1. 1
NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
North St. Paul, Minnesota
POLAR ACADEMY
Literacy Intervention

2. 2
PURPOSE
The purpose of the North High’s Polar Academy is
to meet the literacy needs of students.
GOALS
The goal of the Polar Academy is to improve
student’s reading skills and keep all students on
target to graduate on time.
FIVE FEATURES
There are five features of Polar Academy that are
vital to the success of the program. These include:
teaming, small class sizes, integrated strategies
and curriculum, assessment, and tutoring.
Teaming
The importance of having a team of teachers with
the same students and to have daily meetings is
critical to the success of Polar Academy. The
meeting time allows the team to discuss individual
student issues and to collaborate on the best
strategies to meet a student’s needs.
A second aspect of the team meeting is the time
for staff development. In order to integrate the
literacy strategies across all content areas, time is
needed to teach and practice those strategies.
Finally, it is a great builder of morale. Teaching
students with literacy issues—and the behaviors
that sometimes come with those issues—can be a
challenging task. The team time creates an
environment that is supportive and lets teachers
know that they are not isolated in their difficult
task.
Small Class Sizes
In Polar Academy, we have class sizes that are
capped at 15. This allows for a total of 45 9th grade
students in the program. Small class sizes in Polar
Academy allows for more individualized
instruction that leads to more effective
instruction. We also believe that smaller classes
allow for more complete curriculum coverage and
greater student involvement and accountability in
classroom activities.
In Polar Academy, our teachers really get to know
their students on an academic and personal level.
Academically, teachers have a better
understanding of student’s skills and their specific
skill deficits which lead to targeted instruction.
Smaller classes give Polar Academy teachers the
ability to connect with each student on a daily
basis and develop strong relationships which
leads to student success.
Integrated Strategies and Curriculum
The goal of the curriculum in Polar Academy is to
prepare students to be able to critically read texts,
process the information, and discuss information
in a Socratic seminar. The journey to reach this
point is long and filled with significant scaffolding
of basic skills in order to reach these levels.
For example, there are specific strategies that are
used in Polar Academy. Cornell Notes are used in
all classes; however, before being taught the
Cornell Notes process, students must be able to
ask deep-thinking questions and write summaries.
Both of these features of Cornell Notes require
detailed scaffolding of basic skills. These are the
steps that are important parts of Polar Academy.
Assessment
Student assessment in Polar Academy focuses on
the five areas of reading (phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).
Teaming
SmallClass
Size
Integrated
Strategies &
Curriculum
Assessment
Tutoring
FIVE FEATURES OFPOLAR ACADEMY

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The Tier 1 assessments are given to each student.
These assessments are used to screen which
students might need tutoring. The Tier 2
assessments are given to students to determine if
they will need individual tutoring and will help
determine in what areas of reading a student may
have a deficit.
Tier 1 Assessments
1. FastBridge aReading
2. Words Their Way Spelling Analysis and the
Developmental Spelling Analysis (Flynn,
1994)
3. Qualitative Reading Inventory (Leslie and
Caldwell, 1990
Tier 2 Assessments
1. Quick Phonics Screener (Hasbrouck, 2006)
2. Flynn Adaptation of Test of Auditory
Analysis (AAT-R)
3. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4)
4. Test of Written Language
Tutoring
If it is determined that a student is in need of
remediation, students are assigned a tutoring time
by either removing them from an elective course
or finding time in the Polar Academy schedule.
Then a daily curriculum is constructed that
specifically targets the needs of the student. The
daily curriculum will focus on each of the five
areas of reading in which the student has a deficit.
For example, student A may need remediation in
fluency only, but student B may need help in
vocabulary and comprehension.
The following graphic is a breakdown of the five
areas (phonemic awareness and phonics
combined) and the systems or strategies that will
be used in the tutoring sessions.
STUDENT SELECTION AND SCREENING
During each student’s 8th grade school year,
multiple data points are analyzed to determine if a
student is a candidate for Polar Academy. We look
at MCA reading scores, grades, FastBridge
aReading Scores, and the ACT Explore Test.
Students who score below the 30th percentile in
any test are automatically flagged. We then meet
with 8th grade teachers to determine if the
student’s skill level warrants placement in Polar
Academy.
Phonics and
Phonemic
Awareness
Words Their Way
Pull Down Sounds
Slash and Dash
Fluency
Repeat Oral
Assisted Reading
(ROAR)
Independent
Reading
Comprehension
Marking the Text
Writing in the
Margins
Cornell Notes
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Workshop
Vocabulary for
Success
TUTORINGCURRICULUM BREAKDOWN

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Student Sample Schedule
This sample schedule is based on a six-period day.
North High requires three trimesters of Science,
Math, and English in the 9th grade.
Social Studies is offered for two trimesters and
Health and Physical Education is required one
trimester. Math courses are not part of the Polar
Academy team. Students are placed into Math and
electives during teacher’s team time.
This allows students to take electives, PE, and
Math courses with non-Polar Academy students.
This allows students to interact and feel part of
North High School and not isolated in a special
program.
Student Schedule
Hour
Trimester
#1
Trimester
#2
Trimester
#3
1 English 9A English 9B English 9C
2 Science 9A Science 9B Science 9C
3 Elective 1 PE Elective 2
4 Health SS 9A SS 9B
5 Math Math Math
6
Intensified
English 9A
Intensified
English 9B
Intensified
English 9C
STAFFING AND SCHEDULING
For Polar Academy, we have used the following
staff members:
1.0 FTE English Teacher
1.0 FTE Reading Teacher
.83 FTE Science Teacher
.13 FTE Health Teacher
.83 Social Studies Teacher
.2 Reading Specialist
1.0 Reading Specialist
0.2 Education Assistant
5.19 Total FTE
Science Teacher Schedule
Hour Trimester #1 Trimester #2 Trimester #3
1 Science 9A Science 9B Science 9C
2 Science 9A Science 9B Science 9C
3 Bio. 10A Bio. 10B Bio. 10C
4
Prep/Team
Time
Prep/Team
Time
Prep/Team
Time
5 Science 9A Science 9B Science 9C
6 Elective* Elective* Elective*
*This is a course that is outside of Polar Academy.
COURSE OFFERINGS
Currently, Polar Academy encompasses grades 9-11.
The number of students in grades 10 and 11 decline
as students meeting criteria (on track for graduation
and reading at grade level) are graduated from the
program.
In 10th grade, students are broken into two groups.
The first group is comprised of students that are
ready to be mainstreamed, but may need some
support. The second group continues with three
year-long courses.
In 11th grade, students have three courses in Polar
Academy.
Polar Academy Course Offerings Trimesters
9th
English 9 3
Intensified English 9 3
Human Geography 2
Physical Science 1
Earth Science 2
Health 1
10th
Group 1: Reading Strategies 3
Group 2: English 10 3
World History 3
Biology 3
11
th
American Literature 2
Writing Studio 1
U.S. History 3