Education committee reports LinkIt pilot, time-study and student services overview to Octorara board

The Octorara Area School District education committee reported curriculum and student-services work to the board on Nov. 10.

Board President (presiding) summarized the Oct. 27 committee meeting, saying the district plans a spring pilot of LinkIt, described in the meeting as "a data warehouse system" endorsed by the CCIU. The committee is continuing a STEM curriculum review with the intermediate unit and reported that CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) is in its second year and "showing some good results." The committee is reviewing practice assessments so they more closely resemble the online tests students will take.

The president described a proposed "play club" pilot at the Primary Learning Center: an adult-supervised, low-structure program for approximately 15 students with morning and afternoon sessions for roughly six weeks, discussed as a possible December start. He also said the high school is conducting a time study intended to inform a master schedule that would incorporate intervention time while balancing staffing and room availability.

On student services the board heard that each building has an interventionist overseeing the MTSS program, with BCBA involvement and functional behavior assessments; the school psychologist team performed "over 200 student evaluations last year," according to the president's summary. Counseling, social work, mental-health specialists and Communities In Schools were listed as supports addressing truancy and class-cutting.

The committee update was informational; the president said further updates are expected in the spring as pilots and studies proceed.

Next steps: the district plans to pilot LinkIt in the spring, continue the STEM curriculum review and report back on findings and time-study results at future meetings.