Casa Grande Elementary District

The Casa Grande Elementary School District will ensure that interventions address the academic impact of lost instructional time and respond to academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students. All schools within our District are Title I schools; we serve students who were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to family income levels.

ESSER III funding will be used in the following ways to address the ACADEMIC impact of lost instructional time:

SUMMER SCHOOL---Summer School is offered to all kindergarten-8th grade students. Outreach efforts will be made to ensure participation by economically disadvantaged students, children with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness; and students in foster care. Funding is used for teacher and coordinator salaries and benefits; and transportation.

INTERSESSION LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES---Intersession learning opportunities will be planned and scheduled for the second week of Fall Break and Spring Breaks. Site coordinators will be responsible for coordination of staff and students to ensure that
programs are fully staffed and the maximum number of students are enrolled; and responsible for coordinating transportation services and snacks or meal services through our transportation and nutrition services departments. Funding is used for teachers and coordinators salaries and benefits; and transportation.

EMPLOYMENT OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS FOR ACADEMIC INTERVENTION: We will hire educational assistants(working under the direction of certified teachers) to provide direct instruction to address specific academic needs in reading and math, as determined by the school's intervention or leadership team. The frequency, size, and duration of the groups will vary from site to site depending on student academic needs. Targeted students will be those at academic risk.

EMPLOYMENT OF PERMANENT GUEST TEACHERS--- Permanent Guest Teachers; salary and benefits, to support sites due to lack of qualified substitutes in the employment pool; and to provide academic consistency in interventions for students. Guest Teachers will be full time school employees, participating in staff in-services and training alongside their school site staff. They are critical to the success of our intervention programs; allowing teachers and support staff to implement daily interventions, which are otherwise cancelled when staff have to cover for unfilled vacancies.

IREADY ASSESSMENT AND PERSONALIZED INSTRUCTION--- In order to know what academic gaps exist, we need an assessment system that is robust enough to dig deep into the needs of each student as well as differentiated supports to move these students to where they should be in their grade level. Funding will be used to purchase I-Ready Math & Reading Site Licenses for Assessment and Personalized Instruction for all twelve schools, and to pay for the associated professional development for implementation.

SCIENCE KITS--- Purchasing Science Kits will allow us to engage students in hands-on learning opportunities that will give them experiences with the application of literacy and math in science content to accelerate learning. This will supplement our adopted curriculums and support students who are struggling with abstract content, by providing hands-on, engaging experiences. Funds for kits, and printing costs.

READING MATERIALS FOR SMALL GROUP AND INTERVENTION IMPLEMENTATION---Small group instruction and reading intervention will be enhanced through the purchase of leveled text sets and guided reading books for student use.

NEARPOD ONLINE INSTRUCTIONAL PLATFORM---This platform supports learning through lesson libraries, activity banks, live annotation capabilities, interactive slides and videos; for teacher paced and student paced instruction. Funds will purchase site licenses for all of our 12 schools.

DIGITAL LEARNING COACH---In order to support staff who have transitioned from traditional classroom setting to permanent online teachers at our CGOLA (Casa Grande Online Learning Academy), we will hire a staff member to serve as the Digital Learning Instructional Coach. This coach will plan, model and co-teach effective lessons K-8 integrating technology in the classroom and/or online; and provide support with implementation of best practices in educational technology. Funding for salary & benefits.

DYSLEXIA DESIGNEE TRAINING STIPENDS---The legislation in A.R.S -15-704 is designed to help identify students with characteristics of Dyslexia so interventions can be in place. As required by ARS 15-211 (revised by SB1572), school districts must ensure that at least one K-3 teacher in each school is a Dyslexia Training Designee (DTD). Once trained, the DTD will be a resource for colleagues and other educators on the campus for reading instruction, intensifying instruction or intervention strategies and the characteristics of dyslexia. The Dyslexia Training Designee will support all educators, in instructional practices and interventions to support all readers, including those that may show characteristics of dyslexia. Funding for stipends and benefits.

ESSER III funding will be used in the following ways to address the SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL impact of lost instructional time:

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB--- Providing summer supplemental learning and support services for 50 students attending Cottonwood, Palo Verde, and Mesquite Elementary schools; three elementary sites with our highest poverty rates. Outreach efforts will be
made to ensure participation by economically disadvantaged students, children with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness; and students in foster care. The costs cover a student's enrollment fees.

SEL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS--- 90 minute virtual Happy for No Reason (HFNR) presentation that will provide an overview of key HFNR concepts, including the Foundation, and the Pillars of the Heart and the Mind. (These are key concepts from Marci Shimoff's HFNR book and her inner home for happiness.) Second presentation TBD or group coaching and/or 1:1 coaching/support based on the needs of school counselors. Funding for training and pd books for counselors.

SEL BOOKS & MATERIALS FOR COUNSELORS to support student SEL interventions---We will support our counselor's SEL instruction by purchasing books and instructional materials for their programming that can be used in class lessons, group instruction, or individual
counseling sessions.

SEL INTERVENTIONIST--- The majority of our school sites have been able to secure a qualified school counselor; however, candidates were lacking for Desert Willow Elementary. We will fund a SEL Interventionist for their site; salary and benefits.