Go Punxsutawney, Go!

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so we may just have an early spring after all!  Whoohoo!!  The car duty folks are hoping his prediction is correct this year.  Bravo to all of our 2nd grade students for their wonderful performance in Mean Jean, the Recess Queen!  They were so talented and joyful on stage!  Thank you again to Lydia for another fabulous production.  

With two FULL weeks of instruction ahead of us before mid-Winter break, continue to maximize every minute of your instructional time.  Your targeted focus during small group instruction will help students make incredible gains over the next few weeks.  Remaining closely aligned to the master schedule will ensure your instructional time is appropriately dedicated to reading, writing, and math - ultimately preserving a dedicated 60 minutes per day for small group instruction in reading and math.  This time is invaluable to address student readiness level for enrichment/acceleration, or provide critical re-teaching of grade level standards.  If you need support in planning, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sara or Katy.  I cannot wait to see what our students continue to accomplish under your care!

STATEWIDE TORNADO DRILL, 2/7

Q3 PROGRESS REPORTS, DUE 2/8

Please review the email sent by Carla regarding Q3 Progress Reports.  All students on the Promotion/Retention list MUST receive a progress report.

Update the Progress Report record here to indicate any student who received a progress report.

THE HIVE FIVE DROPPED TODAY!
Congratulations to our 5th grade students and Anna Beaman for successfully dropping the first episode of the West Side student-led podcast, The Hive Five.  Listen hear with your class, or share it with families to listen to at home.  New episodes will drop twice a month.

THE HIVE FIVE

SPRING MUSICAL, THE LITTLE MERMAID, JR.
Come out to support our talented 3rd-5th grade students at this year's spring musical, The Little Mermaid, Jr.  Tickets can be purchased online at the link below.  Show times:  February 14 at 7PM and February 15 at 7PM.  These students have worked SO hard, let's pack the MPAC!

PURCHASE LITTLE MERMAID TICKETS HERE

UPCOMING SCHOOL-WIDE PROGRAMS
We have two upcoming school-wide programs.
  • 2/15 - School-wide trip to see The Little Mermaid, Jr. @ MPAC
    • Buses will leave campus with 3rd-5th + 2A/2B grade students at 9:30
    • Buses will leave campus with K-1st + 2C/2D/2E at 9:45
    • Showtime begins at 10:00 AM
    • 2nd Grade & Kinder will eat sack lunches in the classroom
  • 2/16 - Black History Program at 10:00 AM in the auditorium
    • No changes to lunch
GIFTED TESTING, ON THE HORIZON
It feels as though we just finished gifted testing; however, the spring window is right around the corner.  Look for GES forms to come the week of 2/28.

INFORMATION BELOW IS A REPEAT FROM LAST WEEK!

SOR COACHING WEEK, RECAP!

It was a great week of learning with Kendra!  It is amazing to watch your teams make immediate instructional shifts to integrate (2nd Grade WOW word) strategies taught into the classroom.  Since content is more specific to each grade level this month, look for a grade level email to come with SOR focus goals for the month.

We also enjoyed visiting some classrooms with the Vocabulary lens in mind.  We saw evidence of each of these strategies in place across the school:

  • Purposeful selection of Tier 2 words (brick words) from read alouds to promote understanding of vocabulary.
  • Strategies to teach vocabulary, including - pictures, demonstrations (yay, Kinder), kid-friendly definitions
  • Fostering a word conscious classroom by using maintenance activities for students to practice new vocabulary - post & tally (impressive, Kinder & 2nd) , vocabulary wall with picture supports
  • GREAT opportunities for students to HEAR & SAY words.  Consider when students might WRITE words (this might also look like the teacher explicitly teaching the spelling conventions of the word.  Example:  The word is "tundra".  A tundra is a ____.  How many syllables are in "tundra"?  How might we spell "tundra"?  I hear... /t/ /u/ /n/ /d/ /r/ & /a/.)

TEAM EXTENDED PLANNING TIME

All team extended planning has been planned for the year.  All coverage invites have been sent by Carla.  You can access the complete schedule here (Extended Planning tab).


UPCOMING DATES (Dates added since last week)

  • 2/6 - PLCs
  • 2/7 - Leadership Meeting
  • 2/8 - MTSS Planning
  • 2/8 - Q3 Progress Reports Emailed
  • 2/8 - 2nd Grade FT
  • 2/8 - 3rd Grade in-house FT
  • 2/9 - 2nd Grade FT
  • 2/9 - 4th Grade FT
  • 2/13 - PLCs
  • 2/14 - PTA Staff Treats
  • 2/14 - Leadership Meeting
  • 2/14 - WS Spring Musical, The Little Mermaid Jr. 7:00 PM
  • 2/15 - Dress Down Day
  • 2/15 - WS Spring Musical, The Little Mermaid Jr. school-wide FT 10:00 AM
  • 2/15 - WS Spring Musical, The Little Mermaid Jr. 7:00 PM
  • 2/16 - Black History Month Program, 10:00 AM
  • 2/19-2/23 - Mid-winter Break
  • 2/26-2/29 - SOR Week
  • 2/26 - Booster Kick-off
  • 2/26 - Booster Kick-off Staff Meeting 3:30 PM
  • 2/28 - Vertical Team
  • 3/4 - 4th Grade FT
  • 3/5 - PLCs
  • 3/6 - Booster Fun Run
  • 3/6 - Lunch & Learn:  Supporting Math at Home
  • 3/7 - MTSS Planning
  • 3/8 - 3rd Grade FT

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