Community Newsletter - Uxbridge Public Schools
Transcription
Community Newsletter - Uxbridge Public Schools
Community Newsletter October 2014 J. Lanoue—Editor Message from the Superintendent Dear Parents, Residents, and Friends of the Uxbridge Public Schools: While we New Englanders hate to see the summer season come and go so quickly, there is something to be said for the return of our normal routines and structures. As parents, the beginning and end to our days become a little more predictable and we worry less about balancing work schedules with child coverage. From the student perspective, there is a mix of emotions that include fear of the unknown, the excitement of reconnecting with established friends, and the curiosity about new relationships that are sure to form. The fall season truly is about new beginnings. We build on recent successes and what we have learned from them; but we also reflect and ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. The excitement about September truly is about life’s new chapter and the opportunity for growth and improvement. All successful organizations (including those in business, political, and educational arenas) all have one common theme. They never lose sight of the “fundamentals” and they are always successful in narrowing the focus to ensure success. The Uxbridge Public Schools are taking a page out of this playbook for the 2014-2015 school year by placing our focus on lesson design strategies to ensure we are building critical thinking skills for our students. This includes strengthening data analysis skills among our teachers to ensure that we are meeting individual student learning needs while raising expectations for all Uxbridge students. Our improvement goals include laying the groundwork for a Kindergarten – Grade 12 College and Career Readiness Program. This initiative will be designed to prepare students for grade and school level transitions, choosing the right course and career pathways, and life planning after high school. A Task Force will be formed to include local educators, higher education officials, state and local politicians, and business leaders to research effective school programs and make recommendations to the School Councils and School Committee for program implementation for the 2015-2016 school year. Our ultimate goal is to have our students enter Grade 12 with a strong understanding of who they are as individuals, what talents and skills they possess, and a sense of direction for what knowledge and skills they need to possess to be successful in college and future careers. Another task force will be formed to build a Global Competency Program for students to build social and cultural intelligence skills. Educational programs that were built for us – or our parents’ generation for that matter – cannot be designed to meet the same needs. Therefore, sights cannot be set on 2015. Our kids will be living in a global society and economy and we must develop programs that will help them meet the challenges of their adult lives. Community Newsletter Page 2 Message from the Superintendent, Continued While we take pride in functioning as the “melting pot” nation of the world, children from around the globe are studying American history and culture and English language acquisition at greater depths that we are in establishing cultural and international intelligence skills for our own children. Uxbridge students must be prepared for the international job market they are about to enter. This leads me to the role of School Councils. As our own former Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neil, once said: “All politics are local.” This conviction also stands true for school systems. The most influential individuals who can improve a school district are the students, educators, and parents who work at the building level. We must work to involve their work and advocacy for the needs of children at the grade and school levels to effectively support their needs at the Town level. The 2014-2015 school year is a turning point year for the community. I look forward to embracing the new beginning and working with you to make our school system the very best that it can be for the upcoming school year and for years to come. In an effort to stay connected with stakeholders, we will be expanding two-way communication efforts with the public beyond our School Committee, School Council, PTO, Education Foundation, and Parent Advisory Meetings. This year, community members will be able to participate in two-way dialogue with me or other members of the administration through Facebook chats on the first Wednesday of every month following School Committee Meetings. We understand the challenges of conflicting work and home schedules, so we hope this effort will help us all stay connected. Thank you for your continued support of the Uxbridge Public Schools. Sincerely, Kevin M. Carney Superintendent of Schools CURRICULUM Community Newsletter Page 3 This week marked the release of the 2014 MCAS and Accountability data, and Uxbridge Public School students and teachers can take pride in the work that they have done to