Tag Archives: Beaver Dam

Beaver Dam Middle School improves focus on reading

Beaver Dam Middle School has created a way to add reading at the beginning of the school day.

The Reading Responders initiative is the brainchild of three teachers at BDMS; Angie Vessey, Katie Schwartz and Paul Friedemann. Students spend 21 minutes of homeroom time in Reading Responders Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

“Reading Responders is the process that was implemented beginning in the 2014-’15 school year as a data-driven decision to support students in the area of reading, specifically in the area of nonfiction text,” Schwartz said. “The concept was to build on the idea that students who had more specific instruction and more time spent reading nonfiction would be more successful readers.”

“You can learn words that you didn’t know before and use them in proper sentences,” Niece said.

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Beaver Dam High School continues to focus on developing career-ready students

Beaver Dam High School was recently awarded the silver nomination by U .S. News and World Report as one of the best high schools in the nation, placing it in the top 10 percent of schools at the state and national level.

BDHS had 197 students participate in 342 Advanced Placement courses and exams in 2015, with a pass rate of 80 percent. This pass rate is substantially above both state and national benchmarks and a 14 percent increase from 2014.

“We are very proud of our immediate and extended school community for the academic growth we have seen in the past few years,” said Mark DiStefano, BDHS principal.

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