The month of September has completely flown by. I’ve enjoyed getting into classrooms and seeing the great learning that is taking place. I’ve seen students working hard on writing, reading aloud to partners, using math manipulatives to solve math problems and demonstrate their thinking, and arguing their points of view regarding author’s purpose behind the text written in their stories.
You’ll hear often this year the words “High Expectations” and “Excellence”. Today we started our Wednesday Character Education assemblies with our primary students with a focus on defining excellence and a review of our three big school rules “Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible”.
We had a soggy yet fun Lion Walk last Friday. The students are very proud of the number of laps they ran/walked and I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers who helped to make this event a success. You are truly priceless!
Our faculty has been reviewing data from last year and this fall, and has begun building action plans for improving student learning. We will maintain a dedicated focus to supporting students and moving them forward at all levels of learning, teaching the more rigorous Common Core State Standards, and preparing our students for the switch to the Smarter Balanced Assessments this next school year. Our Site Council will meet after school next Monday to also work on our overall school improvement plan.
The Smarter Balanced Assessments will assess student performance regarding the Common Core State Standards beginning in 2015. Our students will take the current state assessment “OAKS” for the final time this year. Although this test is indeed based on the old standards, I do believe we are making the right decision to teach to the more rigorous Common Core State Standards.
This Friday, we will hold a Parent Coffee beginning at 9:15 AM in our school library. This is an opportunity for any parents who wish to, to join me in a relaxed setting for a conversation about our school. While I recognize that being new to Mabel Rush, I most likely won’t be able to know all the answers to parents’ questions, I do look forward to hearing those questions. I did get a chance to look through data from the recent electronic parent survey that was sent out and I will be keeping that information in mind as we chart our course for this school year.
Have a great night!
Lisa
