Walk to Learn – Cycle 2

We finish up our first twelve week cycle of Walk to Learn on December 20 with relief, gratitude, and optimism.

After twelve weeks of Walk to Learn, we first feel a sense of relief. Although we built this program off our existing Walk to Read format, we couldn’t be sure how it was going to go. Would the students like it? Would the teachers like it? Is it going to be one big mess? After twelve weeks, we can confidently say that we made the right decision with this new adventure. Students, teachers, and parents have all shared how much they like the program. Things weren’t always perfect, but we learned a lot from this round of classes. We now take what we learned and get ready for Cycle 2.

We also have a feeling of gratitude. Our PTO and parent community sponsored Walk to Learn. Without the support of our PTO at the Benefit Ball last year, we would not have Walk to Learn or Walk to Read (K/1 students). That is huge for three reasons: 1) Walk to Learn and Walk to Read provide differentiation for all students to be challenged at their level. 2) Walk to Learn also provides and element of choice to engage students in their learning. 3) Walk to Learn and Walk to Read are systematic intervention programs needed by our struggling students. So thank you parents of Prestwood for supporting such an important program.

Finally, we wrap up Walk to Learn with a sense of optimism for the next cycle. We are excited to align the classes in Cycle 2 more closely to our students’ interests. We also have a clear idea of what we are getting into with Walk to Learn this cycle. Most importantly, we look forward to offering math intervention this cycle in addition to the reading intervention we offered last cycle. We have needed math intervention for many years. Now that we have a school-wide math program, we hope adding math intervention will be a much needed addition to Walk to Learn.