Bella Vista Staff Bulletin
09/22/2014 v.1 issue 4
Quote of the Week
Latinos now make up 38 percent of California’s population….state officials predict that by 2060, Latinos will make up half the population.
We Learn!
Preview of Professional Learning for Teachers
This week’s professional learning will be differentiated in order to give teachers access to job-embedded learning. Here are the offerings:
- Balanced Approach to Literacy (BAL) Basics: This session is mandatory for all teachers who are new to our campus and who did not attend summer PD on BAL. Our ELA teacher leader, Patti Cho, will lead this session.
- BAL – Interactive Read Aloud: Sets of grade-appropriate interactive read aloud books will be distributed at this session, which will focus on how to select texts and foster academic discussions during Interactive Read Aloud.
- CELDT Test Examiner Inservice: Teachers in who will lead group testing should attend this session to learn how to administer the test.
- Second Step: This session offers participants an overview of Second Step, the social emotional learning curriculum used at Bella Vista for students in grades K-5, as well as an opportunity to preview the pacing guide and online resources.
- Science Instructional Reflection and Assessment (SIRA): Third grade teachers will go off site to learn more about a new instructional sequence for science that is aligned with the Next Generation Science Science Standards.
- PLC Meeting Time: The TK and SDC-SH teams will meet in PLCs for 60 minutes. All other grade-level teams will have 30 minutes to meet this week (with more PLC time next week).
Teachers will receive instructions for signing up for PD via Email.
We Live!
Proposed Changes to Lunch Schedule
- We continue to work on improving the lunch schedule in order to maximize the time that students have to enjoy their meals in the cafeteria as well as maximize student supervision.
- The proposed schedule that will become effective on Monday, September 29. These changes will not affect any other schedules (prep, library, etc.).
- If you have any feedback on the proposed schedule, please share it with Ms. Phillips or Ms. Seaberg by Wednesday, September 22. We will share the new schedule with students during the Student of the Month assemblies
Safe Routes to School
- This year Bella Vista will participate in the Safe Routes to School Program (SR2S), which is an effort to get more kids walking and biking safely to school. It also gives students and their families skills, encouragement, and inspiration through a range of activities, events, and lessons.
- In order to promote walking and biking safely to school, we need to activate our school’s Safety Patrol. More than 20 4th and 5th graders have signed up for the Patrol, which will hold its first training session on Thursday, September 25, from 8:30 until 9:30 in the Auditorium. They will continue to train every morning before school until they are ready to begin the service on or about Wednesday, October 1.
- Another SR2S event is International Roll and Walk to School Day, which we will celebrate on Wednesday, October 8. We will store students’ bikes, skateboards and scooters in a secure location on campus for this special event.
- We are looking for a team of parents to help coordinate our participation in SR2S, but we also welcome any staff member who would like to get involved.
We Achieve!
Fall Scholastic Reading Inventory-Preliminary Results
- The SRI is the universal screener of reading comprehension for all OUSD students in grades 2-12. A computer-adaptive test, the SRI measures students' level of reading comprehension and reports it using a Lexile score.
- Lexile levels are used to determine student progress over time, to identify students who are in need of additional reading support and inform evaluations of reading and intervention program effectiveness.
- Mrs. Gibbons administered the SRI last week to all eligible students, and here are the preliminary results:
- 2nd grade: 27% at/above grade level
- 3rd grade: 17% at/above grade level
- 4th grade: 37% at/above grade level
- 5th grade: 56% at/above grade level
Transitional Kindergarten Works!
- TK is the first of a two-year specialized Kindergarten experience designed to meet the needs of young 5-year-olds. The mission of TK is to make sure that all children enter Kindergarten with the skills necessary for ongoing academic success. TK debuted last year at Bella Vista and this year we have two TK classes.
- While we don’t have official data to validate the benefits of TK, we have formative assessment data from Kindergarten that clearly shows the impact of TK (thank you, Mrs. Gibbons!):
- Of the students in Kindergarten who were in Ms. Ung’s TK class last year, 57% of them know all 26 upper case letters.
- Only 40% of Kindergarten students who did not attend TK recognized all 26 upper case letters.
- We look forward to reviewing additional data related to the effects of TK on Kindergarten performance.
Annual Independent Reading Contest
Independent Reading is a key component of a Balanced Approach to Literacy. It enables students to foster an enjoyment of reading, allows teachers to meet with guided reading groups and confer individually with students. The goals for Independent Reading for the first trimester are listed below. If your class meets or exceeds these goals already, see Ms. Seaberg for a special recognition.
- K-1 Independent reading contest 15 min goal for 1st trimester
- 2-3 Independent Reading contest 25 min goal for 1st trimester
- 4-5 independent reading contest 35+ min goal for 1st trimester
Announcements and Reminders
- Thank you, Ms. C. Nguyen & Ms. Yin, administering the CELDT one-on-one Listening and Speaking assessments to more than 60 students in grades 2-5.
- We welcome Ms. Nina Morente to Bella Vista! Ms. Morente is our new Resource Specialist and she will lead our program to support students with mild/moderate disabilities who are in General Education classrooms.
- Congratulations, Mrs. Hansen! She recently received hundreds of dollars in garden equipment and supplies from DonorsChoose.org.
- We appreciate the volunteer efforts of the Tafoya family (Rocio, Julisa, Salvador and Elizabeth) for cleaning up the auditorium and organizing books for Back to School Night.
- This week we will say goodbye to Mr. Norman Ospina, our Attendance Clerk, who will be leaving OUSD for a leadership opportunity. His work at our school has resulted in a decrease in chronic absence rate and he has also been a bridge to many of our school’s Spanish-speaking families. Thank you, Mr. Ospina, for your contributions to Bella Vista!
- SAVE THE DATE: Friday, October 10, is a Buy Back Day for teachers. There is no school for students, and paraprofessionals can take a personal day in lieu of an unpaid day.
Upcoming Events
THIS WEEK
Mon., Sept. 22
street sweeping
- CELDT continues
- LESSON PLANS DUE: Chen, Garcia, Hansen, V. Nguyen, O’Brien, Rajanikanth, Schooling, Stone, Thai, Tai, Klintong, Ung
- 9:30 Day 20 Enrollment Count
Tues., Sept. 23
street sweeping
- 9:00 Fire Drill
- 3:00 Instructional Leadership Team Meeting (room 11)
Weds., Sept. 24
- 2:15 Teacher Professional Learning – Mini-PD Sessions (locations TBD)
Thurs., Sept. 25
- Principals' Meeting (Ms. Phillips is off campus)
- 5:30 PTA Kickoff Meeting/Spaghetti Dinner (Auditorium)
Fri., Sept. 26
- Student of the Month Assemblies (Auditorium)
- 12:10 Grades TK-K
- 12:45 Grades 3-5
- 1:45 Grades 1-2
NEXT WEEK
Mon., Sept. 29
- LESSON PLANS DUE: Chen, Garcia, Hansen, V. Nguyen, O’Brien, Rajanikanth, Schooling, Stone, Thai, Tai, Klintong, Ung
- Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Training Day 1
Tues., Sept. 30
- Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Training Day 2
- Systematic ELD Training Day 1
- 3:00 PBIS Planning Team Meeting
Weds., Oct. 1
EBAYC Small Wonders After School Program Begins for Grades TK-1
- 2:15 Teacher Professional Learning
Thurs., Oct. 2
Fri., Oct. 3
Bella Vista Elementary School
Website: tinyurl.com/bellavistaoakland
Location: 1025 East 28th Street, Oakland, CA, United States
Phone: 510-436-4900