We’re thrilled to report that Golden Pond’s rising kindergarten students (4 year olds and junior kindergarten classes) have AGAIN exceeded the top end of the Virginia development range for the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS).
PALS provides a comprehensive assessment of a young child’s knowledge of important literacy fundamentals. This test is an approved screening tool for the state of Virginia, and is an indicator of early reading success. 99% of all school divisions in the state use this tool on a voluntary basis. Educators are then able to use the information from PALS to plan appropriate instruction for each student and to intervene early to prevent reading problems. All kindergarten students are administered this test as they begin their first year in Loudoun County Public Schools. Golden Pond students have shown outstanding – and improved – scores every year!
“At Golden Pond, we understand that early reading success forecasts later academic success for our children, and we’re proud that our students’ marvelous PALS scores show that,” said owner Kathie Burrell.”
In 2007, Golden Pond School began screening preschoolers who are going on to kindergarten with the PALS – PreK test in the spring.
“We started this process because we felt it would benefit our students to take the test in preschool, administered by someone that they know and trust rather than being exposed to the test for the first time as they begin a new school year at a potentially new school with a new teacher,” said Burrell.
This is just one of the many ways Golden Pond School equips its students with an educational advantage.
“We also knew that this was a way for us to see how well our school had prepared our students to take the next step in their educational journey,” she said.
As can be seen from these results, the median score achieved by Golden Pond School students exceeded the top end of the Virginia development range. In several of the test components, 99% of Golden Pond students scored at or above the top end of the Virginia development range.
Congratulations to all of our students and teachers!