Resource of the Week
Equity in education is a topic that we must pay attention to in our school. When looking at what it takes to close achievement gaps, it is imperative that we dive deep into this topic so that we understand how to realize our own biases and analyze our system for situations that may not provide all students with the access they need to be as successful as they can be.
In our school one may think that we do not have much diversity, but when you take a closer look, we have great diversity among our student population, including socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, race, political affiliations, disabilities, and family backgrounds. The diversity that we have should be celebrated and utilized to prepare our students for the 21st century work environment. Our short article this week provides a glimpse into this topic.
"Increasing Equity for All Students" - Sarah Yost (Edutopia)
"If we aren’t intentional about creating systems in which all students can be successful, too many classrooms and schools will continue to show achievement gaps. This is why raising awareness is so critical for closing such gaps. It starts with every individual educator thinking about their own expectations for and reactions to students and how these are communicated in subtle and not-so-subtle ways throughout the school day."
Weather Schedule Changes
With the weather a couple of activities in our schedule have been affected...see below.
-We will still review report cards in Homeroom on Friday (2/1) and hand out an ice cream treat for "5 ME's" in the Puma Pride standards.
-The Student of the Month Breakfast will be on the morning of Tuesday, February 5.
-Our February Staff Meeting will be on Wednesday (2/20) at 2:50 in Mrs. Rogness' Room
-Our Winter Assembly will take place on the afternoon of Friday, February 22.
We will looking into how the number of weather days that we have used will impact our schedule. I think it's a good time to remind folks that you should not buy plane tickets for June 5th at this time...we may have days added at the end of the school year.
Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
On this year's calendar, we only have 1 night of conferences scheduled in the spring. PT Conference night is on Thursday, March 7th from 3:30 - 8:00 pm. As part of our Title Plan for this year, we planned to utilize more opportunities to inform parents about the intricacies of our school. On this night, I plan to host a couple of Parent Sessions that will provide tips for parents to truly understand how their Middle School student is progressing in school. We also will have some scheduled conferences as needed.
Another element to this evening will be an invitation for all parents to come into our building to see examples of work their students have been doing in school. As you plan ahead, please think about examples of great student work that can be on display. Also, we would like students around the school demonstrating their work in different areas...that could mean performing, showing off a cool project, or others. For now, be thinking about how students in your class can showcase their work, and we'll refine the ideas as we get closer to that date.
Student Achievement Data Update
Taking a closer look at our Puma Pride data, you'll notice that the number of 6th grade students that scored all ME's on the report card went from 63.1 % to 80.2%. You'll also notice a similar improvement in our 8th grade students...going from 54.8% to 73%. Overall, we saw an increase in 10% of our students that achieved the 5 ME mark (Model Puma) for Puma Pride! This is exciting!
With the weather a couple of activities in our schedule have been affected...see below.
-We will still review report cards in Homeroom on Friday (2/1) and hand out an ice cream treat for "5 ME's" in the Puma Pride standards.
-The Student of the Month Breakfast will be on the morning of Tuesday, February 5.
-Our February Staff Meeting will be on Wednesday (2/20) at 2:50 in Mrs. Rogness' Room
-Our Winter Assembly will take place on the afternoon of Friday, February 22.
We will looking into how the number of weather days that we have used will impact our schedule. I think it's a good time to remind folks that you should not buy plane tickets for June 5th at this time...we may have days added at the end of the school year.
Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
On this year's calendar, we only have 1 night of conferences scheduled in the spring. PT Conference night is on Thursday, March 7th from 3:30 - 8:00 pm. As part of our Title Plan for this year, we planned to utilize more opportunities to inform parents about the intricacies of our school. On this night, I plan to host a couple of Parent Sessions that will provide tips for parents to truly understand how their Middle School student is progressing in school. We also will have some scheduled conferences as needed.
Another element to this evening will be an invitation for all parents to come into our building to see examples of work their students have been doing in school. As you plan ahead, please think about examples of great student work that can be on display. Also, we would like students around the school demonstrating their work in different areas...that could mean performing, showing off a cool project, or others. For now, be thinking about how students in your class can showcase their work, and we'll refine the ideas as we get closer to that date.
Student Achievement Data Update
Taking a closer look at our Puma Pride data, you'll notice that the number of 6th grade students that scored all ME's on the report card went from 63.1 % to 80.2%. You'll also notice a similar improvement in our 8th grade students...going from 54.8% to 73%. Overall, we saw an increase in 10% of our students that achieved the 5 ME mark (Model Puma) for Puma Pride! This is exciting!
In review of our Winter Math and Reading STAR data, you'll see that we saw the biggest percentage improvement in students at or above benchmark in both Math and Reading...In Reading we saw 7.7% increase, and in Math we saw a 6.6% increase. These are very exciting trends, and trends that will continue with our sustained hard work and focus.
Hoops 4 Heart Date is Set
Our annual Hoops 4 Heart basketball game is now set for Tuesday, March 19th.
Images from the Week
