Friday Focus - April 13th

Culture is Key!

I saw a quote on Facebook yesterday something along the lines of "Don't worry about academics, instruction, assessments, etc. if your culture isn't what it should be!"  I am sure I didn't get that exactly right but that was the gist of it.  And the more I think about it - I agree.  Don't get me wrong - school can't be nor should it be all play and not work.  There has to be a balance.  But I do believe that students will only give us their best when this is a place they feel loved and accepted and that they enjoy being.  That does't mean they have to love every second of what we do here but they have to look forward to coming.  School has to be a good place for them and that's what I want every day.  Thank you for all you do to make CCES that place for our students!

We had a house meeting yesterday and I am linking the notes from that meeting here so you can see what we planned.  

Also here is the link to the Action Team notes from Wednesday. 

Next Week at a Glance...

CPA testing next week!

Monday - LOM breakfast and recognition

5th grade Visits CCMS from 1-2

****KDE Olweus Site visit - click for link to schedule***

Tuesday

Wednesday - 1st grade Field Trip to Dinosaur World

4th and 5th grade GT in cafeteria at 1:30

3:00 House Meeting

Thursday - 2nd grade Field Trip to Mammoth Cave

Annie Ruby's Day  *** Mid-term Ends

Friday - Grades need to be posted by the end of the day

4th grade ELA Live Scoring

Spring MAP Scores

I have spent quite a bit of time looking over the last round of MAP scores and are anxious to share them with you all.  We will dive into them more deeply this week at PLC's but here is some quick glances.

MATH

 READING

As you can see, the scores are really all over the place.  Our goal is to have above the 60% mark on proficient and distinguished and to have as few novice as possible.

This shows the increase or decrease compared to winter and this data is interesting.  The trend is that the lower grades did better now than compared to winter and vice versa for the upper grades.  They seemed to do better in the winter and have declined at least some now.  I am sure there are several factors that could have contributed to this.  Again...we will discuss at PLC's this week.

This last picture shows the difference between the number of proficient and distinguished this year compared to last.  Our number of reading have increased pretty dramatically will the number of math have decreased.  Again...what is the cause?

What does this data mean to us and what should it mean for the next few weeks?  I know that testing time and the end of the year is approaching.  Remember - STUDENT LEARNING IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE FOCUS.  The KPREP (or any other test) is just an assessment of what they know.  We don't ever work for the KPREP - that is not our motivation.  But it is nice for it to show what our hard work is doing!

Spend the next few weeks making the most of your time.  We only have 27 days to make an impact on these kids this year.  Don't waste a second of it!

Friday Focus - March 30, 2018

Spring Break is here!  Woohoo!  Enjoy your time off with your families and come back ready to finish out this school year.

Only four weeks of instruction left until KPREP and they will fly by.  

The last round of CPA testing will be the week of April 16th.  Make sure you have those ready to go.  The data you gather from those CPA's can greatly impact your instruction these last couple of weeks.  What content or skills need more time?  What have students still not got?

Next week at PLC we will be discussing MAP test scores from round 3 - come prepared to discuss those. Also, make sure you are using that data to make decisions these last few weeks.  Are there students that still need extra help?  How can we get them that extra help?

If you attended the Leadership Retreat last night, you got to participate in an Breakout EDU activity.  They are so much fun.  We have several kits down here and a subscription to the digital pack.  There are hundreds of games ready for your students to play.  Let me know when you want to get started with one in your classroom.

Next Week at a Glance...

Monday -  Deadline for reading Bluegrass Books!

SBDM meeting at 4

Tuesday - 4th grade Math Live Scoring

Wednesday - Action Team meetings at 3

Friday - BOGO Book Fair starts!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Friday Focus - March 23rd, 2018

Four more days until Spring Break - hang in there!

MAP testing should be finished up next week.  Please make sure MAP scores, STAR scores, and 3rd nine weeks grades are in the data tracker.

Please promote the sale of Panther Cards - that is clear money for our school!  There are some new, improved deals - they really are well worth their money.  Promote them on remind, Facebook, etc.  Also - each class that sells 50 gets a pajama and movie party!!!!!

No Panther Time or PLC's next week.

Next Week at a Glance....

Monday -  4th grade Science Live Scoring

Tuesday - Academic Team Awards in Ms. Kelli's room at 2

Wednesday - Light it Up Blue for Autism Day

                        4th and 5th grade GT in cafeteria at 1:30

Thursday - House/Pod meetings at morning

No 21st Century

Leadership Retreat afterschool at DHLSP

ENJOY YOUR SPRING BREAK!

