Hello Walnut Acres Parents,
Happy March to you all! We have about one month until Spring
vacation and we will spend it busily supporting student learning. I'd like to
share with you a few of our learning plan and event highlights.
Last month I mentioned to you that we were
piloting a new formative, computer-adaptive assessment, and thus far it appears
that the reports generated from that assessment will be useful to consider as
one measure of a multiple measurement process to inform instruction. We are
focused on analyzing the data reports this month. There are online lessons that
were provided to us to explore along with the assessment and we are also
investigating those during the month of March. Your child may access those
lessons at home, as well, so you may want to take a look at them. Ask to see
your child's label (hopefully in a binder) titled iready.com that indicates
his/her user name and password. (It's the same information your child uses to
access IXL.)
Our 21st century growth efforts continue as we
learn more about the Common Core Standards and create student opportunities for
deeper thinking through the strategies that we implement at school, including
the use of technology devices. I hope you are beginning to see some of our
efforts at home through student products and/or student conversations. We will
be asking you in an end-of-year survey about your observations of our efforts.
I spend quite a bit of time reporting to you
about safety challenges and solutions. That is because we can't focus on
learning if we don't have a safe and secure environment for our children.
Recently our safety committee has completed an update of our Walnut Acres
Emergency Plan and they have developed goals for continued safety enhancement. Those
goals will include CAP services for 2013-14, a structured process known as the
Peace Path (through Soul Shoppe) to empower students in playground problem
solving, and 2 small areas of fencing behind the K rooms near the garbage
containers and near the gate backing Cedro. Once the district approves our
Safety and Emergency Plans in April, they will be placed on the district
website as public documents.
There are 2 recent changes to current safety
practices. First, Student Messenger attendance calls are being made earlier. If
your child is not at school and you have not called in the absence, you should
receive a call at 9:30 a.m. (There is a later call for late kindergarten
friends.) Second, our doors will remain locked each day, but Mr. DeLeon has fashioned
a wonderful little "tie" that can be placed in front of each latch,
effectively preventing the lock process. If there is a lockdown, the tie can be
shifted slightly and the door will lock. This practice allows us to have the
doors readily in position for an emergency, while allowing traffic flow in and
out of classrooms so as not to distract busy teachers and students.
So what noteworthy events are happening in
March?
Our PFC is sponsoring a Food Drive
from March 11-15, 2013.Donating to the drive is a great way to model good
citizenship, our March life skill focus.
March 15, 2013, is noteworthy for 3 reasons. The Student Council
has decreed that day to be PJ Day. Secondly, and much less excitingly, March
15th is the end of our second trimester.
And the third event of March 15th? It is the
evening of the PFC Havana Night gala that preserves our
assistants working with students, keeps our science lab humming, helps us to
differentiate, and provides funds for our 21st century transformation, despite
continued financial cuts within the district. I thank you in advance for your
participation and your financial contribution at our annual auction! Click here to join
the fun!
Child Assault Prevention (CAP) workshops will
be presented to students in kindergarten, 1st grade, 3rd grade and 5th grade in
April. Last year the workshops were successfully implemented in every
classroom. We hope to continue that developmentally appropriate conversation
each year with our youngest students and biannually with our 1st-5th grade
students as recommended by the CAP trainers. (Their research strongly concludes
that to keep children safe, it is crucial for parents and educators to have
ongoing conversations about empowerment.) The sessions will unfold as they did
last year and non-permission forms are being sent home this week so that
parents who do not want their child to participate in the workshops may
indicate that choice. If you have not had an opportunity to learn about the
workshop sessions, please attend the parent workshop scheduled for Wednesday,
March 27, 2013, in A-1 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and bring any
questions you have.
Speaking of upcoming events, the Walnut Acres
Student Council is planning a special family evening of fun on Friday,
March 29, 2013.Starting at 6:30 p.m. there will be a free family movie
night in the MUR. Come enjoy the movie, Brave, with your family and purchase
some tasty treats as you relax and laugh together! Watch Enews for details
about RSVPing for the event.
On March 29th, you can also look forward to receiving a Progress
Report. Your students can anticipate a Walnut Acres Sing-out (8-8:20
a.m. for 3rd-5th grades and 8:30-8:50 a.m. for K-2nd grades) and a yummy barbecue
lunch!
A wonderful presenter once commented to our
staff that we need to ask ourselves, "How great are our kids really?"
Let me give you one example of how great they are... The 4th and 5th graders
secretly practiced a Macarena dance and last week created a flash mob
performance that took my breath away and tickled everyone who was lucky enough
to watch it. I tell our students routinely that they are very special; I
encourage you to do the same.
"No one has yet fully realized the wealth
of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort
of every true education should be to unlock that treasure."
~Emma Goldman, author
Sincerely,
Colleen Dowd
Principal