Conference Week in Comics

Next week is Conference Week!  I know you have spent time preparing for each conference to make each conversation personal to the student and parent questions/concerns.  Thank you for the time and preparation leading up to conferences.  Conference Week is a time for you to celebrate the progress made by students - academically, socially, and emotionally, as well as share opportunities for growth this year.  Make each conference a success with these tips (in comics!)...

1.  Make each conference personal.  As a child's teacher, you spend nearly seven hours a day with your students - sometimes more awake hours than a child's parent.  Parents want to know the personal qualities that a child brings into a classroom - are they kind, compassionate, look to bring joy to others, helpful, demonstrate leadership, inclusive, look out for the underdog.

2.  Share opportunities for growth.  All parents want to know ways their child can grow this year - even when students that are meeting all the expectations right now.  Be specific in the academic goals you will help the student reach this year.

3.  Celebrate the progress & potential.  We can all be "awesome" when we grow up, but this only comes with progress and seeing the fullest potential in each child.  Be clear and specific in the progress you've seen so far and the potential that lies ahead.

If we can support you in any way during conference week, do not hesitate to reach out!

CONFERENCE WEEK SNACKS

Our awesome PTA Hospitality committee will have snacks throughout the week to keep you fueled during conferences.

CONFERENCE WEEK DISMISSAL

Please give yourself a few minutes at the start of dismissal to review student dismissal plans for conference week.  We have TWO enrichment camps happening next week, just for conferences (Sports Camp & Film Making).  Students registered for these camps will be listed on the dismissal document.

UPCOMING PLCS

• 10/15 - NO PLCs due to Conference Week
• 10/22 & 10/23 - SOR PLCs
• 10/29 - Q1 Math Assessment Data Dig

MID-POINT ORF PROGRESS!

Thank you to everyone involved in completing mid-point ORF checks this week!  Our student progress from August to October is quite impressive.  Your small group instruction will result in continued progress to reach our goal of 90% of students meeting End of Year (EOY) ORF goals by May!

Percent of students meeting EOY ORF Goal
	August 2024	October 2024
1st Grade (60 cwpm) *Not expected to meet ORF until Winter	NA	31%
2nd Grade (100 cwpm)	29%	68%
3rd Grade (112 cwpm)	50%	72%
4th Grade (133 cwpm)	28%	56%
5th Grade (146 cwpm)	26%	44%

Continue to be intentional with your daily reading small groups to support the instructional goals for each group.  From decoding/encoding to fluency to text comprehension & written expression.  If you need support planning your reading small groups, please reach out to Mary Claire.

Every STEPS, every day!

• STEPS Framework Guidance document HERE (includes hyperlinks for menu of activities for each part of STEPS)
• Decodable Text Resources (for your students still mastering decoding skills):  UFLI, SPIRE, Alphabet Phonics, Whole Phonics, Fly Leaf & more!  Complete Decodable Texts Sets by grade level HERE.
• Consolidated Reader Text Resources (for your students who have mastered IDI decoding skills):  Text selected by student Lexile - text in Book Room, ReadWorks passages, JGB.

UPCOMING GIFTED DATES

Fall Gifted Testing will begin at the end of the month.  Please see upcoming dates for testing, MILE & TD.

• 10/18 – Parent Gifted Testing Consent DUE to Herman
• 10/30 – GRS & MSO Teacher Training, during faculty meeting
• 11/1 – Last day for MILE until 12/2
• 11/1 – Last day for TD until January
• 11/4-11/21 – Fall Gifted Testing Window
• 11/5 – GRS Forms DUE, completed during PL Day
• 11/18 – MSO Forms DUE
• 12/2 – MILE resumes for current MILE students

SOR COACHING WEEK COMING SOON!

Our next SOR coaching week is 10/21-10/24.  Next week, you will receive an email from Christina with the coaching week schedule, the focus for our professional learning, and walkthrough focus.

