Curriculum & Educational Philosophy
Our Mission Statement
Glen Lake Community Schools is committed to providing a safe learning environment that nurtures the intellect, character and physical well-being of every student.
Common Core State Academic Standards
Toward the end of the 2010-2011 school year, Glen Lake teachers and administrators began the huge undertaking of adhering to the Common Core Academic Standards.
In June 2010, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a set of state-led education standards, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The English-language arts and mathematics standards for grades K-12 were developed in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders including content experts, states, teachers, school administrators and parents. The standards establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America's children for success in college and work.
Shortly after their release, the Michigan State Board of Education adopted the Career and College Ready Common Core State Standards (CCR-CCSS) as the new standards for K-12 Mathematics and English Language Arts. Concurrently, Michigan signed on as a governing state with the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium which applied for and received federal funds to develop a series of formative, interim, and summative assessments based on the CCR-CCSS. New summative assessments are scheduled to replace the MEAP and MME in the spring of 2015.
We are fortunate to have a staff dedicated to make this transition smooth for our students. For the 2011-2012 school year, MME and MEAP assessments are unchanged.
For several years we have worked to understand how assessment data can help us better serve our students. The elementary school uses AIMs web and NWEA assessments as well as MEAP scores to monitor student progress. Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, our secondary team will be including the PLAN and Explore assessments in the 8th and 9th grades. MME will continue to be administered to High School juniors.