Kindergarten Added to Saugus Grading System

The Saugus Union School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday night approved a new grade-reporting system for kindergartners that officials said will give parents a better idea of how their children are performing.

The 5-0 vote follows last week’s trustee approval of the new grading procedures for students in grades one through six. The changes come after about a year of study, prompted by parents who called for a revamping of the grading system, school Supt. James M. Foster said.

Although teachers will continue to grade children in such categories as study habits, academics and citizenship, the marks now will also indicate the grade level at which the children perform. Under the old system, parents were simply told that their children’s work was “above average,” “average” or “below average.”

Now, for example, parents could be told that their kindergartner is reading at the second-grade level, based on standards drawn up by education experts and approved by district teacher committees, Foster said.

Parents will also be given a booklet telling them how to interpret their children’s report cards.

The Saugus Union School District, in the northwest part of Los Angeles County near Valencia, operates eight elementary schools with a combined enrollment of about 4,000.