To help students improve their results on the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) exams, Covington Elementary has started a new extended learning program called the DAWG Pack.

It had its first meeting on Nov 1., and is offered from 3:45-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Angela Stave, Family And Community Engagement facilitator for Covington Elementary, stated the program focuses on third through fifth grade students who need assistance in reading, writing or math, areas in which students are tested on the MSP.

“It’s going to be a great thing for the kids at the school,” she said. “It’s a program designed to give kids a boost in those areas.”

The DAWG Pack is based on a Century 21 grant program design, but, is funded entirely through Title I and III funds. Also participating in the program are fifth grade teacher Lisa Aldrich and para educators Kulwinder Bains, Claudia Holzberger and Aida Willis.

The program hopes to emulate earlier successes Covington Elementary has seen in academic improvement.

In September, the school announced that nearly 72 percent of last year’s fifth grade students met or exceeded the state standard on the science assessment, the highest in the entire Kent School District. In 2009, less than 15 percent of the fifth grade students had met the standard.

According to Education Assistant Lisa Couch, the main emphasis is on students who have scored just below the passing grade for the three sections. Teachers, as well as para educators, help the students with their skills either in the library or in a classroom. The students then rotate after 25 minutes.

“We’re targeting students who are right on the bubble, then give them that extra push,” she said. “We felt this year we wanted to be more intentional about what we are doing.”

At the moment the program is invitation only. There are 28 students currently participating, but, the hope is to have 36 within a week. In January, they will move onto a second wave of students, at which time they hope parent interest will allow for more volunteers.

“We can’t do it solely on our own,” Couch said.

Stave stated the program was brought up by Principal Miles Erdly at a leadership meeting last year as a possible way to increase student performance.

“We started working on it as a team,” she said. “It’s a positive thing. It’s going to help kids where they need to be in their grade level.”

Couch stated, “Our vision is to see multiple layers, to use our school as a place of learning.”