Sycamore Canyon Parent News
November 2018
Parent-Teacher Conferences
- Prepare: Write yourself notes ahead of time to keep the conversation on track. Know that conferences are scheduled for 20 minutes each, so if your topics are more extensive, let the teacher know ahead of time. Prepare any questions you have about school programs and your child's progress.
- Ask Important Questions: Don't be afraid to engage in frank conversation with your child's teacher. Your goal is to develop an action plan to support your child's success at school. Some questions might include:
- What are my child's strengths and weaknesses?
- How does my child get along with classmates?
- Where could my child use improvement?
- What can we do at home to support what you are doing in the classroom?
- Initiate the Action Plan: Walk away from conferences with a plan. The plan will include things you can do at home, things your child can do, and what the teacher will do to best support the needs of your learner. Discuss the plan with your child and put it into action right away.
We appreciate your participation in your child's education and acknowledge the important role you play in our team.
*NOTE: Parent Teacher Conferences and Minimum Days are split up by a holiday weekend this year. Please be ready for a minimum day beginning on 11/9 at 1:05pm.
Keep Reading during School Breaks
Academics and Social/Emotional Learning:
Our District Organizational goals are centered around student literacy and safety.
- Raise mastery of reading and writing grade level literacy standards with annual, incremental growth of at least five percentage points resulting in 90% mastery by June 2023.
- Raise percentage of students feeling safe or very safe at school with annual, incremental growth of at least seven percentage points resulting in 100% of students feeling safe by June 2023.
As a school site, our commitments reflect these district goals. As I have shared previously, our school priorities are Accountable Thinking (reading, writing, speaking) and Social Emotional Learning. Our teachers and staff ensure that students are having opportunities for collaboration and academic conversation within every lesson. They are also continuing to build trust and create caring classroom communities where students feel safe to take risks and explore.
School wide, students are engaged in reading, writing and speaking tasks across the subjects. They are writing like scientists, reading like historians and creating works of art after engaging in collaboration and team planning. As we observe in classrooms, we are documenting some of this work on social media using the hashtag #AccountableThinkingSC. Additionally, teachers and staff are engaging in professional learning opportunities aligned with our site goals.
This year, we have adopted a new electronic hall pass system. The system helps us to better track the needs of our school (health office, behavior, office passes). For example, during the first 10 weeks of school, there were 26 students sent to the health office with lost or wiggly teeth! The behavior tracking system helps us to target interventions and reteaching to specific grades, classes, individuals, and locations. Our school PBIS team has had some rich conversations using our data as it has provided us with a clear point from which to start. If you are interested in joining our school PBIS team as a parent representative and meeting with the team once monthly at 3pm, please contact Ms. Locke. summer.locke@santeesd.net
Coffee with the Principal
Did you know shopping on Amazon can benefit Sycamore Canyon?
Holiday Food Drive
Upcoming Dates
11/2 Popcorn with Principal (Perfect attendance Oct)
11/2 End of Trimester 1
11/9-11/16 Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/12 Veterans Day Holiday (No School)
11/16 Coffee with the Principal
11/19-11/23 Thanksgiving Holiday (No School)
11/27 School Site Council Meeting 3pm
11/30 PAWS Awards
12/4 English Language Acquisition Committee (ELAC) Meeting 3pm
12/5 Barnes & Noble Fundraiser Night
12/14 PTA Family Craft Night & Association Meeting
12/17-12/21 PTA Holiday Shop
12/21 Paws Awards
12/24-1/6 Winter Break (No School)
1/10 EAK Program Begins
Follow us on Social Media!
Our School Info
Email: summer.locke@santeesd.net
Website: www.santeesd.net/sc
Location: 10201 Settle Road, Santee, CA, USA
Phone: (619)956-5400
Facebook: facebook.com/syccan
Twitter: @ssdsyccan