Attention: Parents/Guardians of 4th & 5th grade students:
After a year-long pause in the Elementary Learning Enrichment Program (LEP), due to COVID, the district is bringing the program back for 4th and 5th graders this year. The North Colonie LEP Program seeks to develop the potential of intellectually and creatively talented students. The program is structured to provide an enriched curriculum in the areas of STEM and Humanities, beyond what is possible in the regular classroom. The LEP program offers activities that challenge and enrich each identified student to their maximum potential.
The LEP program provides students the opportunity to:
- Investigate and pursue a line of inquiry aligned with the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) and ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) standards
- Plan, design, create and demonstrate a product based on the Engineering Design Process
- Interact and collaborate with like-minded peers
- Take intellectual risks in a supportive environment
- Reflect on their own learning experiences
The LEP program is a pull-out program for students who are generally already working above grade level, and are able to complete work independently. Students in the program will be pulled out of class once every six day cycle for 90 minutes. (Days and times are building specific.)
Students will be missing class time to attend the LEP program, and are responsible for making up any work missed while out of the classroom. We do not give much, if any, homework for LEP. The exception is when we are reading a novel. Students will be asked to complete a reading assignment at home to be prepared for the discussion and activities during the next class. They will have a whole week to complete the assignment, and the reading for LEP also counts for the students outside reading logs. It is important for students in the program to be responsible for the reading for LEP and making up the work they miss in their regular class.
We do work with classroom teachers to help students be successful, but if not doing the work becomes a consistent problem, we will need to revisit the student’s placement in LEP.
This fall we will be offering the online Cognitive Abilities testing to all 4th and 5th grade students. Students who meet the qualifications for the program will be invited to participate.
During the first trimester, classroom teachers will be administering the online standardized test to all students in their elementary schools. Please Note: Testing will only occur once for this school year. We will open testing for all 3rd graders in the spring to qualify for the 2022/2023 school year. 4th grade students who qualify based on this fall’s testing, do not need to retest for the following year.
Current 5th grade students who participated in the LEP program as 3rd graders during the 2019/2020 school year will take the test with their classmates this fall. However, they will remain in the program unless they wish to be removed.
Questions please contact our District-wide LEP Teachers:
Amy Parks – amyparks@ncolonie.org
Stacey Shepard – staceyshepard@ncolonie.org