Eagle's Nest
The official e-newsletter of Corona Elementary
September 1, 2021
With a blink of an eye we have conquered the first month of school! August is about over and we have enrolled and dropped students, administered iReady diagnostic assessments to approximately 400 students, passed out Chromebook to all our upper graders, held our virtual Back to School Night, navigated the muddy waters of OASIS and “Short-Term Independent Studies”, scratched our heads after hearing terms such as “Modified Quarantine”, and so much more! As we move into September I am confident that our initial challenges will become chapters in the eventful, but fruitful, 2021-2022 school year. Speaking of iReady diagnostics, most of our teachers were able to see the initial data compiled by our Instructional Coach, Mrs. Peterson, that shows our students’ starting point in Reading and Math. From the data, we can definitely identify that our students are going to need much more explicit instruction and support in Math. With regards to Reading we can share that students had less Learning Loss due to the pandemic and all its challenges. Without a diagnostic, we all can give qualitative data that shows that our students also need to learn and put into practice the essential behaviors of being an effective learner (i.e. listening, focusing, paying attention, following directions, putting forth our best effort, and grit). We are working on that collective magic potion, in combination with the “by all means necessary” attitude that will continue to make Corona Elementary shine!
Lead The Way - Safety Today
A Note About Safety
- The driveway area is for loading and unloading students only.
- Vehicles must not be left unattended so busses and traffic can keep moving.
- Pull your vehicle all the way forward to allow as many cars as possible to pull in off the street.
- Students should enter or exit the vehicle once it is stopped next to the red curb.
- Always use vehicle turn signals to let other drivers and pedestrians know your intentions.
- If walking your child to or from school, use the sidewalk areas and the crosswalk only .
College Pride
One of the new initiatives in our development of a College Bound environment is to have every classroom adopt a University or College. Students are learning many important facts about their university, along with their location, fight song/cheer, and specialty of degrees. The goal is to expose students to many different colleges and the new vocabulary (i.e. masters, doctorate, syllabus, tuition, scholar, prerequisite, institution) associated with it.
Our next step in the “College Bound” process is to have students wear t-shirts with the logo and mascot of their adopted university. We would have everyone wear their college shirts on Mondays to remind us at the beginning of the week of our ultimate goal. We will be ordering these shirts for everyone promptly in order to have them available before our annual College Day, October 15, 2021, which will be held virtually this year. This day will include many guest speakers who will be sharing their college experiences with our students via Zoom. Please assist us in making this event a success by ordering your child’s t-shirt. We will have sample shirts in the office in case you want to verify the size before submitting your order. The cost of the t-shirt will be only $10. Please submit your order to your child’s teacher by September 10, 2021.
Corona Eagles SOAR to Excellence
Safety—follow school rules and directions given by adults
Organized—have assignments, agendas, and school supplies organized
Accountable—accept responsibility for your actions, learn from mistakes
Respectful—treat others the way you want to be treated, be kind and considerate
Remember to follow the SOAR guidelines in the classroom, restroom, computer lab, library,
office, on the playground and all areas of the campus.
Understanding Your Student's iReady Diagnostic Results
Eagles Can Earn Their Reading Counts Diploma
Parents, did you know that Eagles can earn degrees based on their reading? Each book a student reads is eligible for Reading Counts! points. By taking and passing the Reading Counts! quiz for each book, students collect points. The more points a student earns, the closer a student gets to his reading goals as well as several rewards and prizes. Students can earn up to four degrees, including Associate, Bachelors, Masters and the highest, a Doctorate. Medals are awarded at each grade level to the student with the highest quiz points! A trophy is awarded at each grade level for the class with the highest quiz points. If students reach the schoolwide goal of reading 80 million words, students will choose a celebration for the end of the year (Spoiler: one of the options is sumo wrestling against Dr. Flores). You can check how many Reading Counts! points your student's books are by checking Book Expert Online. Students can currently continue their reading online by using the CloudLibrary app to read e-books from the Ontario City Library. Click below to sign up for a library card.
August Reading Counts Report
Corona Total Words Read: 360,360
Meet Your Corona Eagles Basketball Teams!
Meet Your Corona Basketball Teams!
Thank you to all our students who attended tryouts last month to represent Corona. Our top-ranked Eagles are slated for another stellar basketball season. Congratulations to our boys and girls that made the roster. Our Eagles begin action on Saturday, September 18th, 2021 at De Anza Middle School. Our Eagles are coached by our very own Mr. Jerome Smith and Mrs. Jennifer Massey.
Boys
1. Nathan Gonzalez
2. Jesse Nunez
3. Ethan Rosales
4. Anthony Moreno
5. Rudy Gutierrez
6. Matthew Tejada
7. Jayden Jones
8. Adrian Rincon
9. Isaiah Leon
10. Uriah Popper
11. Andre Hernandez
12. Ulises Gongora
Girls
1. Emma Hays
2. Ailany Murillo
3. Destiny Flores
4. Kaliyah Harris
5. Sarah Lopez
6. Ayelen Perez
7. Sariah Daniels
8. Natalie Prado
9. Zoey Gomez
10. Isabella Banuelos
11. Silvery Espinoza
Eagle Eye On...
Ms. Melissa May
Outreach Consultant
Hello, my name is Melissa May. I grew up in Ontario, CA and attended a few OMSD schools; Del Norte & Hawthorne Elementary, as well as Vina Danks Middle School. I graduated from Chaffey High School. After graduating high school, I went to Chico State University and received my Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies Elementary Education, with a minor in Environmental Science. I also received my Master’s Degree in Education with an endorsement in teaching English as a Second Language.
