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Camilla, Millenia ES Student: Hi, I'm Camilla Smith from Millennia Elementary. Coming up: some of the best reading resources.

Announcer: Presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Here's our OCPS superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi, everyone. We have a very important topic today: progress reports. I can't believe we're already halfway through the first nine weeks. Seems like we just started school yesterday. Progress reports- they're out, the first one of the school year- and these are critical to catching academic concerns early. Joining me today is Deputy Superintendent Jose Martinez and our Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Tashanda Brown-Cannon. Welcome, Jose and Tashanda. All right. So Jose, we're going to start with you. Share with families why it is so important to stay on top of their child's progress.

Jose Martinez, Deputy Superintendent: Definitely. I could share with you that as a parent, I check my son and daughter's progress report, you know, regularly. You know, it's important just to identify, you know, any potential challenges while, at the same time, too, celebrating those successes as well that may exist, you know, as we progress throughout the course of the marking period.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah, it's great that we want to say concerns and successes, because sometimes we tend to just focus on what's not going well, so I'm glad you, you pointed that out. So Tashanda, if we catch concerns early, it can be a lot less stressful for everyone.

Dr. Tashanda Brown-Cannon, Chief Academic Officer: Absolutely. It's very important that we catch those concerns early. We want to be able to identify the academic deficiencies, whether it's ELA or mathematics in any of the core areas, so that we can provide the targeted interventions to help students be able to thrive.

Dr. Vazquez: So, we want them to check regularly so they can see if they're missing grades, and then obviously the formal times with progress reports and then report cards. So, Jose, if a parent does notice, "Oh, my child seems to be struggling in, let's say, algebra, right? It's on the progress report." What should a parent do once they notice there's a concern?

Jose Martinez: Really, the first step would be to reach out to the teacher, just to communicate and, and just highlight, "Hey, this is something that I've noticed with my child. What are some things that you're seeing?" So that we can create a plan for improvement for the student.

Dr. Vazquez: Right, because the last thing we want is to be at the last marking period and the student doesn't have enough time to turn it around. I think a parent needs to understand, and the student, that if we can catch it early, we're going to be able to help you. Now, it's a lot easier these days to access information than when my children were in school. I can tell you that many times I had to hunt for the progress report, and a lot of times it was, "Don't worry about it, Mom. I got it." That was a sure sign that we had to intervene. So, if a parent is having difficulties accessing the progress report, what can they do?

Dr. Tashanda Brown-Cannon: They can, of course, contact their administrator or their Skyward lead on the school campus, and that individual will be able to provide the parent with assistance.

Dr. Vazquez: Great. And that's at any time, correct? Not just now during the progress report. And in some of our schools, we also have a Parent Engagement Liaison, right, that can also assist them, if not how to troubleshoot, but to get to the right person that can help them, right? Yes, ma'am. What if, for whatever reason, let's say they are still not- maybe they don't have the technology at home. Is there some- something else that they could do to be able to try to access some help?

Jose Martinez: Definitely. So, we have tons of resources available for our parents, you know, to just reach out and contact the school directly, whether it be a school counselor, whether it be the teachers. Coming in person is also something that, you know, we welcome our families to do, just to really connect with us, because that partnership with our families is something that we really continue to thrive on, ultimately to do the best for our kids.

Dr. Vazquez: Right. So, a couple of things I want to expand on. So if for some reason they're having that difficulty accessing, they can always come into the school; they can reach out to the teacher through ParentSquare and see how they may be able to get access to the p - the progress report or the grades. And then you mentioned, you know, we have a lot of resources. Many of our families may not know that they can go onto our website and under the parent tab, there are, there's a plethora of resources, including resources from our parent academy that are online, and they can access right on their phone, wherever they are comfortable. So, let's, let's talk a little bit about specific resources we have, because as you know, our, our parents can see their child working on their devices, and sometimes they might notice an icon or a certain program.

Dr. Vazquez: What, what are some of the programs that their child may be accessing for help if they're struggling, say, in ELA or Math?

Jose Martinez: So, in elementary, we use Lexia, which really supports our foundational skills in kindergarten through second grade. For our third grade students who need some additional support, we do recommend that parents allow them the opportunity to utilize Lexia as well. This year, we have a new textbook adoption, Benchmark Advance, which also provides us with software that really supports comprehension. And in math, we are working with IXL, which is a wonderful opportunity. It will help build those strong math foundational skills, and IXL goes all the way up into high school. With middle school, because we don't want to leave our secondary students out, we have Reading Plus, because by the time students are in middle school, for those who are reading below grade level, they're struggling with multisyllabic words, or they need additional supports with fluency and comprehension. And Reading Plus narrows gaps for our students. It assists us in doing that.

Dr. Vazquez: So, we have the resources; parents can reach out, and the earlier we can intervene, the better for the child. And I cannot stress enough how important it is that a parent reaches out to their child's teacher. They really want to be able to help, and they want parents to be partners in this educational journey. So, thank you both for being here. Important topic: progress reports, making sure parents know that we can help their child. There are a lot of resources, so I appreciate the conversation. Coming up on our podcast, we will highlight some of the other learning applications parents can use at home to help their child. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. Have a wonderful week.

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic, listen to the Mondays with Maria Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step on your financial journey. Learn more at AdditionFi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.ocps.net. I'm your announcer, Jamir Jones, a student at OCVS. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.