Debbie B. Fowler's Blog (3)

Five years ago we noticed that our reading scores were remaining very poor. Our school is in a rural setting in Kentucky, and we decided to take action. We began to offer a reading literacy class for incoming freshmen who were reading below grade level. I taught the class for four years, and the first thing I noticed was that the kids all came in saying, "I hate to read. I don't want reading class. Change my schedule." The class had to begin being all about relationships. We learned about each… Continue

I just wanted to share that we have only tried the freshman transition approach for nine weeks. At the end of our first grading period, we only had four students in our academy with any failing grades. We have 193 students in the freshman class, and while the freshman class comprises 28% of the school's populations, we only comprised 15% of the in-school suspension referrals. Many of our freshman in-school suspension referrals were not for discipline issues, but for those who did not attend our… Continue

This has been the most awesome year of my sixteen years of teaching! We have just begun a Freshman Academy at our high school, and the difference the team approach is making in these students' lives is just heartwarming! I am so glad I attended Mr. Habeeb's conference in Nashville, Tennessee. For the sake of our students, I am so happy we are giving them the freshman opportunity!