Okotoks Junior High School is undertaking an innovative new program in an attempt to boost students’ grades.

Shelly Read, learning coach at Okotoks Junior High School, demonstrates some of the Response to Invention principles to a student. photo by Rick Northrop

The program, called Response to Intervention, started in September and is a three-level, multi-approach plan that will take three to five years to fully implement. Andrea Bodnar, vice-principal at Okotoks Junior High School (OJHS), said she has been impressed with the results in the short period the program has been part of the school.

“I’ve been a learning support teacher for a lot of years,” said Bodnar. “This makes so much sense to me, it really is about helping students to be all that they can be.”

The first level of the program involves an after-hours study group called The Hub. While it is not a mandatory or punitive measure, such as detention, Bodnar has found students are already getting more homework assignments done when they take part in The Hub.

“Parent feedback has really been positive, very supportive,” said Bodnar. “Our hope is that it’s going to make a difference to students’ achievement.”

Shelly Read, a learning coach at OJHS, has also seen results in the three short months the program has been in place. She has come to appreciate how staff and students seem to be pulling together in one direction.

“It’s a new model so we are trying to go slow at it but I think it’s off to a good start,” said Read.

All teachers take collective responsibility for student success under the Response to Intervention program compared to past practices where each teacher would only look after the students in their own classroom.

“Every teacher in this building, every adult in this building is concerned about each and every individual student,” said Bodnar.

OJHS has a faculty and staff of approximately 50 teachers and 670 students.

Another aspect of the program’s first level is Level A assessments, which are tests given at the start of the year to understand where students are with their learning. The second level of Response to Intervention involves extra math help.

“We can do a number of things to support them (students) in the classroom but if they are not getting it or they are not achieving then we need to go to the next level,” said Bodnar, who started working at the school one and half years ago.

rnorthrop@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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