HIAWATHA SCHOOLcontent.ccsuvt.org/custom/announcements/hiawatha/5b6acec... · 2016-09-26 ·...
Transcript of HIAWATHA SCHOOLcontent.ccsuvt.org/custom/announcements/hiawatha/5b6acec... · 2016-09-26 ·...
Hiawatha School 30 Hiawatha Ave. Essex Junction, VT 05452 T. 802 878-1384 http://www.ccsuvt.org/hiawatha/
Dear Families,
A south wind yesterday pushed temperatures in the 50s, and allowed flocks of migrating birds to wing their way north - finally! In one short walk we saw
robins, red-winged blackbirds, and Canada geese. Our playground is almost
snow free, and the ground if starting to thaw out. What a winter! This spring full moon is the subject of a science unit - Changes in the Night Time Sky -
being studied by our second grade students. Hope you were able to see their 'moon phases' hats they made this week.
Today, is Mrs. Morgan’s last day before she goes on maternity leave! We wish her the best with her exciting new addition and look forward to her return later this year! Mr. Rasco will be
returning Monday to resume his position, Mrs. Hall will fill in periodically as needed. On another note, I am saddened to share with you that Diana Clayton, our World Language/World
Culture teacher will no longer be with us, as of the end of this school year. The program is ending
given the difficulty in making connections with other programming in the district and supervisory union. Madame Clayton has been an inspiration to many of our students and staff in acquiring a
second language, and it has been very challenging over these past few months knowing that the program will be coming to an end. Madame Clayton is the consummate language
teacher. Madame has worked endlessly to make French language accessible and available to our students here at Hiawatha, and she will be missed very, very much.
Our third grade students have completed the first few testing sessions of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) assessment. The SBAC is a new approach to assessment requiring
students to take the assessment on line. The assessment uses an algorithm which differentiates question sets for students. Below, please find more information on the SBAC. Our third grade
teachers have been working diligently with our students in preparing for the assessment.
A note to celebrate our students! Two of our parents have volunteered to work with a group of
third grade girls in the Girls on the Run (GOTR) program. This is an amazing program supporting young girls in athletics and assertiveness. Our kindergarten and first graders attended Flynn
Theatre concerts as we support our connections with Fine Arts. And, this past week our third
graders presented their own Third Grade Fine Arts' Performance Night. The event celebrated our students work in the fine arts and their connections to literacy. We are working with a group of
third grade students who have formed our first ever 'student council' to work on community service projects. We have had a number of special assemblies and Green Mountain Sings to
celebrate our students' work and connections with our world. And, we continue to cherish the
many volunteers who work at Hiawatha each day on behalf of all our children. Thank you everyone!
Finally, a note to share that we have received many student profile forms. These forms will be
used by placement teams to help create groupings for the upcoming school year. Please let me
know if you have any questions about that process. Groupings are typically completed by mid-April. We will also begin to work with Fleming as we plan our transition activities for our outgoing
third grade students. Amazingly, we only have about nine weeks of school left in the school year!
Thanks so much for all that you do!
Warmly,
Tom
Important Upcoming Dates PTO Meeting April 7th 6:30pm Music Room Childcare provided Half Day of School Thursday April 9th
Noon Dismissal
April Vacation April 20th – April 24th
HIAWATHA SCHOOL
Our 3rd graders were shining stars during their Sharing Night on: Cultures! There was singing, dancing, musical performances and beautiful art on display! It was a night to remember as our 3rd graders showed off their hard work! Bitter sweet for some, as it was their final sharing night at Hiawatha! Thank you to our teaching staff and families for putting together such a memorable night! 3rd graders – we couldn’t be more proud!
There will be a Benefit Basketball Jamboree at ADL April 10th from 4pm-6pm for Mr. Rasco. Please see the attachment flyer with this email for more info! If you would like to donate or volunteer some baked goods for the bake sale the link to sign up is below! Thank You! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0945aeac2aa4fc1-bake
The Hiawatha PTO is putting on a Pancake Dinner! Dinner will be Friday May 1st 6pm-8pm. If you are willing to volunteer please contact PTO President Rosalind Hutton at [email protected]
Discovering Music Carnival – Saturday April 4th Lessons @ 12pm
Concert @ 3:45pm UVM Music Building Recital Hall -tickets sold at the door, proceeds go to UVM NAfME (National Association for Music Educators There’s no admission charge, but a $2 ticket is necessary for each activity. Pleae note that one free ticket was sent home last week with the notice.) Hiawatha PTO is looking for volunteers to help sort and deliver Square 1 Art Products to classrooms on Monday April 13th. If you can help please contact [email protected]
Hiawatha is bringing back Beach Day! Everyone is welcome to dress in appropriate beach attire for the day. We will also have an assembly at 1:30pm.
