New Haven Tidbits
Posts from the Principal
Off to a SUPER start!
We are going into our 3rd full week of school and the students have done a wonderful job getting comfortable with their schedules. The summer, although super busy with all of the adding of classrooms and moving around, was quiet without the kids. I couldn't wait for them to come back! A school is not meant to be empty! And BELIEVE ME when I tell you that we are doing an excellent job of filling the seats! We continue to grow leaps and bounds!
Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped to get New Haven up and going- from our Tiger dads spreading our playground mulch to volunteers coming in and helping teachers get their rooms ready.
I'm going to apologize now... this month's Posts will be a bit long because there is much to share! Normally, I won't add as much, but I want to make sure that I get the word out about all the events we have going on.
Educational Insight
KPREP and School Report Card
Soon the state will release the state assessment data that students took last spring. Our school report card (looking specifically at proficiency and growth) will be shared with the community, and parents of our 3rd - 5th grade (last year) will be receiving their child's specific performance scores. The assessment focuses on math and reading for our 3rd - 5th graders, adding science and language mechanics to our 4th, and social studies and writing to our 5th graders.
Student Growth and Proficiency
Every year we are required to benchmark our students in both reading and math using a universal screener to acquire a baseline of progress so that we can track growth throughout the year. In Boone County we use a program called Renaissance STAR, and test our students in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. We are wrapping up our first benchmarking window this coming week, and will be sitting down as teams to analyze student scores. These scores do not reflect the total ability of our students, but they at least give us a baseline of understanding. We will also be using other points of data (observations, classwork, student performance, teacher input, etc) to get the big picture for student growth. It is our responsibility to take each student where they start in the Fall and make sure that they show proficiency and growth throughout the year. Teachers will be sharing this information with you after we meet as teams. We also use this information to identify student need and interventions, as well as, for those that exceed benchmark targets to provide enrichment opportunities.
Response to Intervention (RtI) added to Report Card
This year as part of the reporting system, every child will have a RTI section on their report card. RtI is a process in which all Boone County schools follow to address specific learning needs of students. Students may be receiving specific interventions in reading fluency, for example, to help increase their rate of reading and strengthen their comprehension. Some students may need number sense interventions. However, some students may be receiving enrichment opportunities to advance their mastery of specific content. Each teacher will be addressing the needs of students via differentiation and will be making note of this in the RtI section of the report card.
Family Atmosphere
Communication
We offer many methods of communication that cater to all families.
Newsletters- We ALL send out newsletters (myself included). You should be receiving either a newsletter from your child's teacher or the whole grade level regularly. (regularly- either once a week or bi-monthly)- My newsletters will come out the beginning of every month, and I will send them out via email addresses that we have listed in Infinite Campus. Please make sure that we have an updated address for you!
Student Agendas / Take home folders used more for class information and day to day events, but a great way to communicate between home and school. These need to be checked daily.
All Calls- We will use this method to send out reminders about events; delayed openings, early dismissals, emergencies, and school closings.
Website- We will post information, contact methods, School Council agendas, programs, - pretty much everything- on our webpage. New Haven Elementary
Facebook- if you are a FB'er than join our page. We will update our FB page with events and information as it happens, as well as, post the principal tidbits newsletter. It isn't the greatest venue to ask questions and get speedy responses. If you have questions that you need answered right away?- Please call the office. New Haven FB page
Twitter- Real quick reminders and updates - @NewHavenES
PTA- our PTA is just that- Parents and teachers- their website is a great place to get involved, find out about upcoming kid events, and become part of the on-goings. New Haven PTA
Email- we all have email that we access daily. If you have a question please feel free to reach out to us. (Confession... email is much more accessible to all of us than finding a quiet place to return a phone call- but we all have voice mail as well!)
Remind 101 - admittedly I often "forget" to remind. :) BUT many grade levels use this tool to give you a heads up about field trips, homework assignments, or to study for a test.
