Central Elementary Bits and Bites

WE NEED YOUR HELP! DROP OFF AND PICK UP LINE:

Our dropoff line before school is getting backed up! Our south entrance is for students to be dropped off before school and picked up after school, however, we've been having difficulty keeping our traffic flowing. Our south drive and cal de sac is a No Parking Zone- traffic is expected to be flowing with no parked vehicles in this area. If you need to park and enter the building with your child, you may use the north parking lot and enter the main entrance with your child. We are in the process of posting signs to help as a reminder in this area, but in the meantime, we appreciate everyone helping out to keep our traffic flowing so kiddos can safely enter our building and parents can drop off their children with ease.

PICKLES AND POPCORN TO BEGIN THIS WEDNESDAY!

It's back! The STRIKE Club will begin their Pickles and Popcorn sales this Wednesday. All students PreK 4 YO-6th grade will have a chance to purchase Pickles- $1/each and Popcorn- $0.50/each on Wednesdays. This program gives our students opporutnites to run an in-school business and a tasty treat! Proceeds go to our Student Activity Account that provides students with field trips, special activities, playground upkeep and equipment.

TRASH BAG FUNDRAISER PICK UP:

Thank you for understanding as we had to postpone our Trash Bag Pickup due to the company's delivery issues.

We have rescheduled for Wednesday, October 19th at Central Elementary from 4-6pm. Please let us know if you have any questions!

GRADE CARDS WILL BE GOING OUT NEXT WEEK:

This year, Central Elementary is transitioning to a Standards Based Grade Card. During conferences, teachers discussed the difference in tracking traditional grades versus our newly adopted, Standards Based Grading system. Our goal in adopting this approach is to more accurately document a student's ability and skill level compared to our grade level standards. Before, grades were taken based on the percentage of correct answers. This can often be misleading in cases where students may have received adult support, worked in groups, or completed an assignment as a class. Our teachers are eager to provide help and support as students are learning and mastering new concepts, it is in our nature to help students succeed. Our new system captures how students are doing and where they are using a 1-4 scale. Teachers provide opportunities for students to learn, practice, and receive support as needed as they progress through a standard. Through observation and assessment, our teachers evaluate each students' progress towards our goal of mastery. Below, I have provided some more information from another source as to how Standards Based Grading unfolds.

For our first quarter, there may not be as many standards assessed as one would expect. There are a few reasons for this. We adopted a new reading curriculum and did not receive our materials until a few weeks ago. Our teachers rushed to make the best of the situation and put together materials to begin the year the best they could- we are grateful for our creative and determined staff! We complete many beginning of the year activities to get students in the groove of starting school again, building their classroom community and practicing routines and procedures that serve us throughout the year. Assessments are a large piece of starting the year off - we use these results to create small groups, place students in WIN Time groups for intervention and acceleration, and to collect data as a baseline for tracking growth throughout the year. Lastly, we often start the year off with foundational standards that serve as essential components that other standards build from throughout the year. Teachers will spend ample time to be sure classes master these standards to set them up for success for later content to be learned.

This year, we are beginning our first year of Standards Based Grading Practices with scoring Reading and Math by using a paper system until we can upgrade to an electronic system that supports our adopted grade cards. Next year, our plan is to be 100% implemented with all subjects and classes to be graded in this manner. We appreciate the thoughtful conversations we've had with parents as well as the support from families as we work to put new systems in place that help our students and communicate their progress towards learning our standards.

STANDARDS BASED GRADING RESOURCES:

A Parent’s Guide to The Standards-Based Report Card

Learning is a journey. Students learn and grow at different rates. The standards-based report card identifies where your child currently is on his or her educational path so that you, as parents, can work together with teachers to support your child in meeting annual learning goals.

What is a standards-based report card?

A standards-based reporting system is designed to inform parents/guardians about their children’s progress toward specific learning standards set forth by the Wyoming Department of Education and adopted by the district. In a standards based system the score represents what is learned – where the student is in relation to the expectation or standard.

A standards-based report card:

provides a clear message to parents about which skills and concepts students know and are able to demonstrate in relation to established state standards

helps teachers and students focus on identified end-of-year expectations from the very beginning of the year, giving students a direction for their learning

aligns instruction, assessment, and grading with standards

creates a higher level of consistency and continuity in assessing among teachers and across grade levels

Performance Descriptors:

4 = Student has exceeded the grade-level expectations taught for that standard

3 = Student has reached or mastered grade-level expectations taught for that standard

2 = Student is working towards proficiency with steady progress toward the grade-level standard

1 = Student is working towards proficiency with limited progress toward the grade-level standard

0 / Blank = Not assessed at this time

Why would my child receive a 0 or a blank?

Because of the vast number of standards, not all standards will be assessed each quarter. If your child has a 0 or a blank, it simply indicates that your child did not receive an assessment, or there was not enough data to accurately report progress on that standard for the grading period. (See the performance descriptors above).

What if my child receives all 2’s, does this mean he/she is failing?

No. Standards-based report cards are not about failing and passing. The 2’s show that a child is working towards proficiency. Even top students can earn a 2, which can be a shock for some families. It’s important to know that early scores are not averaged into the final grade—so once your child masters the concept, his/her final grade shows that.

How will I know if my child is “on target” ?

A 3 shows that a student has reached or mastered grade-level expectations on a specific standard. A 3 indicates that a student is achieving at the appropriate level of expectations for that grade at the time of the reporting period. The standards-based report card measures how well an individual child is doing in relation to the grade-level standards, not the work of other children.

How will my child receive a 4?

Level 4 may be the trickiest to understand. A 4 indicates performance that exceeds grade-level expectations taught for a specific standard and that the child has a much deeper understanding of the standard, the ability to apply that knowledge, make connections, and extend learning beyond the targeted goal. If your child earned A’s on traditional report cards, he/she may have received them for meeting teacher requirements, not necessarily for exceeding grade-level expectations taught for that standard.

Do the performance descriptors on the report card correlate with letter grades?

No. The performance descriptors are used to indicate a student’s progress in meeting academic learning standards. The marks on a standards-based report card are different from traditional letter grades. Letter grades are often calculated by combining how well the student met the teacher’s expectations, how he/she performed on assignments and tests, and how much effort the teacher believes he/she put in. Letter grades do not tell parents which skills their children have mastered or whether they are working at grade level.

How does standards-based grading affect student motivation?

When students can clearly see the learning target for each activity and connect class activities to actions that are within their control,motivation improves. In other words, when students can see that the level and amount of work they contribute to the learning target is directly related to the outcome, they will be empowered and encouraged to work hard.

KEEPING UP WITH OUR RAIDERS:

As we transition into using our new App and Website, we will be posting more and more daily activities as well as special events with families! We hope you can join us in celebrating all the great things happening across the district by downloading our app and visiting our website.