SPRINGDALE — Joanna Torres said she hid behind her mother during the first day of school last year as she began second grade at Jones Elementary School.
Joanna, 9, felt much less anxiety starting third grade last month. That’s in part because she knew she’d have the same teacher, Cameron McCain, she had last year.
Being familiar with her teacher put her more at ease.
“It feels like deja vu,” Joanna said.
McCain is one of five teachers at Jones and numerous others across the Springdale School District who participates in “looping,” a practice in which teachers follow their students from one grade level to the next.
McCain has taught for 12 years. This is his first experience with looping. Though reluctant at first to try it, he said he’s become a big supporter of the concept.
“The big benefit of looping comes from the relationships,” McCain said. “I know the kids’ strengths and their weaknesses. I know exactly what I have taught them and how I’ve taught it.”
McCain has 23 children in his third-grade class now. Seventeen were in his second-grade class last year.
The relationships built are indeed important, said Melissa Fink, Jones principal.
“From the first day students walk in the door, there’s that relationship that’s been built,” Fink said. “Otherwise, it takes a while to build that relationship of trust between teacher and student.”
She said, in that second year, kids understand the teacher’s classroom routines and policies, and new learning can begin on day one.
Kathy Morledge, Springdale’s assistant superintendent for elementary grades, said most of the district’s elementary schools have at least one teacher involved in looping. More than half of the teachers at Monitor Elementary School are looped, she said.
The only drawback to the practice, Morledge said, is if there isn’t a strong relationship between a teacher and child or teacher and parent.
“We give students a chance to opt out,” Morledge said. “Sometimes they just need a different face, but parents I have visited with all have thought looping was a great experience. They thought it gave kids a leg up on the curriculum for the next year.”
Stacey Ferguson, Turnbow Elementary School principal, said some teachers might decline to participate if they are especially strong at teaching a certain grade level.
Looping also may be practiced at the middle school level. That’s not easy in Springdale, however, because of the grade configuration. Middle schools are grades six and seven. Most teachers are certified to teach either grades kindergarten through six or seven through 12, but not both, Morledge said.