December is here! That means the end of the semester is near! Things you need to know:

All classes will end on December 16! Our goal is to have all semester long class work turned in by December 15, this give teachers time to grade and close classes. Classes will not be open over winter break. If you need help, resets, or anything at all to finish strong, please reach out to your teachers.

Some of you are finishing early, which is awesome! Remember you still have to log your 6 hours of attendance. Live Lessons are still happening, so you can check those out. Also work in programs your grade level is using! iStation (k-2) and IXL are great ways to practice skills. You can also read books, check out local events/museums to get in some fun educational activities!

Also, I want to thank you all for your patience and understanding. We have had Live Lesson and platform issues. As a team, we have worked out a plan to use Google Classroom for a back up. Teachers will be giving instruction on this in the next week. It is SUPER cool and user friendly.

As we are coming up with these fixes, Clever seems to be in the conversation. This is a way to log in and see if your teacher has communicated. Again, a back up for Connexus being tricky.

We are here to help. You can webmail, email me at kfontanilla@pecosca.us or even call 575-309-8855.

Saying "Thank you!" doesn't seem like enough for all you do as families of Pecos Cyber Academy. As we have moved into becoming our own school, we have had lots of changes and hopefully they will slow down.

We listened to your input and ideas on our website and made HUGE improvements. This will be our final home. The more we use it the more popular it will become and soon all of NM will see how great we are. Please use PecosCyber.org to manage all your needs. Soon we will even be able to log in to Connexus and Clever from this 1 Stop Shop!

If you have an issue logging into the platform, call your homeroom teacher. They can help with Connexus log-ins and passwords.

Computer help for all things broken on the computer (won't turn on, can't log on to the computer itself, mic issues, and tech trouble) call 888-679-7740.

If in doubt, reach out to your teacher and they will send you to the right place.

We are so excited that for our December Family Fun, we will have Natasha Wing. Click HERE to learn more about her.

Mrs. Wing has written tons of popular children's books including over 30 books in her Night Before Series and sold over 5 Million books!

When: Friday, December 9 @ 10:15 in the Elementary Zoom Room

Friday, December 9 @ 10:15- Natasha Wing

December 15: All Semester 1 work due

December 16: Close of Classes

January 4: Students return

Welcome to Dynamic December Kindergarten! You are almost half-way done as we get close to the end of the semester!

• We would like to remind you to check your planner for scheduled events. ESPECIALLY your Middle of Year Reading benchmark (Renaissance Star Early Reading Assessment) AND your December Letter Naming Fluency CBA. You will meet your teacher in the Live Lesson room at your scheduled date/time (see planner). We are excited to see the growth that has taken place these last few months!

• Next, please be sure to stay caught up in lessons, as the courses close on December 16th. All work MUST be submitted.

• Last, we want to remind you that when you have a recording for a teacher-graded skills check, the script/direction are usually below the record button. Please follow the script so we can measure what is intended to measure for growth. Have a wonderful few weeks and end the semester STRONG!

First grade is ready to say, “Adios to 2022!” We are finishing up all our lessons and starting Renaissance testing on December 5th! First graders, please make sure you know when your scheduled time is, check your planner or contact your teacher. We are so proud of our 1st grade students, your essays have been amazing! Keep writing! Last journal writings are due December 9th. If you finish your lessons early, here are some things to do… journal writings, IXL, iStation, RocketMath, reading, or arts and crafts! Istation testing will take place when we come back in January! From all the first grade teachers, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Second graders are rockin’ it! As we wind up this semester, please be sure to check your webmail and planners daily. There will be lots of important information coming out in the next few weeks.

• Week of December 5 - Renaissance STAR Reading and Math testing will take place. This will happen in LiveLesson with your homeroom teacher. Testing schedule has been sent out through webmail; your scheduled testing day and time was also added to the student planner.

• December 8 - Last Science and Social Studies LiveLesson for the semester

• Week of December 12 - Middle of Year Fluency CBA will begin. This will be completed in LiveLesson with your homeroom teacher. Your homeroom teacher will reach out to you to schedule (if not already scheduled).

• December 13 - last day to request resets

• December 15 - last day to submit for semester 1 - courses will be closed December 16.

As students begin to finish this semester, you may ask… what are we supposed to do if we finish early? Early finishers may do the following:

• iStation

• IXL

• Redo’s for a higher grade

• Visit a library

• Take a trip to a museum

• Help create a shopping list and make a budget

• Help measure ingredients for cooking

Third grade is about to finish the first semester race! We are so proud of all your hard work this semester! The following are some important reminders as we are wrapping up:

-Please look for the email from your HR teacher with the day and time for STAR testing next week! These will also be put on your planner as a reminder. You will meet in your HR teacher’s LL room!

- Please be sure to attend your scheduled check-ins to complete your MOY reading CBA.

-December 14 is the last day to ask for any resets. Classes need to be complete by Dec. 15 and courses will be closed on Dec. 16.

-Keep working in IXL until Dec. 16, as we will still be taking participation grades.

-If you finish classes before Dec. 15, keep working in IXL, practice math facts, and read, read, read!

Fourth grade is in a mad dash to finish this first semester like rock stars! The end of our first semester is December 16 and it’s coming fast. Time to finish up any overdue lessons and check through those gradebooks for resets you may need. The cutoff for resets will be December 13 at 5:00. Upcoming things to watch for:

• Scheduled times in your planner starting the week of December 5 to take your Renaissance STAR Reading and Math middle of the year assessments.

• Check-ins with your homeroom teacher to complete your middle of the year reading fluency CBA.

Fifth graders have been working hard on their explanatory essays and they are doing an outstanding job! We will be doing some fun LLs next week to end the semester with, so keep an eye on the weekly newsletter to see what those will look like!

Just a few reminders:

• STAR testing begins December 5th. Live lessons will look the same, but there will not be interventions. Keep an eye on your planner for your scheduled time. Remember to be on time with a working mic and camera. Please enter the LL room through the app and not the browser.

• Remember, the semester ends December 16th and ALL core course work will be due then. Any temporary zeros will become permanent. Please work with your teachers on getting all work completed!

Here is the link to her Counselor's Corner.