2006-2007 Academic Coach at Rancho Elementary

In response to staff requests for increased classroom support and generous funding by our PTA, Rancho was able to add an invaluable Academic Coach to our classroom enrichment program this year. The Academic Coach provides a wide range of academic support that benefits all of our students. Teachers now have the ability to identify small groups of children with specific needs that can work directly with the Academic Coach. The benefits are many:

• Students who need extra help have a chance to receive very focused attention during regular school hours
• Students that are excelling in a particular topic can be challenged further
• Teacher time can stay very focused on the core instruction received by all students
• The program is flexible and allows different groups of children to benefit from the Academic Coach throughout the year according to their needs as determined by their teacher

The success of this enrichment program has been so great that it was expanded mid-year to include an additional two hours a week. Each 1^st and 2^nd grade classroom has the Academic Coach for ½ hour per day, 4 days a week. Grades 3^rd -5^th have our Academic Coach available to them for a total of 90 minutes per week, per grade level. Teachers at each grade level will collaborate to formulate groups. Catherine is able to work in both the classroom and other spaces with the small groups of students.

This program is a perfect example of how your PTA dollars are spent to directly benefit your child’s education. Funding for this particular program was raised by direct pledges made at last year’s Spring Fling and supplemented by Rancho PTA general funds raised in the 2005-2006 school year.

A large part of the success of our new Academic Coach Enrichment Program can be attributed to finding the right person to fill this new role. Rancho was lucky to find the perfect fit right in the Rancho community with Catherine Nam. Many of you may know Catherine already. She has two children enrolled at Rancho. Catherine taught at White Hill Middle School in Fairfax as well as at Quimby Oak in San Jose. She also has previous experience teaching Kindergarten and 1st grade. She has an extensive background as a math mentor, served on the math leadership team, and trained all district teachers in Algebra while at White Hill. Catherine also worked as a reader/scorer for a countywide writing task force and taught GATE classes. Catherine has her BA in psychology from UC Santa Cruz and her teaching credential from San Francisco State.