Barber Bulletin
Pontiac Elementary Week of March 16-20
SPEARMAN ANNOUNCES ADOPTION OF NEW ELA AND MATHEMATICS STANDARDS
Columbia, SC: State Superintendent of Education Molly M. Spearman announced that South Carolina has adopted new, high-quality standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.
“I am proud of the new homegrown, South Carolina college- and career-ready standards that we have adopted,” said Spearman. “This is an important day for our state. We have developed a set of high quality standards written by our own South Carolina teachers and certified as college- and career-ready by our own institutions of higher education. This process was truly a team effort and I want to thank the thousands of parents, teachers, community leaders, and business men and women who all played an integral role.”
Last June, a record 365 educators applied to serve on the ELA and math writing teams. To review the initial drafts of the standards they submitted in October, the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee (EOC) and the South Carolina Department of Education each convened separate task forces of parents, business men and women, community leaders, and special education teachers. Both task forces totaled nearly 100 people selected from across the state, and each was charged to carefully review the drafts.
Public review of the draft standards resulted in nearly 18,000 comments being submitted. Both the EOC and State Department of Education then convened joint teams of reviewers to work through several versions of the drafts from December 2014 through January 2015, before submitting final versions for review and adoption to the State Board of Education and EOC. The State Board unanimously approved the ELA standards in January and the Mathematics standards in February. The EOC voted by a margin of 11-1 to adopt both the ELA and Mathematics standards on Monday, March 9. The State Board unanimously passed its final approval of both sets of standards today.
Additionally, the State Department of Education has established a survey for continued public input on the standards. To learn more about the process taken to establish these new standards and to access the survey, please visit the Department’s New Standards Web page here.
Would you like to attend our district's technology conference?
Richland School District Two's SC Midlands Summit featuring Google for Education is scheduled for June 10-11, 2015! The SC Midlands Summit is a two day conference focused on Leveling Up technology integration in the classroom. Over 100 unique sessions will be offered! We have a great lineup of featured speakers on hand to share their expertise with us. George Couros, Lance Rougeux, Alice Keeler, Tim Childers, Shaelynn Farnsworth, Lee Green, Michael Jaber, and Mark Smith are all confirmed presenters! Check out our featured speakers page for more information.
PONTIAC ELEMENTARY WILL TAKE CARE OF ALL REGISTRATIONS AND COST FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND. Please let K.Barber know if you are interested before Friday, March 27.
Special Education T shirts
Spring Portraits are Friday!
Just a few reminders to help the photo times run smoothly.
A schedule will be sent out to you very soon.
Portrait sessions will be in the PE room.
Every student takes three poses.
There will be (3) photographers - (1) for each pose.
There is no pre-orders to collect.
Students will take home pictures later, after processed, to determine if parents would like to purchase.
South Carolina Day is March 18
SECTION 53-3-60. South Carolina Day. [SC ST SEC 53-3-60]
The public schools shall observe Calhoun's birthday, the eighteenth of March of each year, as South Carolina Day and on that day the school officers and teachers shall conduct such exercises as will conduce to a more general knowledge and appreciation of the history, resources and possibilities of this State. If such day shall fall on Saturday or Sunday the Fridaynearest to March eighteenth shall be so observed and if any school shall not be in session on such date, the celebration may be held before the close of the term. The State Superintendent of Education shall suggest such topics or programs, as he may deem appropriate for the celebration of South Carolina Day.
How will you celebrate SC day with your students? TWEET your classroom lesson and include photos! Include #scday #pontiacelem and #richlandtwo. Post to our Google Community too so you can share the celebration with our colleagues!
Tech Tip from Turner: GOOGLE KEEP.........A Powerful Digital Notepad
Want to jot down an interesting thought you had while on the go? Never wanted to set up an Evernote account or just looking for something a little more powerful than the built-in notepad app on your phone? Try out Google Keep. You can make a bunch of various lists and share them with others. It’s a great way to stay organized.
A Look at our Week Ahead!
Monday: A Day
10:20am Summit Parkway Music Road Show for 5th grade students
3:30pm Digital Playground in the cafeteria
Tuesday: B Day Feel free to wear JEANS AND GREEN in honor of St. Patty's Day!
1:30pm PBL TED TANK event
4:30pm Chef Competition at Langford Elementary - Go Taijon York from PES!
Wednesday: C Day
South Carolina Day
3:15pm Parrot Prep for New Teachers
3:30pm Stars and Stripes
Thursday: D Day
7:45am SIC meeting
1:00pm IAT
6:00pm Skate Night
Friday: E Day
PTO Box Tops class winners receive PTO treat!
Individual Spring Portraits held in PE Room
7:30am Doughnuts for Dads
7:30am Chick Fil A sales in car rider line by 3rd grade
6:00pm Mother/Son Bowling Night