Free tutoring offered to LES, LMS students
By Jane Beathard
Staff Writer
London schools students in third through eighth grades are eligible for free tutoring prior to next spring’s Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA tests), following action by the board of education on Tuesday.
School board members approved free, after-school tutoring to prepare students for reading and mathematics tests.
Superintendent Tom Ben said the 2013 program expands on previous efforts.
Sessions slated for 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, begin Jan. 23. Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for reading instruction. Math is reserved for Wednesdays.
Tutoring will run until April 18, excluding spring break.
“It will be more intense this year,” Ben said.
Students may enroll in selected or all sessions. Forms are available from the elementary and middle schools or by calling curriculum director Gayle Reidenbach at (740) 852-5705, ext. 1112.
Deadline for returning the forms is Jan. 9.
Federal assistance funds will pay participating tutors $25 per hour.
Discussion continued Tuesday regarding the state’s newly mandated Third Grade Reading Guarantee. The guarantee requires early annual testing for students in kindergarten through third grades in order to monitor reading progress. Schools must provide additional intense reading instruction for lagging students. Students who fail to read proficiently by the end of third grade must be retained.
The guarantee is likely to be expensive as school districts hire additional teachers and demand new certification for existing faculty.
On Tuesday, school board members agreed to join a grant request through the Madison-Champaign County Educational Service Center to fund the guarantee. Ben said a consortium of nine school districts in the two counties hope to receive $200,000 to $250,000 through the grant program.
In other meeting business on Tuesday, board members:
• Agreed to hire an additional preschool teacher to accommodate increased enrollment.
• Hired six new substitute teachers and one aide.
• Awarded supplemental contracts to the high school Quick Recall Team advisors and Camp Nuhop coordinator.
• Approved a new policy for enrolling homeless students. Twenty-five other new policies were introduced.
• Scheduled a 2013 organizational meeting for 6 p.m. on Jan. 3. A board work session will follow.
$25 per hour? How can I get hired to tutor? I have a four year degree.