Carkenord Chronicle
February 2022
Principal's Message
January had many of our classrooms working to set goals as well as learning about the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our teachers also work to set individual student and classrooms goals and are working to make progress towards achieving those goals. We spend time as a staff reviewing our building data and discussing instruction and interventions to help our students learn and grow.
Each month, our building has been working to teach a variety of character-building/social-emotional topics to our students. In the month of February, students will be digging into conversations about celebrating differences. The students will hear a variety of read alouds this month as well as work on a project to celebrate their own special things which make them unique.
Valentine's Day celebrations will also be taking place. We are celebrating in the classrooms on February 14th. Your child's teacher will communicate any classroom needs (donations, volunteers, etc.) they have for this celebration.
Please read below for additional information about upcoming events and other important information.
Outdoor Recess
M-Step
The M-Step is aligned to Michigan’s challenging learning standards and is administered each spring to students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade at the elementary level as well as to students in middle school and high school. Students will take the test by using the computers and/or Chromebooks.
Due to our large number of students in each grade, we will set up a portable lab using one set of Chromebooks in the media center which will allow us to have 2 classrooms testing at one time. The schedules for testing are tight and are difficult to change due to the state-mandated test windows as well as the sheer number of students we need to get onto computers in order for them to test in a quiet environment conducive to them doing their best work.
This year, students in 3rd—5th grade will be assessed in English Language Arts (ELA) as well as Math. 5th graders will also be assessed in social studies and science.
The state assigns testing windows to which we must adhere. As testing draws closer, we will be sharing the specific testing days for each class. Please do your best to avoid scheduling appointments or vacations during the following testing windows:
2022 M-Step Assessment Windows
- 5th Grade: April 12th-May 21st
- 3rd and 4th Grade: April 26th-June 4th
PTC News
Covid Reminders
- If your child is experiencing covid symptoms, please keep him/her home from school.
- If anyone in your home is waiting for results from a Covid test, please keep your child home until you know if the test is posiitve.
- If you have someone test positive in your home, please call the main office. Your child will be required to quarantine for 5 days from the last date of exposure to the person who tested positive.
- If your child tests positive for covid, he/she will need to isolate for 5 days from the onset of symptoms, AND be fever free for 24 hours AND have an overall improvement of symptoms before being able to return to school.
- Please call the main office if you have any questions about if your child needs to quarantine.
- If there is a positive case in your child's classroom, you will receive an email through school messenger to notify you. You are not required to quarantine your child unless he/she is experiencing symptoms (headache, stuffy/runny nose, diarrhea/nausea/vomiting, fever).
Upcoming Dates
- January 28 Half Day-12:10 Dismissal
- February 2 NO SCHOOL, Teacher professional development
- February 4 Mid Marking Reports are sent home.
- February 14 Valentine's Day Celebrations (Wear red, pink, purple)
- February 16 Kindergarten Registration
- February 18 Half Day-12:10 Dismissal (begin winter break)
- February 21 NO SCHOOL
- February 25 Hat Day