West Mercer Elementary School’s focus on small-group instruction helps students and future teachers alike
Mercer Island, WA, January 21, 2025 - Three years ago, West Mercer Elementary school principal Megan Isakson rolled out a focused, small-group learning initiative called Wolfpack Block.
Four days a week throughout the school year, each grade level receives targeted instruction in math or literacy in a small group setting. These groups are in addition to their core instruction small groups and provide intervention, reteaching, and extension. Often, the students work with peers from other classes. They work together and with an educator to further their learning.
West Mercer paraeducator Cody Layton with first grade math students during Wolfpack Block
“It’s a place where every student gets what they need,” Isakson said.
One of the main reasons Wolfpack Block has been so successful at West Mercer is because of how the program builds and expands the capacity of the assistant teaching staff known as paraeducators, or “paras.” Five of these para educators including Cody Layton, Nancy Ulrich, Molly Levitt, Aaron Elefson, and Deepali Malik facilitate the Wolfpack Block program.
Layton, who is the lead para, feels like a more valued member of the team in the years since the Wolfpack Block started.
Before the program, teachers used paras as support staff; they helped out when they were needed, but didn’t have a completely defined role.
Now, the paras are key collaborators with general education teachers within the Wolfpack Block program. Their days are scheduled and filled with valuable instructional time. They interact with students every day and form relationships with them.
“We feel like we're really contributing to these kids experience,” Layton said. “It's so much more rewarding to feel like you're actually a part of a ton of kids’ education and their ability to succeed.”
According to Layton, the small-group model has been key for student success.
West Mercer paraeducator Nancy Ulrich with fifth grade students during Wolfpack Block
“We've seen a ton of growth in doing this,” Layton said. “Now, we still have students that are below or just at grade level. But, what we're really looking for is that overall growth for a year. And in doing the small groups, we were able to see those through the numbers - our math scores just skyrocketed.”
Part of the success comes from the differentiated learning environment—working with students from different classrooms, allowing them to interact and gain new ideas and new ways of doing things—but also from the students’ relationship with the paras.
Layton finds that it’s easy for kids to bond with paras because they may already have bonds with them outside of a classroom, as paras often help out at lunch or recess in student social settings.
“We're able to make connections with them in an unstructured area where a lot of times the teachers aren't able to make those connections,” Layton said.
Plus, the stakes may feel lower for students who are stuck on a problem.
“They might feel a little bit more comfortable with us and asking questions than asking a teacher, where they feel like, ‘Oh, I'm getting graded on this. I might be getting judged on this a little bit,’” Layton said. “When they come in with our group, we're not necessarily grading them. We're just here to support their learning.”
Cody Layton working on a math problem with students during Wolfpack Block
There’s a variability, too, that both the paras and students appreciate, especially since students get to work with their peers in other classes.
“My fifth grade group will sit here and they'll spend 10 minutes talking about a single math problem, about how they did it and who did it this way, and I don't even have to facilitate that conversation. They just start doing it on their own.”
By engaging the paras, allowing students to know more adults working at the school, and creating a system where paras and teachers communicate about curriculum, Wolfpack Block has brought West Mercer Elementary even closer together.
“Teachers come back to us and say, ‘Oh, the student came back from your group, and they were so excited about what they learned and what they did,’” Layton said. “That feeling is so fulfilling. It makes this job so much fun to see the kids happy and excelling like that.”
The program has served as almost a training program for paras who may one day want to be teachers.
Nancy Ulrich, who has been a para for eleven years, is working toward her teaching certificate in part thanks to the Wolfpack Block program.
Nancy Ulrich answering a student question during Wolfpack Block
“It has just made me realize that this is definitely my passion, and I should have done this a long time ago, but I didn't know,” Ulrich said.
Managing a classroom and getting to learn the ins-and-outs of all the elementary school grade levels has solidified her goals.
“It’s what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Ulrich said.
When Isakson first brought the idea forward, they approached Layton about it, asking if he’d like to take on more of a leadership role within the school community.
“It was a light bulb moment for me,” Layton said, “I could come in and I could do the thing I wanted to do, which is be a teacher.”
So far, Northwood Elementary School has followed in West Mercer Elementary’s footsteps and implemented a similar version of the program. Layton hopes more schools follow suit.
“Hopefully schools around us and all over the place see this or hear about it and be like, ‘I want to do something similar,’” Layton said.
Nathalie Graham is a freelance writer based in Seattle. She regularly works with the Seattle Times, GeekWire, and The Stranger. She will be highlighting MISD students, schools, and staff during the 2024-2025 school year. Read Nathalie’s Lakeridge and Crest stories. You can read more of her writing here.
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