Release Notes 6.12.2024

Waterford.org will release an automatic software update on June 12, 2024. See the list below for details.

If you have any questions or feedback, visit the Help Center for more information.

Meet the New Waterford Characters!

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy, Waterford Upstart, Waterford Mentor

For an engaging and personalized experience, all learners will meet the new Waterford characters: Rusty, Rosy, Scout, Teo, and Cora! Learners will interact with these characters as they work on assignments and on loading screens between activities. They will also let learners know that it's time to take a break after they complete their lessons.

Educators and families don't need to update anything for learners to access this new experience. All they need to do is log in and start learning!

Added Waterford Setup Guidance for District Administrators

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy

To make the Waterford set-up process as seamless as possible, district administrators who use the manual rostering system can access help instructions with greater ease. The Waterford help widget on the Staff & Students or Organizations tabs will automatically expand to highlight instruction documents.

This update only applies to school and district administrators who do not use third-party rostering tools, including existing administrators when they next log in to their account.

Dashboard Summary Card Redesign

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy

Educators will notice a redesigned Dashboard Summary Card to provide a streamlined view of the data they use daily.

The progress bar will now exclusively represent progress towards goals while additional data can still be found in other dashboards.

Proactive Course Assignment Alert

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy

Waterford will now run proactive checks while educators are completing the course assignment process. Since all students must be tagged within a school or classroom, an alert will appear if an educator attempts to assign a course to a student who is not currently tagged.

This message provides clear instructions on how to assign a student to a class and/or school before continuing the course assignment process.

Improved Tablet Functionality for 33 More Waterford Activities

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy, Waterford Upstart

Waterford is continually optimizing digital activities to craft a better tablet experience for users. Updates to some activities include a more modern, refreshed look and feel, enhanced audio updates, and new Spanish language support. Waterford strives to improve digital activities to encourage increased use and drive learner engagement.

Digital Activity Update Progress: 46% of all activities have been updated (up from 36% in April 2024)!

Stay tuned for visual and/or audio updates to the following Waterford activities:

• Math: Moving Targets with Dots
• Power Word Introduction
• Power Word Instructions
• Power Word Pre and Post Assessment
• Tracing Letters
• Sentences

Improved Animations for 3 Instructional Songs

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy, Waterford Upstart, Waterford Mentor

To meet inclusive excellence standards that allow children to see themselves in the curriculum and offer an enhanced illustration style, three instructional songs have been reanimated:

• Highway 9
• Tricky Y to I
• Strange Spelling

Find them through the Resources & Activities tab or on our Waterford YouTube channel's Newest Songs playlist.

New Basic Reading Certificates to Celebrate Milestones

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy, Waterford Upstart, Waterford Mentor

Motivate learners with 21 new Basic Reading certificates featuring Waterford’s own Rusty and Rosy! After achieving Basic Reading milestones, students will unlock a video celebrating their effort. Celebrating efforts rather than only successes has been shown in research to promote a child’s intrinsic motivation to learn.

New Learning Resources for Families and Educators

Affects: Waterford Upstart, Waterford Mentor

Families and educators can find more tools to encourage home learning and help learners gain key reading and math skills! The following new resources are available in English and Spanish.

Reading:

• Summer Reading Challenge Tracker & Pledge for Educators (Spanish available here)
• Summer Reading Challenge for Families (Spanish)
• Supporting Your Child's Learning: b vs d (Spanish)

Math:

• Ordinal Numbers: 1st–5th (Spanish)
• Ordinal Numbers: 1st–10th (Spanish)
• Ordinal Numbers: 1st–20th (Spanish)

Families can access these activities through the Resources & Activities tab in their Waterford account, as can educators who want to share them with their classrooms.

35 Coloring Pages & Activity Sheets with Waterford's New Characters

Affects: Waterford Reading Academy, Waterford Upstart, Waterford Mentor

Share these coloring pages and printable activities with young learners so they can meet and engage with the new Waterford characters all year long!

Meet the Characters

• Introducing Rosy
• Introducing Rusty
• Introducing Teo
• Introducing Scout
• Introducing Cora

Connect the Dots

• Connect the Dots (Rosy)
• Connect the Dots (Rusty)
• Connect the Dots (Teo)
• Connect the Dots (Scout)
• Connect the Dots (Cora)

Maze

• Maze with Rosy
• Maze with Rusty

Spot the Difference

• Spot the Difference (Picnic)
• Spot the Difference (Crafts)

Holidays/Observances & Seasons

• Valentine's Day
• Presidents' Day
• Spring is Here
• Earth Day
• Mother's Day
• Father's Day
• Summertime Fun
• Independence Day
• Back to School
• Celebrate Fall
• Wonderful Winter
• Winter Fun
• Happy Holidays
• Happy Birthday

Having Fun at Home and School

• School Fun
• Playing Frisbee
• Rusty and Rosy Playing Pretend
• Rosy Crosswalk
• Rosy Playing Soccer
• Classroom Helpers
• Rusty and Rosy Fishing