Dear colleagues,

We want to acknowledge all of you for contributing to a school culture that deeply values the continuous
learning of staff and students alike. More specifically, we want to acknowledge the classrooms who
participated in our first cross-campus learning walk of the school year during the last week before winter
vacation.
Learning walks provide a broad scope of trends within a larger picture. We recognize that they allow for
only a snapshot of what is happening in each classroom observed. However, the purpose of learning
walks are in no way evaluative of individual teaching. Rather, they serve to identify general strengths and
areas for growth to support our development of a cohesive and unified institution.
We meet regularly as coaches in an effort to discuss and plan for alignment of instructional practices as well
as the intentional differences established across the entire school. We recognize that next-grade readiness
is often an important topic for all grade levels and that it is particularly challenging to address concerns and
consistency across campuses.
We coined the term seam grades to identify the transition years from each campus (4th to 5th grades and
8th to 9th grades) that are critical areas to bridge alignment. During the cross-campus learning walk, we
observed the seams as well as entry and exit grade-level classrooms (Pre-kindergarten and 12th grade) to
capture a better sense of the student experience at Capital City from beginning to end.
When we used the Expeditionary Learning High Quality Work protocol during PD in December, many
conversations in cross-campus small groups were centered around the level of rigor and independence
expected for our students across grade levels. As coaches, we decided that the cross-campus learning
walk could serve to further investigate this inquiry and we used the following guiding question to focus our
observations: What does rigor and independence currently look like across campuses?
Below is a synthesis of what we learned and some next steps we will take together.
We noticed the following trends:
Across grades and classrooms, an emphasis on process was evident. Students were
supported (through scaffolding and gradual release) in pacing themselves to complete a task
or experience.
In every classroom school-wide, students were on-task. From dramatizing a play to tackling
complicated calculus problems, students engaged in each experience.
Students asked clarifying questions when confused.
Students tended to look to teachers first for support. Teachers responded by redirecting
students to appeal to one another.
Most questions asked by students were clarifying questions.
Instruction was primarily centered around informational texts and tasks.
Anchor charts used were mostly teacher-created.
Based on the trends and discussion, we identified the following possible next steps:
Each campus will take ownership over the seams. Coaches will facilitate seam teachers
participation of learning walks/observations of one another as well as intervisitation between
grade-levels within each school ( K/1st, 6th/7th, 11th/12th, etc). Coaches will plan and
schedule these opportunities as well as arrange for subs as needed.

Coaches will continue planning and participating in learning walks regularly with a focus on
the seams and the long term end goal of aligning passages at exiting grades from each
campus (4th, 8th, and 12th). Our next learning walk will happen on March 5th from 9am12:00pm.
Coaches will facilitate seam teachers attending COL, Showcases, and/or Portfolio
Presentations by their seam match.

It was both inspiring and enlightening to visit classrooms across the entire school. We look forward to our
continued work with you!
With Gratitude,
The Coaches
(Katryna, Katie, Thora, and Leensa)