New classroom teaching methods are coming to Spring City Elementary this year, and Superintendent Dr. David Goodin is excited about what the year will bring.
Spring City Elementary is now a pilot school for a program called Hybrid Learning. Hybrid Learning's main model is described as a "rotate within classroom" model.
Only four other elementary schools in the United States use this system. Spring City Elementary will be the first school east of the Mississippi and the first public school to use hybrid learning (the other four are charter schools).
Goodin explained that within each classroom, there will be three stations for students to use. One station will allow students to work on projects, either together or individually; a second station will be a bank of eight computers, set up for students to work; and the third station will be traditional classroom teaching with the teacher.
The three groups of students will move from station to station during the day.
During Monday's school board meeting, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Keith Floyd explained that one of the biggest benefits to this system is that teachers and staff will get daily reports on student progress.
"We hope this will lead to individual progress for each student. The class won't be tied to the lowest learner - each student can move at their own rate," Floyd said.
Floyd said that the system allows for more time for face-to-face instruction, as teachers will be working with smaller groups of students during instruction time.
The school will kick off the new program on September 18. The classrooms and the new system will be on display at Back To School night on September 6, and there will be a community open house on October 15.
Along with all the changes comes a slight change to the school's name. It will officially be known as the Spring City Elementary Hybrid Learning School.
"We're all very excited about this," said board member Edward Dressler.
