LUDLOW HIGH SCHOOL

FOCUSED ON READING AND WRITTEN RESPONSE

We enter October after completing a very successful first month of school. Students transitioned from summer vacation quickly and have been energetic in their approach to their academics. The high school's new Sustained Silent Reading program has been very popular and successful after only three sessions. Students and staff have thoroughly enjoyed the thirty minutes of free reading time every other week. It has been quite impressive to witness the stillness and quiet in the building as everyone engages in silent reading.

The high school's work with its instructional focus on reading comprehension and written response continues to yield great results as we all recently saw with the high school again making Adequate Yearly Progress on the state's MCAS exam. The aggregate and all the high school subgroups performed incredibly well hitting the state-assigned levels for achievement on the MCAS exam.

October brings the high school to another new initiative connected to our instructional focus. In the first few weeks of October, every student at Ludlow High School will take the Scholastic Reading Inventory assessment. This computer-based program allows each student to select categories of literature that interest him or her and proceed through a reading assessment that adjusts to the reading comprehension level of each student. Directly at the end of the assessment, each student receives a reading lexile score and, most importantly, a recommended reading list set at the student's reading level using the selected areas of interest. The program will provide students and teachers with valuable information on the reading comprehension levels. Students will gain an important understanding of how they are currently reading, and teachers will have new information that will be very important in planning lessons and units in order to be sure that all students have the opportunity to achieve and make progress. This will be a groundbreaking program for Ludlow High School, and it should provide great benefits for the students as we continue to work with the Scholastic Reading Inventory program.

Our entrance into October also brings the return of the Big Y Education Express. This program has been extremely beneficial to the high school in years past when the points accrued allowed the high school to purchase computers, LCD projectors, and other needed equipment for teachers and students to utilize. It is easy to become part of this support program. If you shop at the Big Y Supermarket, simply let the cashier know as you checkout that you are sponsoring Ludlow High School with any points earned. The cashier should be able to sign you up for the program. We hope that the program will again bring the school some new equipment that will help students move forward in their academics. I want to thank all of the high school families for their support.