The next FUTURESCHOOLS visit will be on November 13. They will board a bus at 7:45 am. From the Bethel District office. Visits include Spanaway Lake High School, Pierce County Skills Center and Clover Creek Elementary schools. These schools all feature recent construction and the latest in classroom technology. It shouls be fascinating for administrators, board mebmers and teachers in other school districts contemplating technology purchases.

If you are interested in participating and seeing all the new ways school do business and teach students (and you should, it is amazing!) then contact Ann Varkados at 253-683-6016 to get on the list of participants.

In October, Spanaway Middle School, Thompson Elementary and Roy Elementary schools were visited by the Bethel FUTURESCHOOLS team along with district key communicators. The team visits each school in the district bi-annually to observe school reform efforts in action. The  October 11 visit began with a brief presentation from the principal regarding school goals and specific things to look for, according to what the specific school was focusing upon to improve student learning.

Visitors are divided into small teams to visit classrooms for 8 to 10 minutes. At the conclusion of classroom visits they met and debriefed with each principal. At the middle school they observed “Making Middle Grades Work” including evidence of rigor, student engagement, and posted learning targets. At the elementary level they observed evidence of differentiated instruction and small group work. The Pierce County Skills Center will be of particular interest in this week’s tour as it’s programs are unique in the county.