CSA Lincoln Newsletter
Friday, March 29th
Principal's Notes and Highlights
Happy Friday!
Celebrate Good Times
We have lots to celebrate these days!
Level 1- High Reliability School Certification
This morning I shared with our students that our school is now certified as a Level 1 High Reliability School (HRS). Bob Marzano, the founder of the Marzano Network and the HRS model, is the Michael Jordan of the education world. I hope that analogy gives some perspective to the credibility of this process. There are five levels (see photo insert) in this model. We must submit a substantial amount of evidence detailing how we meet the criteria for each indicator within a level. This includes video of teacher collaboration meetings. Our school leadership team met with an HRS official for 90 minutes who asked questions and discussed our data with us. Even our parent representative, Sarah Gibson, had to answer questions about the role of parents, and their involvement at CSA Lincoln. A school must go through this process for each level separately.
The HRS official determined that we met all the criteria to become certified as a Safe, Supportive, and Collaborative Culture (Level 1)! As I explained to students, this award was earned by the hard work and commitment of our students, support staff, teachers, and parents. There are only three school districts in the state of Indiana who have schools that have earned this recognition. We are the first school for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. In addition to being recognized on their website, we also receive permission to display this recognition. This sign will be displayed in the school and our teachers are currently working on Level 2. Congratulations to all of us!
Third Grade IREAD
We will send home individual student results on Monday, but I will go ahead and say that our third-grade students did an awesome job! We are so very proud of their hard work and it definitely paid off. Earlier this week, I shared a video of our third-grade students participating in our "walk the halls" tradition on Facebook. If you ever need a "pick me up", watch this video. You hear me talk about academics, competing, and pursuing excellence often in these newsletters. This video is a great example of this in action. You will see third-grade students who are proud, and excited about being recognized and supported by their peers. You will also hear and see CSA Lincoln students cheering for them. Ever wonder what the power of positivity looks like? Look no further. This video has received over 2,100 views since Tuesday and these kids knocked it out of the park on this test. Way to go!
CSA Lincoln Recognition Levels
Our School Leadership Team has been reviewing past practices regarding how we recognize students and have developed levels. One glaring hole we noticed when reviewing past practices was that we were not recognizing our academic and school culture accomplishments in an equitable manner compared to athletic accomplishments. For a school that prides itself on developing the whole student, this was an obvious gap that needed rectifying. You can click the button below or here to find the new levels. We are in the process of buying new banners. All large banners will be displayed in the upstairs hallway and include participant names. Small banners will be displayed in the gym and include the year of the accomplishment. Eventually, this document will include links to each indicator with explanations about criteria and process for selection.
"A" Rated School Recognition
For the past five years, CSA Lincoln has been recognized as an "A" rated school by the Indiana Department of Education. This is a result of your student's academic success. Included in this newsletter is a photo of our new sign that will be displayed in our school. I shared with students at Town Hall Meeting this morning that the years identified on this sign, represent them. They should be proud of their accomplishment and take ownership of this success. As you can see, we saved space to add more years.
Updates
- Report Cards are heading home today in backpacks. Please return the manilla envelope.
- Our new Sensory Path has been a huge hit with students. I even saw one parent, who will remain nameless, giving it a try during Town Hall Meeting this morning. The bulk of the funding for this was provided by the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation( BCSF) through an innovation grant that Mrs. Cash and Mrs. Burbink submitted.
- The BCSF will be hosting a Gametime Gala: A Trivia Soiree on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at The Commons in downtown Columbus. This "trivia night" event will provide the Foundation with the opportunity to celebrate its successes, review the educational achievements of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC), and recognize its many teacher grant recipients. Please consider attending this exciting event and supporting a very important organization for BCSC! Tickets can be purchased at https://www.bcsfstars.org/.
- The ever-popular Art Show will return on Wednesday, May 8th. If you are an artist or know an artist who would be interested in doing live demonstrations at the art show, please have them contact Mrs. Blackerby at morrowme@bcsc.k12.in.us. We had a couple last year and it was a huge hit.
Have a great weekend,
Brett
Important Upcoming Dates
Please mark these dates on your calendar!
- April 30-May 2, May 7-10th- ILEARN Testing (3rd-6th Grade)
- May 8th- Art Show
- May 15th- Indianapolis Indians Game-CSA Reading Challenge- Home Run Hitters
- May 16-17th- Chicago Trip (6th Grade)
- May 23-24th- CYC Camp Trip (5th Grade)
- May 24th- Kindergarten Graduation 1:00 PM
- May 29th- Move Up Day
- May 29th- 6th Grade Graduation-10:30-11:30 am
- May 30th- Last Student Day (Donner Park Field Day)
Husky Gram Winners
Bailey Loichinger
Evelyn Bartels
Mila Begley
Jaycie Hatcher
Keegan Tempest
Ayden Perkins
Justin Schlaudroff
Ja'Nyah Aborsiade
Harper Patterson
Kiana Hensley
Natalie Pickup
Maddox Hult
Aniket Ghatge
PTO Update
Join us a we jump into our next PTO Fundraiser Night!
Where: Urban Air Franklin
Date: Sunday, April 7
Time: 4-8PM (2 hour and 30 minute jump passes available for purchase)
We hope to see you there!
SAVE SOME TIME by completing our attached waiver form and bringing it with you!
As this is a PTO sponsored event, all families attending will need to sign this additional waiver in order to participate. We DO NOT need a waiver for each child, just one per family with each child listed individually. We will have some on hand at the event if needed.
Next PTO Meeting:
Thursday, April 18, 6-7PM Location to be announced! (We're planning a field trip!)
BCSC Pre-K
BCSC Pre-K is now accepting applications for the 2019-2020 school year. Applications are available at all elementary schools and online at www.bcsc.k12.in.us under the 2019-2020 Pre-K Applications heading. Please call us at 812-376-4569 for more information about BCSC Pre-K.
CSA Lincoln on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter
Instagram: CSA_Lincoln
Facebook: CSA Lincoln Community
Twitter: @csaprincipal
Brett Findley
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Email: findleyb@bcsc.k12.in.us
Website: http://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/site/default.aspx?DomainID=788
Location: Columbus Signature Academy Lincoln Campus, 5th Street, Columbus, IN, United States
Phone: 812-376-4447
Facebook: facebook.com/CSALincoln
Twitter: @csaprincipal