PEMBERVILLE — Additional reading and math classes are in place this fall to help Eastwood Middle School students either struggling or excelling on state achievement tests.
The school has added a reading achievement class for students struggling on the reading portion of the achievement tests, as well as sixth-grade advanced reading and math classes.
The achievement class increases the amount of time spent with students grades 6-8 to help them catch up with their classmate. An achievement math class, for the same purpose, was added last year and continues this year for the same grades.
The school also has advanced reading the math classes for sixth-graders, and advanced reading, language arts, social studies and science classes for seventh- and eighth-graders, explained Principal John Obrock.
“We’re trying to enrich the students, (provide) help at both ends” of the spectrum, said Principal John Obrock.
The classes, to some extent, are taking over for the gifted program. They’re for students who have excelled on achievement as well as Iowa Basic Skills tests.

For example, there are five pre-algebra classes, but one of those classes is advanced.
Also, with these additions, the school is providing three levels of classes to help meet student needs: a regular class, an achievement class for students who are struggling, and an advanced class for those doing well.
Getting all the new classes into the schedule was a challenge, though.
Obrock said he and administrators do the scheduling by hand, because when all the classes — many of them with same names — are inputted into the computer system, it becomes baffled.