By Lisa Carolin
Parents of North Creek Elementary School students had a chance to see what’s going on in the school’s classrooms first hand during the first Coffee and Learning Tour, which was organized and run by Principal Kimberly Gillow.
Gillow, who was hired this past summer, shared her professional background and talked about her family with the two dozen parents who attended.
“This is a chance for parents to see what happens in the classroom,” said Gillow. “We ask our teachers to be experts in six to seven content areas as well as looking out for our students’ social and emotional welfare. If the social and emotional life of the child are not solid, they can’t succeed academically.”
Gillow talked about playing outside for an hour a day being an important part of social development for students. She also said that the Chelsea School District has received feedback from parents saying they want their children to have the opportunity for more creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication.
Curriculum was reviewed and Gillow explained how North Creek teachers are using the workshop format to teach by incorporating a mini lesson, independent reading and writing, small group instruction, and one to one conferring.
Parents had the chance to see the workshop format in action during the Learning Tour when they visited several classrooms and had the chance to interact with students.
Afterward, Gillow asked parents for their feedback about what they learned and what they still would like to learn as well as whether or not to offer Coffee and Learning Tours in the future.
Following the final questions and answer session, she reminded parents, “Better to come and ask us than to get your information from Facebook, which isn’t always accurate.”