Friday Focus - March 17th

Star Data - Round 4

Keep up the Good Work

I am always excited to see the Star data each round to see our students growth in reading!  Again - I was very pleased with the growth.  We are staying right on the mark of 75 % of our students on grade level or making .9 year's growth.  Its amazing to look where we started in August and where we are now.  Every single grade level has increased at least 10 percentage points.  Keep doing what you are doing! It's working!

This week during PLC's you will be getting little flower cut-outs for students to right down their acts of kindness in remembrance of those killed in the Florida school shooting last month.  Students don't have to write all of their acts on there - just what they can fit.  We are going to display those on a Kindness Tree on the wall by the elevator.  This will serve as a great reminder to do those acts of kindness all the time.

Remember to keep adding events to the Living Calendar and the Chromecart Slideshow.  Both of these are great tools to help us communicate more effectively.

Next Week at a Glance...

*We will be continuing MAP testing this week

**9 weeks Awards recognition at assembly this week

Monday - K-1 Perfect Attendance

Tuesday - 2-3 Perfect Attendance

Wednesday - 4-5 Perfect Attendance

Thursday - 4th grade All A and B/All A Honor Roll

Friday - 5th grade All A and B/All A Honor Roll

Monday - 5th grade Field Trip to Frankfort

SBDM meeting at 4:00

Tuesday - Ice Cream Sundae Party for Bathroom Winners

12:30 - 5th grade girls

1:15 - K-2 boys

2:00 - 3-4 girls

Wednesday - Wear Red - Staff Walk-in 

Action Team meetings afterschool

Thursday - House Meeting at 3 pm

Friday Focus - March 9, 2018

Hope everyone enjoyed their three day weekend.  Only three more weeks until spring break!

The prayer event was held tonight and was a success.  I hope you continue to pray for our schools and the well-being of our students. 

MAP testing begins this week for our lower grades and upper grades will begin next week.  Encourage students to do their best.  Remind students of their goals for this time - FOCUS ON GROWTH!

This Week At a Glance....
Monday - Leader of the Month Recognition and Breakfast; SBDM meeting at 4 pm; Kidz Klub at 5 pm
Tuesday - 12 noon - 5th grade attends assembly at CCHS; 
5 pm - Courage to Care Parent Event at CCHS for all CC parents - meal provided - please send a remind to parents.  
Wednesday - 8 am Judge Castillo comes to speak to 4th and 5th graders
3 pm - Lighthouse Team meeting
Thursday
Friday - Father/Daughter Dance sponsored by Beta 5-7 pm
- if you need planning hours this is an opportunity - see Dana Duvall

Friday Focus - March 2, 2018

I know that I am not the only one that feels it - it has been a rough week.  Changes to our normal routine, tough situations for our students, concerns in the community and nation, etc. piled on top of our normal duties to educate these students.  We are also in that long stretch of school before spring break.  All I know is that we have to hang in there and try to focus on the positive!  There have been several times this week I have been totally overwhelmed by it all and had to do an adjustment to my thinking.  It is so easy to get bogged down and lose focus.  I am there with you.  But I know these things...
-we are here for the right reason - we love and care about each one of these students.
-we will give our best each day to educate and protect them the best we know how.

If we do those two things - I think we can lay our heads down at night peacefully knowing we gave it our all.  It is all we can do.  We can't make this world perfect and solve all the problems there are out there.  But we can control how we act and what we do!  I appreciate every one of you for the time and sacrifices you give daily to these students.

As far as the new changes go for safety, I think overall they have went well.  There may have to be a few tweaks made - we will give it a few days and go from there.  Remember - if you have any suggestions or concerns, I am always here to listen to them.

Good luck to the CCES Academic Team this weekend!

3rd Nine weeks ends today!! Grades need to be posted by Tuesday and grade cards will go home on Wednesday.

4th round of STAR testing next week!  Make sure students know their goals - students should be at a 1.7, 2.7 and so on or made .3 years growth since the December test.  Encourage them to do their best.  

No Panther Time or PLC's this week!

Next week at a glance...

Monday -   Panther Labs begin this week.  

Thursday - AR goal ends today

Friday - NO SCHOOL

Get ready for a well-deserved three day weekend!