Hi, I’m Paul Imhoff, superintendent of the Upper Arlington Schools.

This fall we will begin using a new progress report at the elementary level.  A team of teachers and administrators has been working on this for more than a year now, and that group has developed a tool that provides a greater level of detail while being more user-friendly for both families and teachers.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the progress reports are going online.  You’ll access the reports through PowerSchool, which you may be familiar with if you have an older student.  In late October all elementary families will receive in the mail personalized instructions for setting up a PowerSchool account, so you can be ready to go when progress reports come out a few weeks later.

Another thing you might notice is more detail in the grading scale.  Teachers in the contemporary program had previously had just four levels - emerging, developing, achieving and extending. Now, all of our teachers will have seven different levels to better explain exactly how your student is doing in a particular area.

We also know that effort is incredibly important for elementary students. You’ll also see that scale running from 1 to 4, with 4 being consistently strong effort.

You’ll also see that the learning standards on the progress reports have been updated.  This ties into the performance goal in our strategic plan.  Our teachers have been working to identify the highest priority learning standards for students in Upper Arlington, and the progress reports now align with that work.

Thanks for taking the time to learn about these important updates with the elementary progress reports.  Please look for that mailing with additional information and PowerSchool instructions in late October.  If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Keith Pomeroy or Michelle Banks in our Teaching and Learning Department.

Have a great day and as always go Bears!