UPCOMING OAA VISITS

The district Math & ELA Coordinators will be visiting classrooms later this month.  Katy will always let teams know when they will be on campus.  Please keep in mind that during their visits your instructional time should be planned to demonstrate whole group teaching and small group teaching.  Their visits would not be times when instruction is paused for off content activities or whole class assessment.

ELA OAA Visit - 10/29

Math OAA Visit - 11/6

NOVEMBER 5 PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY, 11/5

You can find the schedule for our upcoming PL day HERE.  A schedule has been created to give teams an opportunity to have collaborative planning time, as well as provide staff time to complete their civic duty on Election Day.

DUPLICATE INFORMATION FROM LAST WEEK BELOW THIS LINE

CONFERENCE WEEK SUPPORT

If you need support during an upcoming parent-teacher conference, please reach out to any member of our admin team or your grade level counselor.  We are more than happy to join a conference that addresses sensitive subjects, or may be difficult.

QUARTER 1 REPORT CARDS, DUE 10/13

Important Grading Dates

Q1 Report Card Dates
Grading Period Ends	October 10th, 2024
Deadline to Post Grades (Admin Check)	October 13th, 2024
Report Cards Distributed	October 16th, 2024

WS PTA SILENT AUCTION - CALLING ALL STAFF EXPERIENCES!

Our PTA is preparing for the annual Silent Auction, which is a major fundraising event for the PTA.  As part of the auction, PTA would like to continue to offer Staff Experiences.  These are often times the most sought after auction items for our students/families!  Please consider donating your time for a silent auction staff experience as a way to support our phenomenal PTA!  

You can submit your Silent Auction Staff Experience HERE.

All experiences should be submitted by 10/21.

W&W MODULE 1 END-OF-MODULE TASK STUDENT WORK SAMPLES, DUE 10/31

In preparation for an upcoming PLCs in November, please submit to Katy the following student work samples from W&W M1.

1.  ONE End-of-Module task that exceeds expectations

2.  ONE End-of-Module task that meets expectations

3.  ONE End-of-Module task that is below the expectation

UPCOMING DATES (Dates added since last week)

• 10/14-10/18 - Conference Week, dismissal at 1:15 PM
• 10/15 - SGT Meeting
• 10/16 - Q1 Report Cards Published in Aspen
• 10/17 - Fall Festival!
• 10/21-10/24 - SOR Coaching Week, Angie on Campus!
• 10/23 - Vertical Teams, 3:30 PM
• 10/28 - Fall Gifted Testing Begins
• 10/28-11/1 - Red Ribbon Week! (schedule to come)
• 10/30 - 1st Grade FT (Pettit Creek Farms)
• 10/30 - Kinder FT (Sleepy Hollow)
• 10/30 - Faculty Meeting
• 10/31- Dress Down Day
• 11/1 - CCYA PJ Day $1.00
• 11/4 - 4th Grade Fire Safety Pre-visit
• 11/5 - PL Day (Election Day)
• 11/5 - MTSS Grade Level Meetings (times TBD)
• 11/6 - Leadership Meeting
• 11/7 - SOR Facilitator on Campus (4th/5th Grade SOR PLC)
• 11/7 - PTA Reflections Reception
• 11/8 - Veteran's Day Program
• 11/8 - 3rd Grade In-house FT
• 11/11 - 5th Grade FT (Fernbank)
• 11/12 - 4th Grade FT (Safety Village)
• 11/12 - PLCs
• 11/13-11/14 - SOR Facilitator on Campus
• 11/13 - Vertical Teams (SOR, LLT, MLT)
• 11/14 - Q2 Progress Reports DUE
• 11/15 - PTA Staff Chili Luncheon
• 11/18-11/22 – Stingers Serve Collection Week
• 11/19 – PLCs
• 11/19 – SGT Meeting
• 11/20-11/21 – Thanksgiving Lunches
• 11/20 – Faculty Meeting
• 11/21 – Dress Down Day
• 11/21 – Kindergarten Thanksgiving Play
• 11/25-11/29 – Thanksgiving Break!