Middle School Support Programs
Reinventing Achievement and Development Program
RAD serves as our primary Tier 2 intervention for middle school students who require an additional level of support. This support program provides students with systematic academic, executive functioning, and social/emotional support in a small group setting. Students learn to successfully navigate the increasing demands of middle school education, and prepare for their upcoming transition to high school. Students that participate in the RAD program do so in lieu of Spanish for their entire middle school experience. RAD occurs three times per week for 45 minutes per class. This small-group support will have a maximum of 6 students per class.
As is true in our general education courses, the RAD Program is progressive in nature, intentionally building foundational skills in 6th grade, spending more time on the application of skills to general education studies in 7th grade, and finally, understanding the purpose and making use of more advanced skill sets in 8th grades. Over the course of the multi-year RAD program, students who participate will be coached to:
- Understand their strengths and weaknesses as learners, including any documented disabilities
- Work to improve upon all areas of executive functioning
- Develop “toolbox” of best practice strategies that can be used in any academic setting
- Communicate, in both speaking and writing, in a more effective way
- Cope with stress and challenge in productive ways
- Navigate partner and group work successfully
- Identify and access resource and support when necessary
- Self-advocate with teachers, peers, and parents
- Become confident learners who demonstrate leadership in the classroom and school community
- Believe in themselves as capable individuals who have the skills, knowledge, and abilities to have successful high school experiences
Students enrolled in the RAD program meet three times per week, in addition to twice-daily participation in our Check-In/Check Out Program (CICO). The CICO program allows students to receive consistent support needed to facilitate new skill development and habit formation. The ultimate goal is for student to have independence and confidence in themselves as learners and community members.
The activities that students do with their time in RAD class are tailored to the strengths and needs of each particular group of students and their corresponding academic demands, but may include the following:
Examples of Explicit Lesson Topics: | Examples of Learning Activities: |
Executive functioning skills Study strategies Long-term planning Communicating with teachers Learning styles Organizational strategies Social skills for working in groups Presentation skills Test-taking strategies Face-to-face self-advocacy |
Grade checks Test review sessions Monthly responsibility/event calendars Mock presentations with peer feedback Collaborative problem-solving tasks Reteaching of academic concept Additional practice problem sets Creativity challenges Binder/locker/planner checks Mindfulness and stress-reduction |
How students are selected to be in the RAD Program
Teachers work together with members of the Student Success Team to determine which students would benefit from inclusion in the RAD program. The team uses student assessment data, report cards, work samples, classroom observations, and Student Support Plans to decide the level of tiered support that each student will need upon making the transition to middle school. There is an option to create one or two sections of RAD class, serving a maximum of 12 new students per year into the program. Students typically are selected to be in the RAD program in 5th grade. However, students may enter the program anytime during their 6-8th grade years as long as they demonstrate a need for additional support and the team determines that the student would be best served by inclusion in this comprehensive support program.
Can I request for my child to be in the RAD Program?
Students who are recommended for RAD actively demonstrate a need within the school environment for support across a range of academic, executive functioning, and social/emotional areas. If a student does not demonstrate this need in the school environment, they will not be asked to join the RAD program. For this reason, students with documented disabilities may not be automatically recommended to participate in this program. Although this program is teacher-recommended, it is ultimately family-selected, which means that the student and his or her family has the ultimate say on their participation in the program.
If you are interested in your child being included in the program, start by contacting your child’s homeroom teacher. This person will be very capable of informing you as to your child’s demonstration of knowledge, skills, and strategies within the school environment, and their fit in the RAD program. If it seems like RAD may be a good fit for your child, the homeroom teacher will support you in connecting with The Director of Student Success, regarding your child’s placement in RAD.
Will my child feel different because he/she is in the RAD Program?
What about Spanish; I thought my child needed a foreign language?
Why does my child in RAD also have to participate in the Check-In/Check-Out Program?
Check-In/Check-Out (CICO)
This program is an effective, research-based intervention program designed to proactively and positively address low-level academic, behavioral, executive functioning, or social/emotional concerns. The program allows each participating student to receive increased:
- positive, one-on-one adult connections at school
- structure, especially when transitioning to and from school
- opportunities for individualized coaching on specific executive functioning skills
- constructive adult feedback
- prompts for appropriate behavior
- collaborative problem-solving with concerns
- reinforcement for effort and positive changes
Although our CICO program begins with increased attention, oversight, coaching, and structure, the ultimate goal is to gradually release responsibility to participating students to facilitate independence and achievement in the areas of academics, executive functioning, and social/emotional.
Students Recommended for CICO
This unique program provides an opportunity to address low-level concerns in all areas: academics, executive functioning, and social/emotional development. If your child was recommended to participate in this program, he or she must be demonstrating over a period of time a need for additional support in one or more of those areas. Students who benefit from CICO often display such concerns as:
- struggles with academic content
- does not understand homework
- shows difficulty staying organized
- is unsure about what to do for homework
- can’t remember due dates, deadlines, and test dates
- struggles with performance on tests or quizzes
- often misplaces work and/or doesn’t turn it in
- forgets materials at school/home
- feels lost or disconnected at school
- is shy or nervous around teachers
Because the program is designed as a one-on-one educational opportunity with a trained teacher, the format and content of the meetings can be specifically tailored to the unique needs of the student. If your child was recommended for Check-In/Check-Out, this is a great opportunity for him or her to begin improving their academic performance, managing their responsibilities as students, and feeling more confident and comfortable in the school environment.
What happens during Check-In/Check-Out?
How long will my child participate in Check-In/Check-Out?
How do I get Check-In/Check-Out for my child?