The U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the ADA requiring all public school digital materials to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards. This ensures students, parents, and staff with disabilities can independently access classroom content. 

While these standards are not active yet, we are providing awareness of what is coming in the next year.  These standards impact Learning Mgmt System pages, PDFs, Word/Google Docs, Slide Decks, and Assigned videos.

Read more details on this Digital Accessibility Quick Guide.

See Kate Brown, Sara Schoepke, or Amy Gutknecht if you have more questions.

Lesson 0 in i-Ready Math is intended to be used during the first five days of school to establish math instructional routines that set students up for success all year long.  Lesson 0 materials can be access via the Teacher Toolbox unders Unit 1.  More information can be found in these documents.

• Grade K & 1 Lesson 0 Overview
• Grades 2-8 Lesson 0 Overview

The i-Ready Diagnostic will now be called i-Ready Inform.   It will serve the same purpose as previously in a shortened student testing experience.  More detailed  information about the Fall i-Ready Inform window will be shared with you the week prior to your testing window.

The effective range of time for students to spend in the i-Ready Learning Path is 30 to 48 minutes per week.  This is the "sweet" spot for having a positive impact on a student's learning and growth.

It is recommended that Grades 2-5 students spend 1:  10-20 minutes / session | 3-5 x/week in Reflex Math.

As we begin to think about ADA Accessibility Rules for Educators, if you are not using the Lesson presentation slides in i-Ready, please start to so that you are assured that the instructional materials are compliant to the accessibility rules that will be in practice in the upcoming year.

Grades 2-5:  We continue to subscribe to Reflex Math to support our students in the Fact Fluency.  Learn more at this link:  Reflex Educator Resource Hub

• Reflex is rostered for teachers and students using Clever.

Benchmark Advance has completed Lesson Presentation Slides for all grade levels.  They can be found in the Lesson Presentation section of Benchmark Universe.  These will also be helpful as we work towards meeting the ADA Accessibility Rules for Educators.  Benchmark will continue to make sure their presentations meet these guidelines.

 Benchmark has made many exciting updates to their resource based on feedback from teachers and I think you will be excited to learn more.  Dana, our new Reading Specialist, is sending an email that will provide updates and information highlighting these enhancements/changes at your grade level.  Look for that email in your InBox soon!  

Please use this link to sign up OR re-sign up for Mystery Science. 

WI State Statute states that Science must be taught weekly in the elementary classroom.  

• I have mapped out the year in the ELA/Science/SS frameworks to honor the Science knowledge building content in Benchmark Advance.  I, then, worked to align Mystery Science units to enhance and expand those content ELA units.  In addition, some Mystery Science units were added to a grade level so that we are getting vertical coverage of the state elementary science standards.  It is my intent that these frameworks assist you in your planning and meeting these requirements.  If there is a different order of units that would work better for your grade level, please reach out and let me know.  

Based on your Spring feedback, we are now officially implementing Mystery Science in Grades K-5.  Your feedback also determined how we planned units and ordered lab supplies for the year.

• Grades K-2:  You will be receiving grade level Lab Packs to support your lab activities.  These Packs are based on student numbers (approximately 30 students / 1 lab pack), not classroom so the lab packs will be for the grade level, not necessarily 1 per classroom.  Once they arrive in the next few days, we will find a storage space for them in your breakout / supply closet/ etc.  These lab packs are organized by each Mystery Science unit.  
• Grades 3-5:  We will be ordering your lab supplies for your activities again this year.  We will work with your team's Science liasion to coordinate this work.  We will following the unit order based on the Science Framework on the Teaching & Learning Dashboard.  

Here is a ▶️Mystery Science Overview video, if you would like to learn more.

Here is a link to the 2627 Mystery Science content updates.

If you have any additional questions, please reach out.  I am happy to help!

Based on your Spring feedback and response to my summer feedback email about Social Studies instruction and resources, we are in a trial of Studies Weekly in Grade 1-5.  Kindergarten..... you were not forgotten.  We will have a discussion about 5K for next school year.

Studies Weekly will launch for both Teachers and Students through Clever.

WI State Statute states that Social Studies must be taught weekly in the elementary classroom.  

• I have mapped out the year in the ELA/Science/SS frameworks to honor the Social Studies knowledge building content in Benchmark Advance.  I, then, worked to align Studies Weekly ..weekly topics to enhance and expand those content ELA units.  As the design of Studies Weekly is one newspaper / week, I used that to integate the weekly topics into the school year.  It is my intent that these frameworks assist you in your planning and meeting these requirements.  If there is a different order of units that would work better for your grade level, please reach out and let me know.  

I will share out a Get Started with Studies Weekly later this week.  Here are a few helpful links to help as you start to explore:

REMINDER:  There is a new tech ticket system.  Learn more here:  ▶️WGSD Tech Support Update video

Check out this quick video that highlights ▶️Loaner Zone & Chromebook Updates

• This video will:

  • Highlight changes in the Loaner Zone process

  • Provide updates on elementary classroom Chromebook carts

• Behavioral Documentations including Technology

• Loaner Zone Documents

Here are links to the updated Technology Bootcamp to use with your students at the start of the year.  The Technology Bootcamp materials are also accessible in Clever.

Many updates were made to Google Classroom this summer.  Watch this video to learn more

• ▶️26-27 Google Classroom Updates video

Watch this video to learn more about ▶️AI at WGSD.

Check out this quick video, ▶️What's Up in the Library for 2026-2027

• Check out the additional Library Links below:

  • What's Up in the Library 26-27 document

  • Library Support Opportunities

  • Grade Level Learning Boards (Also accessible in Clever)

Learn more about all of the amazing subscriptions the library has to support our students in their learning.

• ▶️Subscriptions Provided by the Library video

• Subscription Overview by Building Document

WGSD subscribes to Swank K-12 Streaming.  Its intention is to provide teachers and classroom access to streaming  video content without violating copyright.  Learn more with the links below:

• ▶️SWANK 26-27 video

• Welcome to Swank K-12 Streaming document

Want to get comfortable with NextPath or brush up on features you haven't explored yet?  Check out the Role Specific Learning Paths, which will walk you through exactly what you need to know based on your specific position (Teacher, Admin or Support staff).  More guides are continually being added.

To find the Learning Paths, 🎓 Look for the graduation cap icon at the bottom of your left-hand navigation menu and click it anytime to jump into your guide.

Until September 15, 2026, NextPath will show Current 26-27 Student Rosters for the Students In and 25-26 Data for the Data In.    This gives teachers useful data to review about their new year's students before actual current year data has been gathered.

If you make classroom videos for instructional purposes, Google has a new integrated tool that you need to try.  It is called Google Vids, and it can be accessed through the Google Waffle.  To learn more, check out the Get Started with Vids links.

If you have previously used Screencastify to create classroom videos, we will no longer be purchasing this subscription.  Our current subscription expires mid-September, 2026  The videos you have created in Screencastify should be saved in your Google Drive, but connect with a tech team member if you want to make sure.  Moving forward, we will use Google Vids to create instructional videos.