The Musical Petting Zoo is coming to Hiawatha, and we need your help! On Thursday April 30th, we will be hosting the VSO Musical Petting Zoo for grades 1-3. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to be introduced to the instruments of the Orchestra. We will have a Zookeeper, who will bring a variety of orchestral instruments to School for hands-on instruction. After an explanation and demonstration of each Instrument, the children will get a chance to try the instruments on their own, under the Supervision of “handlers.” The Zoo will be presented 3 times throughout the day,
accommodating 3 classes at a time. We need 8 volunteers for each presentation who will staff the instrument tables and assist the children. No prior instrument knowledge is required, although it would be helpful. Please arrive 10 minutes prior to set up. You may sign up for more than one session. We did this 2 years ago and it was a great success! Please see the link below to sign up if you are able to help in any way!
Schedule 8:30- 9:20 Grade 3 9:30-10:20 Grade 2 12:45-1:30pm Grade 1 http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b4ca8af2fa2f85-musical/
Kindergarten Registration is opening, please visit http://www.ccsuvt.org/22891/kindergarten-registration-information-for-essex-junction-schools for more information and to schedule an appointment.
Monday 4/6
Tuesday 4/7
Wednesday 4/8
Thursday 4/9
Friday 4/10
Chicken Patty Pancakes Nacho Day Pizza Day Spaghetti
SBAC Testing 3rd Grade
SBAC Testing 3rd Grade
HALF DAY
*PTO Meeting 6:30pm Music Room*
Release at Noon
Benefit BBall Jamboree ADL 4pm
Monday 4/13
Tuesday 4/14
Wednesday 4/15
Thursday 4/16
Friday 4/17
Chicken Tenders
French Toast BBQ Chicken Sandwich
Pizza Day Mac and Cheese
SBAC Testing 3rd Grade
SBAC Testing 3rd Grade
SBAC Testing 3rd Grade
Beach Day at Hiawatha!
SBAC Testing 3rd Grade
School Assembly 2:15pm
Prudential Committee meeting 21 Park St 6:30pm
Spring Break next Week! No school April 20th-24th
SBAC: Coming to a school near you Find out what’s different about this new, national, standardized test March 26th 2014
Context: the groundwork leading to SBAC
In 2010, Vermont adopted the Common Core State Standards, (CCSS) in Math and English. Since that time, CSSU schools
have been working diligently to integrate these more rigorous standards into daily lesson plans. The aims of these
standards are to: provide high-quality academic standards that are consistent across the country; raise the bar for
student achievement; and help ensure that students are college and career ready.
Change: How is SBAC different from NECAP?
And how does it link to the Common Core?
CCSS accentuates the importance of applying learning
to new, real life circumstances, and emphasizes
problem solving and the ability to articulate and justify
one’s answer. In 2011, CSSU launched a four-year plan
to facilitate the implementation of the CCSS at each
school. This spring, the CSSU will administer the new
national test that will be used to measure student
achievement based on the CCSS, called the Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).
SBAC replaces the NECAP, New England Common
Assessment Program, Math, and English tests.
Beginning in March, SBAC will assess students in grades
3-8 and 11. The new tests are different from NECAP
tests in many ways, such as:
Students at all tested grade levels will use a
computer to take the test
The test is computer adaptive. This means test
questions are adjusted based on student
responses, individually tailoring the exam to the
range of a student’s ability. Not only should this
make testing a more positive experience for
students, but it should provide a more accurate
picture of a student’s achievement as well as
information that can be used to immediately
inform individual instruction plans.
Relative to NECAP, SBAC questions are expected
to be more complex, require multiple steps, and
take more time to solve. To complete SBAC
tasks, students must be able to organize,
analyze, describe, defend, conclude, argue,
articulate, and evaluate information presented
in charts, graphs, and challenging informational
text.
Student performance will be calculated and
compared across the 31 states who have
adopted the Common Core, rather than among
only four NECAP states.
Unlike NECAP, SBAC tests will be given in the
spring rather than fall, and over the course of
extended test window (mid-March-early June).
Individual student results (with the exception of
longer performance tasks) will be available for
teachers shortly after student tests are
completed. We do not yet know whether
parent reports will be available this first year.
National, State and CSSU results will be
available sometime this summer.
Outcomes: What can be expected?
While students and educators adjust to the new test
expectations and rigorous standards they are based
upon, a decline in student performance results
throughout Vermont and across the country is
anticipated in the first two to four years of SBAC
implementation. Since the NECAP and SBAC tests are
like apples and oranges (different assessment tools
based on different foundational standards), the Agency
of Education has advised that school districts not
directly compare the results they yield. While it is
understood that any new initiative of this magnitude
comes with challenges and altered results, CSSU will,
nonetheless, watch trends as they evolve over time and
learn from our performance results.
PTO Meeting
April 7th 6:30pm
Hiawatha Music Room
Childcare will be provided
Hiawatha Helping Hands~ want to be part of our new committee to increase community and family support at Hiawatha? There are lots of ways to help in person or remotely! Please contact Mariah Sanderson at [email protected] if you want to get involved!
Thursday April 9th
Early dismissal
Dismissal at Noon
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