improve these scores. While the district remains a Level 2 district, there are many other areas of accountability where the district showed great improvement. Uxbridge instituted significant changes during the 2013-2014 school year to better support our students’ growth and achievement. We renewed our commitment to skill based common assessments. Several programmatic changes allowed for greater personalization of instruction. While we knew that these changes would help our students, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of growth we saw in less than one year of implementing these changes. Schools and Districts are given an accountability rating of level 1 through level 5, depending on their level of student growth and student achievement. As such, we carefully examine these two categories of MCAS data. Student Growth percentiles are grouped into Very Low, Low, Moderate, High or Very High Growth. During the 2013-2014 school year, Uxbridge implemented interventions to decrease Very Low and Low growth and increase students with High or Very High growth and we saw tremendous results. Math: In the area of Very Low/Low growth, Uxbridge saw a 15 percent decline for our high need students and a 12 percent decline for our non-high need population. Conversely, our high need students with High/Very High growth increased by 13 percent, and increased by 14 percent for our non-high need population. English Language Arts: In the area of Very Low/Low growth, Uxbridge high need students declined by 12 percent. Non high need students in low growth declined by 7 percent. Similarly, High need students in the High/Very High growth categories increased by 18 percent, and 5 percent for the non-high need. In the area of achievement, we look to see students moving into the proficient and advanced categories. In English Language Arts, we saw 71 percent of our students in proficient or advanced categories, up seven percent from 2013. In the area of Math, we saw a 3 percent increase, from 58 to 61 percent. You can see more detailed analysis of our growth and achievement results on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Accountability Report We are very proud of the work that our teachers and students have done in such a short period of time to achieve these results. More work is still to be done, but we are excited to continue that work. A detailed discussion of our MCAS results and improvement strategies will be on the agenda for the November School Committee Meeting. This presentation will be available to the public on The Uxbridge Public Schools website following the presentation. Page 4 Welcome My name is Marla Sirois and I am the “new” interim principal of Taft ELC. I say “new” because I have worked for the Uxbridge Public Schools for twenty years. I am settling into my new role and have enjoyed every day that I have been a part of the Taft family. We have had a terrific start to the 2014-2015 school year. I would like to thank all of the teachers and parents for all of their hard work ensuring that preschool and kindergarten openings went smoothly. A child’s first experience in school, while exciting, can be a huge adjustment. In just a few short weeks all of our littlest learners have acclimated and are smiling as they enter the school. Meet the Teacher Night for grades 1 and 2 also had a great turnout. I enjoyed meeting so many parents. This past weekend was the annual Touch a Truck family event sponsored by the PTO. I want to thank all of the community members who worked so hard to make this evening a great success. This event is a true testament of the caring and collaboration that is dedicated to the children of the Uxbridge community. Please don’t hesitate to stop in and say hello when dropping off or picking up your child. I look forward to meeting all of our Taft families. Where Positive Words = Powerful Results TAFT EARLY LEARNING CENTER Community Newsletter As a building, we have many initiatives that have extended from last year into this year. Last year new math programs were piloted. Math in Focus was chosen and adopted as the new math program for the district. Teachers and students are excited about using this hands on program to explore mathematics. There will be opportunities in the near future for families to explore the new math materials in an effort to understand the students’ experiences with the program. We also continue to implement our integrated units of study for English Language Arts. Teams of teachers met over the summer to review and update the units to insure that the Science and Social Studies units were being covered in a cohesive way. Common assessments were also developed to confirm that our students are learning what we intend for them to learn. There is a lot going on with teaching and learning in our building. We have an exciting year ahead of us! Drop Off and Pick Up Please remember that children should not be dropped off in the morning before 8:20. Kindergarten and grade 1 students go directly to the gym where they walk and chat with friends and teachers. Grade 2 students gather near the playground where they too have an opportunity