Starting in the 2020-2021 school year, Lumberton Township’s elementary schools will be undertaking a change in their grade reporting. Both the Ashbrook Elementary School and Bobby’s Run Elementary School will be transitioning to a trimester-based reporting system. This system divides the academic calendar into three sections and eliminates the quarter system. The marking period moves from a four quarter 9-week system to trimesters consisting of 12 weeks. By dividing the year into thirds, or trimesters, elementary teachers would formally report on student progress after 60 days of instruction. Lumberton Middle School will remain on marking periods.

There are many reasons for the change. Moving to trimesters increases time for teaching and learning between reporting periods. The additional time for teaching, re-teaching, and learning content facilitates higher levels of student growth and mastery. The shift allows us to focus on the quality of work rather than the quantity of work. As a result, we believe students would feel less rushed and less anxious with trimester reporting. Also, there would be more time at the beginning of the year to build classroom routines and norm students to the expectations of school. Classroom teachers would use this additional time to get to know their students better as learners and to differentiate their instruction based on individual strengths and needs. With twelve weeks of instruction, a student’s grades would reflect more comprehensive instruction, and the teacher would be able to provide a higher quality of information at the end of each reporting period. Additionally, the three reporting times align with our administration of the developmental reading assessment.

Please click the FOLLOWING LINK to view a frequently asked questions document regarding our new trimester reporting system. After reviewing this letter and the linked FAQ document, should you have any questions regarding the change, please reach out to your child’s respective building principal.

Thank you again for your continued support and partnership.