The East Wareham Elementary School, Hammond School and Minot Forest School principal, assistant principals, teachers and staff members believe that every child can learn if shown different ways to solve problems.  We are here to assist every child to succeed and grow in confidence and academic skills.  We believe that children should think “they can do” the lessons presented so that they will be able to work hard in order to succeed.  We encourage children to ask questions.  They should never give up or stop trying.  Teachers and staff continue to provide as many different teaching strategies as needed in order for all children to learn.

East and Hammond are both “Reading is Fundamental” (RIF) Schools.  They belong to a national organization committed to the advancement of literacy.   In order to continue membership, each year we must offer three book distributions to the same group of children.  The children select a book of their choice to bring home to enjoy and keep. 

All three schools invite community readers to read and tell stories to our children each fall.  This too is part of the RIF program design.  Each year we add more and more community readers to our list who insist we call them back for the next year!  They really enjoy our children.  The librarian, Lead Teacher and Title I teacher coordinate all the RIF activities and events.

All students will be participating in the math program, Everyday Math.  Teachers will continue to monitor the children’s progress closely. Other Math activities may be included in the lessons.

Literacy Consensus: Teachers are committed to offer their children daily literacy opportunities when:                          

Children have the opportunity to read to each other and/or in small groups at least 2-3 times a week within their classroom.

Children have the opportunity to independently read within the classroom at least 2-3 times a week.

Children in all grades have the opportunity to write in their journals and/or other creative writing assignments every day.  Kindergarten journal writing should be presented as soon as possible and be continued daily throughout the year.

Rhyming skills and phonemic awareness will be emphasized in Kindergarten throughout the school year.

Parents and grandparents are invited to attend at least one program a year per grade level.  During these programs our students present and demonstrate their skills and creativity.

Fine arts are encouraged and integrated within our curricula as much as possible.

The curriculum (what to teach, how to teach, and to assess) reflects national standards and state curriculum frameworks in every class in every lesson.

Teachers will provide regular opportunities for students to learn in differentiated learning settings and with differential instruction.

Every opportunity will be offered for teachers and children to move towards integrated thematic teaming and learning.

The incorporation of a range of assessments including DIBELS, GMADE, GRADE, performance tasks, projects, portfolios, DRA, or the like, and others is a school-wide commitment.

The Houghton Mifflin Reading Program, The Sitton Spelling Program, Wilson Fundations, Word Walls, Bradley Reading, Language Arts and Steck Vaughn Phonics and Elements or Reading-Vocabulary will be incorporated in literacy classes.

6+1 Traits Writing will be incorporated into the writing curriculum.