The Special Schools division delivered congratulations and good food to 20 Academic and Behavior School East and West students just before the winter break, recognizing each school’s top 10 scholars in the i-Ready Challenge.

The challenge, which began Oct. 1 and ran through Dec. 1, incentivized students to consistently engage and grow in the i-Ready Personalized Instruction Program. The web-based program that delivers online lessons in reading and mathematics for students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Instruction is tailored to each student’s needs and encourages students as they develop new skills, while it’s also complemented with accessible teacher resources to enable educators to target specific skills with which students are struggling.

Students earned monthly growth goodie bags by logging 250 minutes and passing seven reading or math lessons. Those who demonstrated strong commitment and perseverance by passing 20 lessons earned access to a gaming truck experience scheduled for Jan. 16. The top 10 students from each campus who passed the most lessons across the entire challenge earned all incentives, including the highly anticipated Lunch with a Leader.

With Chick-fil-A meals in tow in December, division leadership joined campus personnel in honoring the students.

The celebration recognized their dedication, effort and academic achievement.

i-Ready builds a unique lesson plan consisting of online instruction based on assessment performance, with a personalized start for each student. Teachers can adjust a student’s position within the recommended sequence of lessons or add to ensure skill development with the core curriculum.

Highlighting academic success at the AB schools is essential, as students often work through unique challenges. Celebrating academic growth helps shift the narrative from only behavior-focused to strength-based and instructional achievement. Events like Lunch with a Leader remind students they are capable scholars and hard work is seen, valued and celebrated.