Comet Times
L.O. Donald Elementary Weekly Newsletter
Thank you!!!
~Kathryn
Week-at-a-Glance
May 23-27, 2016
Monday, May 23, 2016
- Regular SPECIALS schedule
- 8:30-10:00 Science ACP - Grades 3 & 4
- 12:00-4:00 CIC Summer PD Planning at Village Fair - J. Johnson & H. Williams
- No PD after school due to testing schedule
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
- ACP SPECIALS schedule
- 8:30-10:00 Math ACP - Grades K-2 & 5
- 1:00-4:00 Office Manager meeting - J. Santiago
- 1:30-3:30 Principal Summative Part 1: Systems Review - K. Carter & Leadership Team
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
- ACP SPECIALS schedule
- 8:30-10:00 Reading ACP - Grades K-2 & 5
- 1:00-1:30 PK End of the Year Awards practice
- 1:45-2:15 3rd grade End of the Year Awards practice
- 2:25-2:55 2nd grade End of the Year Awards practice
Thursday, May 26, 2016
- Regular SPECIALS schedule
- 8:30-10:00 Specials ACPs - Grades 3-5
- 1:00-1:30 Kinder End of the Year Awards practice
- 1:45-2:15 5th grade End of the Year Awards practice
- 3:15-4:30 Visioning: Planning for 2016-17 in the library (optional)
Friday, May 6, 2016 - Field Day
- 5th grade field trip to NASA!
- 8:30-10:00 PK End of the Year Awards Assembly
- 1:00-1:30 Kinder End of the Year Awards practice
- 1:45-2:15 5th grade End of the Year Awards practice
UPCOMING EVENTS
5/30 No School - Memorial Holiday
5/31 3rd grade End of the Year Awards Assembly
5/31 2nd grade End of the Year Awards Assembly
5/31 Tag Fair
6/1 Kinder End of the Year Awards Assembly
6/1 5th grade End of the Year Awards Assembly
6/2 Last Day of School for students
6/2 4th grade End of the Year Awards Assembly
6/2 1st grade End of the Year Awards Assembly
6/2 5th grade Picnic
6/2 End of the Year parties
A Conversation about Our Beliefs, Vision, & Mission: Planning for 2016-17
Last Thursday afternoon, a group of us met to talk about our vision, beliefs, and mission. We began by discussing our strengths and what we think attracts people to Donald. Some of the things shared were:
- We are a small school where we have an opportunity to know every child and family as individuals.
- Many of our families have attended Donald for more than one generation. We have deep and long-standing relationships with our community.
- We have built relationships with students that focus on respect and responsibility. The behavior of our students reflects those values.
- We have a committed, veteran faculty with low-turnover.
- We educate the "whole child." Students are free to be children at Donald.
We also discussed where we can improve. This year's student survey results suggest that many of our students, especially the boys, crave meaningful relationships with their teachers. Areas for improvement included:
- developing partnerships within the community
- increasing extra-curricular and co-curricular activities (especially K-2)
- strengthening our connections/relationships with students (especially boys)
- teaching/facilitating student leadership (student council)
From there, we explored what we might need to focus on, in terms of our professional growth, to achieve our goals. Our focus this year has been on small group instruction and we know that being proficient at small group instruction will require a constant honing of those skills. We discussed the need to improve our questioning strategies and techniques. Social/emotional learning was also discussed.
After reviewing everything that was shared, student voice emerged as the unifying idea.
We will meet again this Thursday in the library at 3:15. Everyone in invited. Parents will be invited to attend this week. Join us!
Thank you to last week's participants: Alice Wood, Elizabeth Tolleson, Amanda Tyler, Kristan Taylor, Elizabeth Sherley, Natalia Rodriguez, Deborah Strong, Herbert Williams, Antina Garza, Guadalupe Barron, Victor Alvarado, Jennifer Martinez, Nora Saez, and Nina Hagler.
L.O. Donald Campus Priorities 2015-16
- Improve academic achievement through data-driven and small group instruction.
- Build a strong, achievement-oriented campus culture.
- Improve parent involvement and school-community relationships.
L.O. Donald Elementary
Email: kacarter@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/donald
Location: 1218 Phinney Avenue, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972-794-5300
L.O. Donald Goals 2015-16
- 80% of students will meet the passing standard on STAAR reading/math in grades 3-5.
- 70% of students will meet the passing standard on STAAR writing in grade 4.
- 85% of students will meet the passing standard on STAAR science in grade 5.
- 80% of students will perform on or above grade level on the Iowa/Logramos K-2