to talk with friends before starting their day. Dismissal essentially starts at 2:55. If your child is a regular walker, they will continue to be picked up at the side doors near the playground. If, however, you are going to be picking up your child as a walker and this is NOT their usual schedule, they will be considered a special walker. Special walkers will be released to their grown ups at the cafeteria door. ALL grown ups picking up ANY walkers should be prepared to show an ID. The teachers do get to know the parents. However, sometimes we have substitutes helping out. If they do not know you they will ask for ID. The safety of our students is always our first priority. School Council The Taft ELC school had its first meeting last week. These are open meetings and we welcome everyone from the community to attend to find out what is happening in our school and be a part of the discussions regarding policies and programs for our students. The Council decided that meetings will be held the 3rd Monday of every month, beginning at 3:45 and ending at 4:45. We hope to see you there! Upcoming Events October 6-9 October 9 October 10 October 15-16 Fire Prevention Week Half Day of School No School Professional Development School Pictures Community Newsletter Page 5 AWESOME start to our 2014-2015 School Year at WES Bus of the Month Whitin Students Are: RESPECTFUL ~ RESPONSIBLE ~ READY TO LEARN WHITIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Whitin Warriors are off to a GREAT start this school year! Thanks to a dedicated staff, parent support, and students following the 3 R’s-Responsible, Respectful and Ready to learn, we will no doubt have a successful school year. (See photo of Safety Resource Officer, Dan Deveau, speaking to WES students on the first day of school.) This year’s bus of the month reward for WES students will be a colored certificate given out by the principal during lunches. You will find out next month what September’s Bus of the Month was on September 30 th. Thank you for your support! FYI –We will be practicing Bus Evacuation Drills on the morning of October 7th. Last Straw Challenge WES has been recognized as a GREEN SCHOOL. Therefore, WES students are being asked to take part in the Last Straw Challenge sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy. By skipping taking a straw at lunches, at home, or in a restaurant, students are preventing plastic straws from entering the ocean and our landfills. Did you know that approximately 50 million straws end up in the ocean a year? They are particularly dangerous to marine life because of their size. One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in the ocean, 90% of it blowing in from landfills. WES School Council Thank you to the following WES staff, parents and community members for serving on this year’s WES School Council: Teachers-Deb Dinoi, Mary Ellen Jansson, Gretchen D’Andrea, Parents – Maria Turner, Laura O’Connell, Mary Francesca, Community Members – Linda Boise, Melissa Silvestro. The first WES School Council meeting will be on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 3:30-4:30pm in the WES Library. October Focus WES staff will be focusing on turning in their goals, looking over MCAS final Spring 2014 results, and STAR Math Assessment information that students took during their computer classes. Upcoming Events October 1, 2014 School Picture Day October 1, 2014 October 2, 2014 WES PTO Meeting – 7:00 pm Cafeteria WES School Council Meeting – 3:30 pm Library October 3, 2014 World Smile Day “Do An Act of Kindness” October 5, 2014 WES Walk-a-Thon 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm October 6-10 Fire Prevention Week October 7, 2014 Bus Evacuation Drill, UFD Fire Safety Student Assemblies October 9, 2014 Early Dismissal – 11:30 am – Curriculum Half Day October 9, 2014 PAC Meeting – 7:00 pm UHS October 10, 2014 NO SCHOOL – Professional Development Day October 13, 2014 NO SCHOOL – Columbus Day October 31, 2014 Spirit Day- “Teacher Look Alike” Day Happy Halloween!! MCCLOSKEY MIDDLE SCHOOL Page 6 Community Newsletter This year McCloskey Middle School houses approximately 470 students from grades six through eight. The 2014-2015 school year marks the second year at McCloskey for principal Dr. Rich Drolet and assistant principal Mr. Todd Kaplan. There are several new staff members joining the faculty at McCloskey this year. Ms. Allison Edwards: eighth grade Special Education, Mr. Doug Priore: seventh/eighth grade Social Studies, Mrs. Kayla Ledoux: sixth grade English Language Arts long-term substitute; and Mr. Mike Agostinelli: General Music. The faculty, staff, and students at McCloskey Middle School made some great strides over the course of the 2013-2014 school year. Through the implementation of an emphasis of writing across the curriculum as well as the use of a new universal screening assessment for Mathematics, McCloskey students are working hard towards improving their knowledge and demonstration of what they learned! McCloskey Middle School has completely revamped its schedule for the 2014-2015 school year. Students will rotate through a six period day