During Assumption High Schools Lead and Learn time, students have been given the opportunity to use the 25 minutes in the middle of their day to reset, catch up or meet with a teacher in a challenging subject. This feature is not new to the returning students from the previous school year; however, many students wonder about the building blocks of RTI.
In 2018, Assumption took the actions required to become a Professional Learning Community School, including a development in their Response to Intervention. According to Kristin Walsh, Director of Leadership and Engagement, faculty and staff have taken this Response to Intervention to mean Rockets Taking Initiative to help their student body better understand RTI time. The young women of Assumption have taken advantage of the time given to them, Walsh reports students praising this utility given to them after asking their thoughts; many saying that it “…felt purposeful.” Walsh explains some of the benefits of this given time as two major points: students are learning how to take the initiative, and students can get the help they need during school hours. “It’s that students know what it is, that we hope for them to learn, and then take some action…” Walsh states. RTI week has benefits all around the table, branching more than just the students, teachers are gracious for this time to help their students learn and get the help they need without the stress of working around before or after school hours to provide for them.
Students can get the help they need from teachers through the form of email requests and if a student is contacted about meeting with a teacher, they are required to attend that meeting regardless of previous plans. Faculty also had set days of priority for each department so that they could schedule a time to meet with all of their struggling students, and not just a few that they could fit in like in previous RTI weeks.
Currently part of the Assumption schedule on Wednesdays is a late start, allowing for faculty to have meetings, and for students to get an extra hour of sleep. However, due to the recent years of COVID and the pandemic causing students to be both in and out of the building, Assumption introduced “Lead and Learn Wednesdays” as a way for students to get caught up, reset, and get some extra help. They re-implemented this idea in recent years to help students stay productive and be successful in their futures, however as RTI week becomes more advanced, and continues to prove to hold benefits, Walsh says that we will see fewer of these Lead and Learn Wednesdays, but more Rockets Taking Initiative days.
Assumption High School is helping teach their girls how to use a great tool given to them to help better themselves and promote their success. RTI is something that Assumption is working on improving so that it can be a productive time for more than just the students. Walsh says that RTI is going to continue to be a part of Assumptions Lead and Learn time, and will start to appear more as the years go on.
