A final report on the 1996-97 school year is expected to be available sometime in the fall of 1997. He also reports calls from five neighboring districts wishing to find out how to get into the SAGE program. The article features comments by several of the SAGE teachers and notes the positive impression of the program the visit created for Representative Dueholm. Following are some of the comments shared by SAGE school representatives at the March 21 Madison workshop. Contact Janice Zmrazek for a complete set of comments from the meeting.
Parents also meet regularly with the teachers at the end of the half-day kindergarten sessions.
Smaller classes have allowed for the use of more performance assessments and implementation of improved instructional practices, and the combination of SAGE aid and Title I funding related to their schoolwide project has allowed additional innovations. At Durkee Elementary in Kenosha, the SAGE program, which includes two multi-age rooms plus a regular kindergarten and first grade, is working so well that parents of children currently in private schools have inquired about getting their children into Durkee next year. The school has been adopted by a local church, which provides two days per week of after-school tutoring. Though Hamilton has a poverty rate of 93 percent, the SAGE program has helped to make it very quiet and safe, as well as bring in parents who have never come into the school before, to create a real community of learning, and to create a family environment in each classroom. The difference in discipline referrals has been like night and day from previous years, due to the fact that each class has more room, and staff have much more time for personal interaction with the students.