Curriculum and Instruction News
November 2018
Bring Your Own Chromebook
Spring EPEPs Coming Soon!
Missing Work Reports
Elementary Report Card Revisions
The Elementary Building Reps have been collaborating to draft a standards-based report card that is easy for parents, teachers, and students to understand and to use. We are trying to determine the right amount of information that will help teachers have effective conversations with parents.
In developing these report cards we have considered the essential standards work that teachers have done in each building, as well as the Missouri Learning Standards themselves, our district power-standards, and input from teachers. Please take a look at the draft report-card language in this spreadsheet:
Draft Elementary Standards-Based Report Card 2018-19
The report card is designed so teachers can provide an overall score of 4, 3, 2, or 1 in each subject area, as well as provide more specific feedback in a few areas of focus for each subject area. Please provide your feedback by using the comment feature in google sheets. Just follow these instructions.
This is the proposed timeline for making decisions about adopting and rolling out these changes:
Draft Language for core subjects 10/22
Share with buildings and gather feedback 10/22-12/3
Share with principals and gather feedback 11/13-12/3
Try it alongside the current report card 12/3-12/20
Gather language from Art, Music, PE 12/3-2/4/19
Gather language for academic behaviors 12/3-2/4/19
View final PDF printed from Tyler 3/18/19
Develop plan for roll-out, roll-up 3/18/19
Take to School Board 4/23/19 or 5/7/19
Grade Spans for NWEA Measures of Academic Progress and ACT Aspire
Fox Dyslexia Action Plan
Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, a state mandate has been put in place to address the fact that some students may have characteristics of dyslexia. Teachers and other district employees are not in a position of diagnosing dyslexia. When we identify students who have characteristics of dyslexia, it is our job to provide specific interventions and measure their effectiveness.
It is important to know that students with characteristics of dyslexia exhibit the following characteristics:
Unexpected issues with reading fluency in contrast to the student’s listening comprehension/ intelligence
Reading fluency issues are getting in the way of the student’s ability to comprehend text read text independently
Phonological awareness and phonics/ decoding are areas of struggle for the student
The characteristics above cause problems in all content areas. If you suspect a student is having problems with reading fluency specific issues, please remember to follow these steps:
Pay close attention to how the student is reading, specifically if the student struggling with the actual reading of a text
Refer to your PLC team to discuss concerns related to the struggles you are noticing
Refer to your building reading specialist or ELA teachers to communicate your concerns
Consider requesting additional information through your building’s Problem Solving Team
The Fox C-6 District Dyslexia Action Plan was approved by the Fox C-6 Board of Education on October 23rd, 2018. This plan has been offered to support all teachers in supporting all learners in our district. Please refer to this document if you have specific concerns about a student you consider to have characteristics of dyslexia. Please contact Tina Risse at risset@foxc6.org if you would like to further discuss any questions related to students you feel are experiencing characteristics of dyslexia.
Professional Development
Fall Professional Development Days
We have completed our first PD day of the 2018-2019 school year! The next one is tomorrow, November 6th, and it will be a full day of learning that will include PLC time. Please complete the very short surveys after each PD day to provide feedback to the District Professional Development Committee. They will use this information as they prepare for the upcoming professional development days. Please contact your building representatives to share any ideas you have for professional development within your building.
PD Day Evaluation Surveys
Instructional Technology
Instructional Technology Implementation
Have you recently heard about a new technology tool that you'd like to try out with your students? Are you looking for new ways to engage students in the learning process or just find new ways to use Google tools in your classroom? JP Prezzavento is available to partner with teachers to plan technology-rich lessons, share ideas and resources for technology integration, and co-teach lessons that utilize technology.
Popular topics include:
- Streamlining feedback
- Organizing digital work
- Enhancing critical thinking with video
- Creating media to demonstrate knowledge
Contact JP by email to schedule an appointment.