I love being of service to people in my community. I’ve been active and involved in my community since the age of 10. My mom and dad helped to start the Montclair Challenger Little League District #23, a league for children and adults with disabilities. My brother was the main reason my parents helped in the formation of this league in the 90’s. As a child, I volunteered with Challenger Little League as a “Buddy”, pushing my brother around the baseball field in his wheelchair. We were on the baseball field every weekend, for over 12 years, playing baseball with children who were diagnosed with autism, cerebral palsy and other serious health conditions that left the kids permanently disabled. My brother ended up passing away when he was 24 years old due to his health condition, so I started a softball tournament in his honor - that has raised over $10,000.00 each year for the last 11 years - for the Love Them All Foundation and the Montclair Challenger Little League District #23. These programs are primarily funded through the softball tournament/fundraiser named after my brother.
In being of service to my community, I’ve also had the opportunity to volunteer with the Ontario Police Department since the age of 14 years old - where I met my husband - as Police Explorers. Eventually, I was hired by the Ontario Police Department as a Police Cadet and worked there for a total of 9 years as an Explorer and a Cadet. I was fortunate to be mentored by some of the most caring and compassionate police officers in Ontario who truly care about the health and well-being of our youth and the people in our city. I am still friends with many of my mentors from the Ontario Police Department to this day. I grew up in the Police Department and consider many of my mentors to be part of my extended family.
Being an Educator is my passion. Eventually, after working in the Police Department, I realized that I wanted to go back to school to become a teacher in order to best serve my community. After graduating college, and receiving my Master’s degree, my husband and I moved to Washington D.C. We left our family and friends, one of the most difficult things we have ever had to do, and started our new careers on the East Coast. It was a difficult decision, but one of the best decisions we made. Living in the Washington D.C. area was an amazing experience, the people, the food, the cultural experiences were stunning. Each weekend was filled with free events for families to take part in. My husband and I also have one child, our son, who was diagnosed with autism. Moving to D.C. was very therapeutic for our son who was non-verbal at the time. Taking our son to the various family events every weekend, for over 7 years helped build his speech and vocabulary skills. While living in the D.C. area, I was a Middle School Science Teacher, who helped build and create a Sheltered Immersion Program for our students who were new to the country and learning English as a second language. The program was a success and still exists to this day - with many of our students learning enough English in their first year to pass the rigorous State of Virginia 6th, 7th and 8th grade Reading and Writing exams at grade level.
After teaching Science with great success at George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia, I was offered a job (within the same district) as an Elementary Science Instructional Coach. That year, the elementary school was being audited by the State of Virginia for underperforming in science for 4 years in a row, before my arrival. Under the heavy scrutiny of the Virginia Department of Education and the Superintendent’s Office for Alexandria City Public School District, I was able to provide, and create professional development sessions for our teachers in STEAM and Hands-on science to our Elementary School teachers - many of whom had never taught science before, nor had their degrees in science. As a Science Instructional Coach, I was supportive of my teachers, ensured we worked as a team, and made great strides in helping my teachers understand that data, progress monitoring and using tiered intervention systems was key to our students’ success. In doing so, we gained 12 percentage points my first year (working at the Elementary School) on our state science exam. The systems and policies we created around hands-on science instruction, and progress monitoring of our students worked! Leading us to become a fully accredited school in science my first year as a Science Coach!
When I’m not at work, I love to spend time with my family and friends. My son loves to play board games, spend time with his grandparents on both sides of our family, and take trips around the country when it’s safe to do so. Most of my time outside of work is spent running my nonprofit (The Art and Science Cultural Center) and organizing community events for various organizations. Currently, my husband and I are working with an architect to draw up designs to build the first Children’s Science Museum in the Inland Empire - a past time we thoroughly enjoyed with our son while living in D.C. We are also currently working with a museum exhibit and design team to build our Science Museum. We hope to complete and finish building within the next two years, once our fundraising efforts are completed.
If there is one piece of advice I would give it would be, “Life is short. Make every moment count.”
September Calendar of Events
- 2 - Fundraiser Assembly (Quad) @8am
- 6 - HOLIDAY - Labor Day
- 7 - PE Make-Up Day
- 8 - International Literacy Day
- 11 - Patriot Day
- 12 - Grandparents' Day
- 13 - Math Facts Challenge begins
- 17 - OMSD Promise Scholars Golf Tournament
- 17 - Chat with the Principal via Zoom@3pm
- 17 - Fall Picture Day
- 18 - Virtual Attendance MakeUp Academy @8am-12pm
- 18 - Basketball: Corona vs. Del Norte/Mariposa @DeAnza 10am-1pm
- 20 - National IT Professionals Day
- 21 - KinderGO! Reading @9:40am
September's SEL Theme
SELF-AWARENESS: Recognizing Strengths, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy
During the month of September, your child’s SEL instruction will dive deeper into Self-Awareness focusing on recognizing strengths, self-confidence, and self-efficacy skills. Students will learn to make positive self-statements and understand their mental and physical response to the world around them based on their own experiences.
Contact Us
Website: http://corona.omsd.net
Location: 1140 North Corona Avenue, Ontario, CA, USA
Phone: 909-984-6411
Twitter: @Corona_OMSD