West Early Childhood PDS Partnership

West Elementary Professional Development School Partnership

West Elementary is an Athens City School District Professional Development School (PDS) located on Central Avenue in Athens, Ohio. This Pre-Kindergarten through sixth grade school serves families representing a varied range of cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

The teachers and administration at West Elementary are continually striving to find ways to meet the educational needs of all children. Because children enter school with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, West Elementary recognizes the need to assess and identify deficiencies in early language and literacy skills. This practice allows children to receive individualized intervention at the beginning of their educational experiences.

Ohio University Partnership Candidates provide the necessary support to help enable this intervention program. Together with classroom teachers, PDS Candidates provide an intensive planned course of intervention designed to help children achieve grade level expectations.

As part of their philosophical base, West Elementary puts into practice the guiding principles of the Responsive Classroom approach. The Responsive Classroom approach uses practical strategies to infuse both academic and social learning into the curriculum. This approach creates a learning environment where children can thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

With these two foci in place, West Elementary offers Ohio University Candidates the opportunity to:

Work individually or with small groups on specific skill-building strategies that focus on tactile, auditory, visual and process-oriented literacy development;

Use a variety of assessment instruments to gather data for classroom teachers;

Experience the Responsive Classroom approach;

Observe experienced teachers;

Practice teaching and learning strategies that support integrated content area learning in Math, Science and Social Studies for K –3 students;

Gain experience teaching, and guiding children within various age groups/grade levels, K-3.

For more information, please contact:

Grace Essex
Faculty Coordinator, West ECE PDS Partnership
W321 Grover Center
essexg@ohio.edu

Lindsey West
Teacher Liaison
Kindergarten Teacher
West Elementary School
41 Central Avenue
Athens , OH 45701
740.593.6866
lwest@athenscity.k12.oh.us