Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

All Well At GPS

By JOHN MILLER

So far, things are going well at the Gurdon Primary School.

Rita Rowe, GPS principal, replacing JoAnn Shaver who retired at the end of the 1996-97 year, told members of the Gurdon Rotary Club Thursday, Sept. 4, students are being tested early in the year.

Because of this, she said, the district is working hard to get the test scores up. Grants have been written to get funds to redesign the curriculum at GPS and improve the test scores.

"We're working to make sure the students are ready for the next grade level," Rowe said, "and are working to meet the needs of the children.

This year, GPS will be utilizing the whole language method of teaching reading instead of teaching students phonetics. Whole language, she said, is the current catch all for schools, though both it and phonetics are needed to help students learn.

In an effort to keep students from being with their homeroom teachers all day long, they are being grouped in the second and third grades and worked at on their individual levels.

Rowe said the teachers have positive attitudes and have been supportive of her as the new principal.

This year, she said, GPS has a physical education instructor who teaches PE, much to the chagrin of some students.

In addition, Rowe told the club members, there are 337 children enrolled at GPS.

She said one of the school's goals is to achieve North Central Accreditation.