Happy Friday to All of You.
The Tragedy in Connecticut
The unfortunate events in Connecticut have brought forth reflection upon our current safety practices. School safety is and
will always be our number one priority. In light of today's events we will plan on having a dialogue with the kids on Monday during 1st period about our school safety procedures. We hold safety drills every month in the event of a fire, lock down, earthquake and/or evacuation. We will practice our lock down procedures with the kids next week.
When events such as this happen it is difficult to know how to initiate conversations with our kids. As the parent of a 5th grader, I have been contemplating various talking points to approach with my daughter as I know she will have questions. This is normal for kids to be frightened and/or confused. I am attaching the link to the district website which offers resources and talking points for you and your student(s).
Holiday Concerts
I want to congratulate Dave Sanders and Gwen Gilbertson for another fantastic holiday concert. The kids did a great job. I was just remarking to Mr. Sanders that I felt it was one of their best jobs in my four years here. It was also nice to be able to have a concert in the gym with all the lights on without the annoying buzzing sound:)
First Mini-Incentive
Our first mini-incentive for no missing work is scheduled for 12/21. We plan on serving hot cider and hot chocolate to students with no missing work in 6 of their classes. Please remind your student(s) to keep up with their school work.
PBIS
Last Wednesday we had a spirited lesson within our Wolf Reading classes. It was the best one yet where students were reminded of what is safe, respectful and responsible behavior. Students brainstormed answers to three questions and the Wolf Reading classes competed with each other to see who had the best answer. It was a neat game to get all involved and winning classes were treated to either donuts, licorice or lollipops. Generally during this time is when we see a spike in negative behavior due to the upcoming break thus it was good to remind the kids of our expectations.
Working Hard is Important to Us!
Given that we have just started the 2nd quarter it is important to note that we are also starting over in regards to student accountability for missing work. We address lack of work completion as a behavior with minor incident reports (MIRs) and behavior referrals. Please check out the link regarding our MIR (Minor Incident Report) policy regarding homework completion.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/mir_pol...
CVMS Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in volunteering for CV you can sign up online on the attached link or contact our volunteer coordinator, Stephanie Carstensen, home 503-538-6102 or stephaniec@c-ware.com. I have also attached the volunteer form to this email. We have the following immediate volunteer needs:
Homework club help 2:30-3:30 PM (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday)
Read 180 Classes: Mrs. Brower is looking for parent volunteers to help within her classroom. Please contact Mrs. Brower if you are interested: browerc@newberg.k12.or.us
PTO
Last night we had a riveting PTO meeting. We talked about many things including the organization of a 5K/10K run in May and eventually the bringing in of working professionals through a job fair of sorts. If any of you are interested in helping to organize these events please do not hesitate to contact our PTO Co-President Diana Takahashi at dhtdlt@oregon.com. Minutes from the meeting will soon be posted.
FAQ's about standards/proficiency based grading
As all of you know we are transitioning to standards/proficiency based grading. I encourage all of you to read the information on the attached link if you haven't yet to gain further information. The link includes FAQs about our new grading, a rationale, and a summary of our plan. If you have further questions please do not hesitate to call the office. I would be happy to sit down with any one of you or to simply speak by phone if you have questions.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/graduation-starts-today
Weekly FAQ about proficiency grading:
What is a formative assessment?
Formative assessments are informal “checks for understanding” that teachers do on a daily, sometimes weekly basis, to verify student progress on the learning targets. Formative assessments are extremely important in our move toward proficiency because they provide immediate feedback to the student and teacher before the student takes a summative assessment for a grade.
Student/Parent Handbook
In case you were wondering, our student/parent handbook is located on our website.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-parent-handbook
Chehalem Valley Middle School Improvement Plan
If you want to learn more about our school improvement goals and steps we will use to meet these goals please click on the link to our School Improvement Plan.
http://www.newberg.k12.or.us/chehalemvalley/chehalem-valley-school-goals
Absences
Every year we see more absences for trips and personal vacations. Although I understand that vacations do happen during the year, we ask that if at all possible you look to schedule extended vacations during our regular school breaks. Students can always make up work, however it is difficult to replace the loss of instruction.
Please be cognizant that we are extremely vigilant in regards to attendance. The following is the list of reasons the state provides as excusable absences:
-Student illness
-Illness of an immediate family member
-Emergency
-Doctor/Dental Appointment
-Death of an immediate family member
-Court summons
-Satisfactory arrangements, made in advance with the school for other reasons
*Absences for reasons not noted on this list will be marked unexcused.
Visitor Check-In
If you are visiting the school for any reason please check-in at the main office. If you are visiting a student or a classroom you will need to sign-in and retrieve a visitor's badge.
Facebook
You can now "Like us" on Facebook
Upcoming
Winter Break 12/22-1/7
It is hard to believe that we only have one week until break. Hopefully the Christmas shopping is coming along for all of you. My wife tells me that we are shopping this weekend. Can't wait:)
Have a good weekend.
Volunteer form (81 KB) 