We welcome you to our school, and want you to be involved. We don't require advance notice if you want to eat lunch with your child, but I will warn you now- seating is getting slim pickings! :) That being said, we do want to also make sure that we are protecting instructional time with our students. One of the things that we are focusing on is not allowing volunteers to "drop by" classes unannounced, or visitors to stop by the classroom after lunch. Even though it is usually for a good cause; it does interrupt the flow of instruction and often distracts from the teaching / learning process. I have promised my staff that I will protect this time for them. I'm asking for your support to find this balance.
Volunteer Orientation
Last week we had a volunteer orientation meeting, and it was a HUGE turn-out. Wow! I continue to be amazed at the power of New Haven, and the involvement that we have. We will have another on Monday, September 14th @ 8:00 am in the library. This meeting will only take 15-20 minutes, but is essential in sharing our expectations of volunteers at New Haven. Any who does want to volunteer during the school day will need to have a Volunteer form signed in addition to their background checks. Our hope is to have a volunteer orientation meeting every other month for families- rotating am and pm for those that have working schedules.
In the spot light....
Our kids hit the target!
This summer our Archery team went to the World Championship in Tennessee and did a phenomenal job. This was our very first year having an archery team, and they definitely rose to the challenge. We are very proud of all of our kids! Ms. Padgett the team sponsor along with coach Mark Evans and many parent volunteers helped our kids rise to the challenge. We are very grateful to have such a strong support system for our kids. We can't wait to see what they do this year. Archery is for our 4th and 5th graders, and practices are held after school. More information will be going home with our 4th and 5th graders in a few weeks.
We also doubled the amount of students who participated in the 1 book 1 summer program. We started partnering with the BCPL last year and it is really catching on. We accumulated some serious reading hours this summer! We had roughly 304 students logging reading hours and they put in just over 900 hours of reading this summer! Wow!!! We will be acknowledging those students at our first quarterly assembly this week. Thank you parents for supporting the reading program!
Activities offered...
Community Education Classes held at New Haven
Young Rembrandts art club will begin Sept. 16th - October 21st on Wednesdays from 4-5. Young Rembrandts is an enrichment program that teaches drawing, the fundamental skill of all visual arts. The student will learn a ‘right brain’ activity using a ‘left brain’ step-by-step methodology. A new lesson will be taught each week and one Art History lesson a month. All supplies provided. You have several choices of location and days.
Ancient Inventions (Hands on STEM for K-5th Grade)
Students will use patterns of earth to tell time, learn how to become and think like an inventor, how to make paper, explore the mind of Galileo and even assemble their own telescope! Hands on science will involve teacher demonstrations and projects that students will work on and take home.
FEE: $75
Tuesdays, 3:45-4:45 pm
September 15-October 18
Rollin Robinson, Science Matters
To sign up for either of the above classes you can go to : https://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=34&aid=bcce&wp=66
We also offer: Academic Team for 4-5th; Girls / boys basketball, Odyssey of the Mind, First Lego League, GOTR = 4th grade, Cheerleading, running club, choir, Future problem solvers, Mozart Strings, and STLP to name a few!
September Events
Mother / Son Night
http://www.newhavenptaky.com
Thursday, Sep 3, 2015, 07:00 PM
Florence Freedom, Freedom Way, Florence, KY, United States
Labor Day- NO SCHOOL
Monday, Sep 7, 2015, 08:30 AM
New Haven Elementary School, U.S. 42, Union, KY, United States
5th grade only- Camp Carlisle
Tuesday, Sep 15, 2015, 09:00 AM
Camp Drive, Carlisle, KY, United States
Tiger Dad's Breakfast
Wednesday, Sep 16, 2015, 07:00 AM
New Haven Elementary School, U.S. 42, Union, KY, United States
KY Kids Day
Thursday, Sep 24, 2015, 09:00 AM
New Haven Elementary School, U.S. 42, Union, KY, United States
Curriculum Night
Tuesday, Sep 29, 2015, 04:00 PM
New Haven Elementary School, U.S. 42, Union, KY, United States
New Haven Elementary
Email: mary.goble@boone.kyschools.us
Website: www.newhaven.boone.kyschools.us
Location: 10854 Old US Hwy 42, Union, KY, United States
Phone: 859-384-5325
Facebook: www.facebook.com/newhavenelementary
Twitter: @NewHavenES