Fox Technology Leaders Team
The Fox Technology Leaders Team is a volunteer, application-based group is designed to create the capacity for leadership in the area of technology integration and professional development by designing and deploying learning that supports the efforts of Fox C-6 curriculum writing teams and the 4C’s of digital learning. This work will be done with a focus on digital citizenship, student engagement, and critical thinking.
The Fox Technology Leaders team had its first meeting on October 24th to begin this important work, but it's not too late for YOU to join us. To learn more about the Fox Technology Leaders Team and to apply to be part of this group, click here.
2018-2019 Meeting Dates:
Wednesday, November 28
Wednesday, December 19
Wednesday, January 30
Wednesday February 27
Wednesday March 27
Wednesday April 24
All meetings are from 4:00 - 5:30pm in the Fox HS library.
College and Career Readiness
Fox C-6 District Assessment Committee
- Thursday, August 30, 4:30-6:60pm, SHS Library
- Thursday Sep. 20th 4:15-5:45 FSC
- Thursday Oct. 18th 4:15-5:45 SHS Library
- Thursday Nov. 1st 4:15-5:45 FSC
- Thursday, January 17th, 4:15-5:45 SHS Library
- Thursday, April 4th, 4:15-5:45 SHS Library
- Thursday, May 2nd, 4:15-5:45 FSC
The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis
I am excited to announce that the Fox C6 School District partnered with The Scholarship Foundation. The Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides direct financial support to St. Louis-area students as they pursue education beyond high school. Since 1920, they have awarded interest-free student loans to students to assist with paying for college. Today, in addition to the interest-free loan program, they also award grants to students. Numbers are not finalized yet, but in 2018-19 they will fund approximately 500 students with $3 million in interest-free loan and $1.5 million in grants.
The student advising program provides professional, trained Student Advisors to work directly with students and families as they navigate the college admissions and financial aid processes. For nearly 25 years The Scholarship Foundation has offered support through collaboration with high schools and the counseling teams. Below is an outline of is being offered to our students at FHS and SHS.
November: Continue to support FAFSA completion for students who have not yet filed; assist students with corrections (e.g., adding a school, correcting an error, or addressing a missing signature); and support preparation for students selected for verification and/or needing to navigate a dependency override.
December: Continue to build upon efforts of November.
January: Support students in creating accounts for St. Louis Graduates’ Scholarship Central (www.myscholarshipcentral.org), which is a one-stop, common application for local and statewide scholarship opportunities along side with Naviance local and nationwide Scholarships.
February/March: Assist students with reviewing and/or comparing financial aid offers from colleges, support special circumstances appeals, and discuss how to address any unmet need—help students identify possible ways to fill any gaps.
(NOTE: Students may self-identify that they have a unique need at any point in this process and they will support. And, if a student needs help with a task that is “off” the timeline, the Student Advisor would still be available to assist)
Finally, as a nonprofit, all of The Scholarship Foundation's services are offered at no charge to schools, districts, students, or families! Please see Mrs. Lane at FHS and Mrs. Oransky at SHS for further details. Below are the tentative dates The Scholarship Foundation will be in each building. Please keep an eye out for more information coming soon from Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Oransky with times and locations.
Fox High School
November 1 and 9
December 11 and 12
Seckman High School
November 1 and 9
December 7, 13, and 14
More dates for 2nd semester coming soon!
Contact C&I
- Declan FitzPatrick, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction: fitzpatrickd@foxc6.org
- Luke Heitert, Director of Technology and Information: heitertl@foxc6.org
- Robin Greene, Director of Professional Development: greene@foxc6.org
- Angie Baker, Federal Programs Coordinator: bakera@foxc6.org
- JP Prezzavento, Instructional Technology Coordinator: prezzavento@foxc6.org
- Tina Risse, K-5 Curriculum Coordinator: risset@foxc6.org
- Maria (Scopino) Bielik,CCR and Assessment Coordinator: bielikm@foxc6.org
- Ashley Berding, C&I Secretary: berdinga@foxc6.org
- Gradebook help: sisk12help@foxc6.org