consisting of one-hour classes as opposed to what was an eight period day last year. This will allow for more equitable time on learning across the curriculum. Also of note with the new schedule is the fact that students will no longer travel together from class to class all day. Students are mixed up heterogeneously throughout different classes with varied students during the course of the school day, which has proven to be beneficial for the middle school aged adolescent. New this year there are also homogenous groupings in Mathematics. There are three levels of math classes in which students were placed based upon a variety of benchmark data. The leveling of Mathematics has also provided the opportunity to offer Algebra I, a ninth grade course, in the eighth grade. In an effort to become more in tune with the appropriate structure of middle level education, McCloskey Middle School students are now placed on a team made up of teachers from each of the major core subjects. This best practice allows for teachers to better communicate and work together to meet the needs of their students. Working together as a team allows teachers to collaborate through the use of common planning time to implement cross-curricular activities, as well as find other ways to meet the needs of middle school adolescents. Teaming also provides the opportunity to create an identity for students in the building and help foster increased social and emotional growth. McCloskey Middle School is implementing a new school wide behavioral program for the 2014-2015 school year, called PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports). PBIS creates an environment in schools that encourages positive behavior and interactions, while discouraging problem behaviors. PBIS focuses on improving a school’s ability to teach and support positive behavior for all students by implementing clear school-wide expectations. It is a team-based approach for problem solving, planning, and evaluation. The team will use behavior data to address areas of concern in the school. This process will lead to an environment where students achieve academically and build positive relationships with each other and with adults. Page 7 Community Newsletter UXBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL Principal’s Message The 2014-15 school year is off to a fast and furious start! I welcome to our Spartan Family over 125 new freshman to UHS as well as eight staff members: Brennan Bennett - English; Beth Sherr - Instructional Technology; Dan Sabourin - Technology Education; Tracy LarkinChemistry; Dave Lyman - Special Education; Julia Cove - Spanish; Liane Edwards - Special Education; Matt Sloan - Mathematics; and to Mike DiMeglio who transitioned to the Assistant Principal position July 1. “Meet the Teacher Night” on September 18 provided the opportunity for staff to introduce their curriculum and demonstrate the learning students are engaged in. If you have not already signed up for iParent, please take the time to do so (on the district and the school web page). iParent provides information on student assignments and grades and helps facilitate conversation about the on-goings in the classroom. The UHS staff is available to answer your questions or meet with you to ensure your child is staying on task with assignments. There is so much activity taking place both inside and outside the classroom -- as you will see when you read this newsletter. We look forward to a wonderful school year! Athletic Department Congratulations to our fall student-athlete captains: Football - Jake Taparausky, Ian St Pierre, Anthony Abate Field Hockey - Brittany Genest, Abigail Centrella Boys Soccer - Travis Brown, Alex Kuros Girls Soccer - Alex Van Loon, Melissa Morton, Jess Fitzgerald Boys XC - Christian Pasichesny Girls XC - Sandy Ghobrial Golf - Zach Grenon, Dan Lanoue, Justin Pickering Guidance Department The UHS Guidance department hosted the second annual UHS College and Career Fair on Friday, September 19. 68 colleges/universities and the military represented seven states (NH, MA, VT, MA, ME, RI, CT, and CA) with approximately 500 students from five schools having the opportunity to speak and meet with school representatives. Thank you to Robyn Biondi and Jen Robertson for coordinating this event. The PSAT is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15 at UHS. All sophomores will take the PSATs as well as any junior who signs up in the guidance office. The cost of PSATs for the juniors is $14. English Department The English department is excited to be back in action! All freshman and sophomores will be taking the STAR assessment this month to create a baseline to measure progression of skills throughout the school year. Additionally, freshman English classes are engaging in an exciting real world project to turn “The Most Dangerous Game” into a blockbuster film. Students will be working collaboratively to create a sales pitch, seniors are exploring their options in our newly designed elective courses: “Literature of the Jazz Age”, “Literature of War” and “Mythology”. Seniors are honing writing skills in “Applied Writing” and “Analytical Writing”. Page 8 Community Newsletter UXBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL Family & Consumer Science Department The culinary classes will be exploring careers in the field. A chef from Johnson and Wales University visited and shared a wonderful demonstration and information about the school. The College Apps classes have scheduled an admissions officer from Framingham State University and Paul Lynsky from Blackstone Valley Education Foundation to assist them with the application process. Foreign Language Department The Foreign Language Department is excited to be working with students in Spanish 1 this year, as the course is now a full year course. Students have been exploring the Spanish-speaking world, the countries and capitals, as well as some iconic places of interest around the Hispanic world. They have also been working hard on the question, Why learn a second language? Students are deep into creating Public Service Announcements and infographics, demonstrating their understanding of the Spanish-speaking world and the top 10 reasons to speak Spanish. These will be displayed on Mrs. Gaudet's blog, senoragaudet.blogspot.com Math Department The math department is happy to welcome new teacher Mr. Sloan. Mr. Sloan comes to us from Shrewsbury Middle School. He has an extensive knowledge of technology and will be teaching our Algebra I courses. The math department will be assessing all freshmen and sophomores with the STAR common core assessment. Students will be taking the assessment during their math courses on the iPad. The department will be able to collect data on student progress towards meeting the common core standards three times throughout the year. This will allow the math department to modify instruction as necessary. Physical Education/Health Students in Physical Education classes have been engaging in fitness testing in flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength and endurance, and athletic performance. The test results are used as a benchmark and goal setting for fitness improvement. Pictured Above: Peer mentor Missy Morton aids Kayla Brandel in the Sit-and-Reach Hamstring Flexibility Test. Page 9 Community Newsletter Science Department Physics Technology classes have been working on our ‘sound proof boxes’. The students research, design, construct and redesign their boxes using the Engineering Design Process. This project is a great chance for students to collaborate and apply and elevate their critical thinking skills. UXBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL Aquatic Ecology: Students are surveying macroinvertebrates in order to determine water quality. They have also done this for Emerson Brook. This will culminate in a final report that includes many indicators to inform us on the health of the two different ecosystems. Social Studies Department To celebrate the signing of the Constitution teachers incorporated lessons and activities to acknowledge the day. Students also read portions of the Constitution between classes. Ian St. Pierre reads one of many passages about the Constitution shared with the school on Wednesday, September 17. Over the summer, teacher Frank Barbuto led two professional development seminars at Nipumc Regional High School. The topics for the two seminars were iTunes U development and iBook creation. iTunes U is an app that teachers can use to put all of their class materials in one spot for the students to access. iBook Author allows a teacher to create a textbook that is accessible on the iPad and can include links to video’s. Special Education Department Students in the Life Skills Program are participating in a new course called Exploratory Elective this semester. The course is off to a busy start with students showing interest in the areas of culinary arts, photography, art, literature, and sports. Students participated in a lab experiment with Mr. Worden where they observed insect behavior and used a microscope to get a closer look at the insects. This was a timely activity since several life skills students are taking Biology this year with Mrs. Lussier and have learned about the microscope. The class also recently completed projects relating to kitchen practices and safety. Students worked on research skills using their iPads. Our first Fun Club meeting took place recently and students enjoyed social time playing board games with their peers. Many thanks to Missy and UHS Student Council for organizing the event and to everyone who participated. Page 10 Community Newsletter UXBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL Technology Department The Technology department has started the year strong. Students in Project Lead the Way’s (PLTW) Introduction to Engineering Design have been busy using the engineering design process to improve products. They have also been introduced to technical drawing and will begin their first big project soon. Stay tuned for details. Principles of Engineering students have been studying simple machines and their application in the real world. Physics Technology students have constructed and tested soundproof boxes which