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“It really starts with staff and parent buy-in,” said Franklin principal Heather Vincent.
“We have really seen the benefits of having AVID at all grade levels. Not only do we have that college-going culture throughout our building, we have more student engagement and a deeper understanding of the content being taught,” she said.
Vincent added that with school-wide AVID, there are common expectations in every classroom, which has led to fewer office referrals because the students know what’s expected of them no matter which teacher they have.
Linda Hughes, second grade teacher at Caldwell Elementary, enjoyed the opportunity to learn from other teachers. Caldwell is using AVID in the primary grades and the staff wants to expand it school-wide.
“Franklin sets a wonderful example for the rest of us,” said Hughes. “By visiting their classrooms, it shows us where we need to go to provide AVID to all grade levels.”
The visitors were divided into 9 groups that were named after a Kansas college or university. Franklin Student Ambassadors led the groups of visitors around the school and answered questions. The student ambassadors applied to be an ambassador, which included a written application and an interview with the principal. Nine students out of 44 applicants were selected to represent their school.
“This is a huge honor for them to be selected,” said Vincent. “I’m so proud of all the students who were willing to apply to help showcase our school.
AVID Showcase
Staff from 15 WPS schools and the Topeka Public Schools learned about different teaching strategies during Franklin Elementary’s AVID Showcase. Franklin is a national AVID Showcase School, and Franklin teachers demonstrated how they successfully implement AVID school-wide. Most of the schools already use AVID at certain grade levels, but don’t have it throughout their school.
“It really starts with staff and parent buy-in,” said Franklin principal Heather Vincent.
“We have really seen the benefits of having AVID at all grade levels. Not only do we have that college-going culture throughout our building, we have more student engagement and a deeper understanding of the content being taught,” she said.
Vincent added that with school-wide AVID, there are common expectations in every classroom, which has led to fewer office referrals because the students know what’s expected of them no matter which teacher they have.
Linda Hughes, second grade teacher at Caldwell Elementary, enjoyed the opportunity to learn from other teachers. Caldwell is using AVID in the primary grades and the staff wants to expand it school-wide.
“Franklin sets a wonderful example for the rest of us,” said Hughes. “By visiting their classrooms, it shows us where we need to go to provide AVID to all grade levels.”
The visitors were divided into 9 groups that were named after a Kansas college or university. Franklin Student Ambassadors led the groups of visitors around the school and answered questions. The student ambassadors applied to be an ambassador, which included a written application and an interview with the principal. Nine students out of 44 applicants were selected to represent their school.
“This is a huge honor for them to be selected,” said Vincent. “I’m so proud of all the students who were willing to apply to help showcase our school.
