The Teaching and Learning Department supports quality instruction and rich learning experiences in a wide variety of ways and functions. Our goal is to provide effective, differentiated, and intensive support to teachers and students.  Our staff works together with schools and parents to enable children to achieve their highest potential and reach individual goals. 

We provide many professional development training opportunities for teachers throughout the year.  Teachers are required to be current with and to implement the latest research-based practices and initiatives.  These include transitioning to Common Core State Standards and other national and state learning standards, preparing students for the state tests called Smarter Balanced Assessments, and learning how to use the latest technology such as Chromebooks and interactive projectors.  

Our department is also responsible for the highly capable student program. This year, we continue to expand services from kindergarten through grade 12. Our goals are to identify more eligible students, to reach out to under-represented populations, and to improve our continuum of services. 

We also support science instruction in elementary and middle schools through stocking, distributing, and purchasing interactive kits that feature hands-on and engaging learning experiences. Our Science Center maintains thousands of educational items from fossils to beakers to pill bugs.

We Are Accountable

Our team administers legal and instructional requirements to assess student learning.  We provide support to teachers in selecting and implementing classroom-based assessments in social studies, art and physical fitness; maintaining i-Ready math and reading data; and managing state-mandated tests. Student test scores are one way to measure our department’s effectiveness.

Finally, we are conscientious stewards of our publicly-funded instructional resources. We manage the handling and storage of learning materials, and we surplus obsolete textbooks.  We manage inventory control procedures that utilize barcoding to track all secondary and most elementary text and library books.

Back Row: Pete Plumly, Amber Williams, Emily Couch, Patsy Ramirez, Deena Malsom
Middle Row: Leila Brown, Susie Nesmith, Katie Coder, Nicole Bouvion, Cammi Fleming
Front Row: Liz Ritz, Krystal Erwin, Kim Kellogg