of access for all students."
Left to right: Park Lawn Learning Strategist, Samantha Speich, 4K Teacher, Laura Schleicher, Paraprofessional Becky Scheltz, 5K Teacher, Taryn Trost, Gabe L., Principal, Jennifer Jones, Sara L., Sam L., and Sophia L.