are used to silence cellular phones. Construction and manufacturing engineering students have been designing and improving the schools ping pong table design, making them safer, more stable, and more efficient to set up, take down and store in the existing space. Library Last spring, students chose their summer reading book from 24 options. Discussions took place on September 17, with 30 groups of students and staff talking about the books they read over the summer. For students who enjoyed their summer read, more books like each of the summer reading options are on display in the library, along with a display celebrating the right to read for Banned Books Week (September 21 - September 27). Book Club has met to choose their reads for first semester, and will be meeting to discuss The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (October 16), My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (November 13), The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (December 11), and The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (January 8). Visual Arts Department The Visual Arts department is excited to start the year strong! Students in Art 1 have begun a unit in structure drawing. The students will be accurately drawing a portion or structure of the UHS building. This is the first year UHS has offered a painting class! The students are very much enjoying the focus on this medium. Painting students have just completed a unit on stippling and shading techniques. They are currently working on painting realistic fruit from observation. The students brought in 3 pieces of fruit to draw. They then took a picture using their ipads. They can now refer back to their picture for color reference. Page 11 Community Newsletter UXBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL Student Council Uxbridge Student Council is excited to continue this fall with the new Executive Board elected last May. The opening September 3rd Meeting welcomed over 90 students to the UHS Library. In only three days, our officers raised $582.08 with the help of the student body for ALS- and were unanimously excited to gather in the gym to watch Principal Tara Bennett and Assistant Principal Michael DiMeglio be soaked with ice water the first week of classes. Apart from this, the Uxbridge Pan-Mass Kids Ride took place on Sunday, September 21 at McCloskey Middle School, an event Student Council is planning very closely with Principal Bennett, a past PMC rider, to successfully complete. The ride had over 30 children participating in one of three routes, each alternating in mileage. At the time of the ride, over $5,000.00 was raised for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Thank you to co-event coordinators Tim McCrohan and Beau Nestor for organizing such a memorable event! The support and cooperation of the community and particularly the Police Department, was instrumental in the the success of this event. We look forward to seeing more participants in 2015! Student Council is also hard at work planning the annual Homecoming Week and Dance, a much anticipated time of school spirit. Drama Club During the summer, Junior Amanda Poulin, worked on creating and designing an easy-to-follow auditorium lighting manual for students and staff. This is Amanda’s second year being involved with the Uxbridge High School Drama Program and her dedication and commitment do not go unnoticed. Thank you Amanda! Community Newsletter Page 12 DISTRICT CALENDAR – OCTOBER 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 2 McCloskey 1 Whitin Elem PTO Mtng-7pm 3 World Smile Day PTO Mtng-6:30 pm High School Title One Open House – 6pm PSG Mtng – 7 pm 5 6 Taft ELC 7 Taft ELC 8 Taft ELC 9 Curriculum Day Whitin Elem Walk-a-thon 1-4 pm Fire Prevention Program for Prek Fire Prevention Program for Prek High School Booster Club Mtng7pm PSG Mtng-7pm Fire Prevention Program Gr.1 & 2 ½ Day all schools Daycare open for preregistered High School Admin Mtng -2pm School Committee Mtng- 7 pm UFM-Mtng-7pm Taft ELC PTO Mtng @3:15pm Whitin Elem PAC Mtg-7pm @UHS High School Faculty Mtng 2:05pm 12 19 Student Council-6:30 pm 13 Columbus Day 14 McCloskey 15 Taft ELC 16 Taft ELC 17 Taft ELC No School Internet Safety –am Assembly for students Internet Safety Presentation for parents @UHS 6:30pm LaPrade Pictures McCloskey Ski Club Sign Up @ UHS 7 pm LaPrade Pictures PTO Costume Party – 6pm 20 High School 21 22 23 McCloskey 24 UHS Crisis Team Meeting-8:30am High School Admin Mtng -2pm School Council – 3pm Ski Club Sign Up @ UHS 7 pm 29 30 Student Council-6:30 pm Faculty Mtng-2:05pm 26 High School Picture Retake 10 Prof. Dev. Day No School Daycare open for preregistered 27 28 Taft ELC Fire Prevention Program for K Sat 4 11 18 25 31 Halloween Admin Mtng -2pm SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETINGS OCTOBER 2014 Taft Early Learning Center Whitin Elementary School McCloskey Middle School Uxbridge High School October 20 October 2 October 23 October 21 3:35 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Library Library Spartan Lab Principals Conf Room
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