HCPS working to identify students in need of support

ROSLYN RYAN Richmond Suburban News

When it comes to supporting students, Hanover County Public Schools’ assistant superintendent Jennifer Greif doesn’t attempt to hide her enthusiasm.

“I’m very passionate about this subject,” she told Hanover County school board members during the board’s meeting on Feb. 14. Greif delivered a report on the school division’s ongoing efforts to ensure students receive the specific support they need. Using various data sources, teachers, principals and division leaders have been focused on pinpointing how best to help students overcome barriers to learning.

The results, Greif said, have meant the difference between a student who could succeed at the next grade level because their difficulty with reading was identified and addressed and a student who continued to struggle to keep up as classwork gets more challenging, leaving them further behind.

Greif explained that identifying students in need of assistance comes down to putting the appropriate systems in place, using assessments and screening tools, and the actual intervention itself.

While the school division staff manages the systems that are critical to addressing this learning loss, Greif told school board members that the bulk of the heavy lifting is done at the teaching level.

“We have to acknowledge that the teachers are the ones who have had to adapt, not just post-pandemic but they have also had to lean on a skill set that they have had to develop throughout the course of their career. It wasn’t something they came with from their teacher prep programs that they had in their back pocket.”

BeforemovingtoRichmond,Virginiain1999,Dr. BehnazMovahedhadlivedinDallasandPhiladelphia. ShepursuedherstudiesatVCUSchoolofBusinessand graduatedmagnacumlaudewith adegreeofBachelorofScienceinaccountingin 2003.Afewyearslater,Dr.Behnazdecidedtopursue dentistryduetoherloveofworkinginhealthcare, helpinghercommunity,andinteractingwithpeople. ShegraduatedinMayof2018fromVCUSchool ofDentistry.

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One example of the division’s efforts in action can be found in a pilot program currently running at Bell Creek Middle and Beaverdam Elementary schools. The project, a partnership between the Virginia Department of Education and Hanover County Public Schools, allows students in danger of falling behind to receive an immediate intervention. This helps them to quickly get back on track, Greif said, explaining that the students’ parents are an integral part of the process.

Greif said the division’s method has centered on first figuring out what students need, and then how they can help the teachers meet those needs.

Above all, she said, it’s about using the data to en- sure that students can thrive.

Dr.Behnazhas devotedthe majorityofher timeandskills sincegraduation workinginpublic healthdentistry.Shehasalsoprovided dentalhealthservicesatMilitaryReadinessevents throughoutVirginia.Shestrivestohaveastrong andtrustingrelationshipwithherpatientsandto empowerthemtoachieveoptimaloralhealth.Sheis dedicatedtopursuingcontinuededucationinvarious fieldsofdentistrytostayabreastofthenewresearch andtechnology.SheisamemberofSeattleStudy Club,AmericanDentalAssociation,VirginiaDental Association,RichmondDentalSociety,andAcademyof GeneralDentistry.

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“We are really digging into the skills a student needs [to be successful],” Greif said. “If a student gets to a certain reading level and just gets stuck, we’re helping teachers to know how to go back and trace those essential skills of reading…because just staying suck and hitting the same nail with the same hammer rather than going back and finding out where that gap might be is not the answer.”

Also during the Feb. 14 school board meeting, Betsy

Overcamp-Smith presented a brief update on the ongoing effort to create a comprehensive plan that will guide the county school division until 2029.

The draft OvercampSmith presented represented months of work and the input from two separate committees and various other community stakeholders and work group members. As the committees continued to refine the document, “we asked ourselves ‘Is it achievable? Is it measurable? Is it relevant?’” Overcamp-

Smith said.

The mission statement for the plan, she revealed, is as follows: “We are a studentcentered school community committed to excellence in teaching, learning and leadership.”

The citizen comment for the plan will be open until Feb. 28, and a survey is available on the Hanover County Public Schools’ website.

A revised plan that incorporates citizen feedback will be presented on March 14 for a first read, with a final vote up for adoption on April 11.