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Castle Rock Early Childhood Learning Center

Early Learning Educators in GLAD® Training

Project GLAD® trainer Melanie Hill teaches early learning educators
strategies to help children have the academic language and
language skills they need to be successful in school.

Experts from the National Training Center for Orange County Department of Education in California are in Wenatchee today, training early learning educators in strategies to help children attain the language development skills they need to be successful in school. Trainers Christie Baird and Melanie Hill are certified Project GLAD® trainers. GLAD®is a model of professional development dedicated to building academic language and literacy for all students, especially English language learners.

Wenatchee School District has three certified GLAD trainers, Cynthia Valdez, Terri Goveia, and Kathryn Anderson, who are certified K-12. They are in the process of becoming pre-K - 12 certified.

At today’s training, “We have our Castle Rock preschool teachers,” says Cynthia Valdez. “We have some kindergarten teachers as well, and a couple of first grade teachers. La Conner School District has joined us.”

After a learning session in the morning, the educators traveled to St. Joseph Elementary School to observe the trainers model early learning GLAD techniques. Valdez says the preschool GLAD lays the foundational vocabulary on which we teachers build the academic language the students need to be successful. 

”It's one of the best training models,” says Valdez. The model includes initial instruction, followed by in-classroom demonstration, followed by time to prepare, with follow-up support for the early learning educators. “Once they leave this training we continue to support them as they implement this.”

According to Valdez, early learning preparation is critical to success in school for children. “We know that when students enter school, wherever they start [academically] is pretty much where they stay. If they're two years behind, and we make one year's growth, everyone's making one year's growth, so they're still two years behind,” she explains. “We want to catch kids up and get them as much oracy, as much language development as possible, so that they start on level with their peers.”
 

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April 1

Spring Break (No School)

Start: Apr 1, 2024 End: Apr 5, 2024

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April 9

Board Meeting

6:00 PM

April 15

Board Workshop

1:00 PM

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