BAMS Staff Newsletter
March 1, 2015 - Volume 2, Issue 23
It's a Great Day to Be Great!
Bessie Allen Middle School - SLO & Goals
Building SLO:
By June of 2015, 80% of students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade will show growth in their opinion writing sample rubric score from the September 2014 writing benchmark based on the school developed writing rubric (adapted from the Smarter Balanced writing rubric).
Goal Update: Here are the results from our mid-year assessment
6th Grade - 61% of students showed growth; overall achievement increased 14%
7th Grade - 69% of students showed growth; overall achievement increased 12%
8th Grade - 57% of students showed growth; overall achievement increased 3%
School wide - 62% of students showed growth
Building Goals:
DPI School of Recognition
PBIS School of Merit
Routinely Take Literacy Risks
Be a CEO
Driving Question for 2014-2015:
What have we changed with our instruction to prepare our students for the Badger Exam assessment (and other higher level thinking opportunities)?
Goals for SSR and SSW
- Provide a time for every student in our building to read and write.
- Ensure this time is a positive part of our students' day.
News and Notes
- Remember our schedule for this week is 5 regular days. There will be no block days.
- It is awesome to have Lee Skaar step up to help support our 6-12 Vex Robotics Club. He has been attending some meetings and learning from the current parent club leaders. Thank you, Lee!
- We have not mailed home mid-quarter grade reports for 2nd or 3rd quarters. For 2nd quarter we had 2 parent requests for printed copies and for 3rd quarter we had 7 parent requests for printed copies. We'll continue with this practice for the rest of the year. Please remember that we can always print a grade report for parents. It's about helping parents and students to monitor grades on an on-going basis, not just at the end or middle of a quarter,
- This week I will be sending out my leadership survey. I am very thankful to have your feedback in regards to various leadership skills. The results of the survey will be shared with everyone at a future staff meeting.
- 6th Grade will be beginning our Badger Exam Practice Testing schedule on March 5th. I will be sending out a document with the steps for students and teachers to take. The objectives will also be on the document.
- Badger Exam Schedule - The testing schedule is not set yet. My first thought is we will try to complete the exam during the month of April. May will then be devoted to our district and classroom assessments. The School Improvement Team will be looking at a few drafts on Thursday when we meet. If you have a schedule you would think us to consider, please have it ready before Thursday.
- PLTW Team - It's very exciting to be awarded $20,000 for implementation of PLTW at BAMS. I haven't received any news about the other grant we applied for. The PLTW Team consists of the following people; Kim Broten, Brandon Switz, Todd Whittaker, Beth Stroede, and Linda Wodsedalek. It's great to have a wide variety of grade levels and content areas represented. Thank you for the commitment!
- Class Visits in the District - This is just a reminder about making 2 visits to other educator's classrooms before the school year end. There is no official document for you to complete for this year, just be sure to include these visits somewhere in your documentation log. I would suggest adding them to your professional development log. I think this is a great way to learn from the great educators in our district.
- Summer school course proposal forms were sent out last week. Forms are due by March 6th, so that the course booklets can be completed for distribution to families.
Out of the Office
- March 2nd - 1:45-2:35pm - Honor's Study Hall
- March 3rd - 9-11am - Admin Team Meeting - DMR
- March 3rd - 12-5pm - School Psychologist Interviews - DMR
- March 9th - 1:45-2:35pm - Honor's Study Hall
- March 10th - 9-11am - Admin Team Meeting - DMR
- March 10th - Badger Exam Proctor Info Meeting - CESA 6 - PM
- March 11th - 8:30am - BAMS BCT Meeting - The Crib
Oriole Way - Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe
- How many BAMS Bucks did you hand out last week?
- NEXT Meeting - March 4th, 7am
OASYS and Teacher Effectiveness
- 2 Classroom Visits - Due by May 1st *These visits will be represented in your documentation log.
- Documentation Log - Due by May 1st
Click Here for a link to Teacher Effectiveness Info from CESA 6
Click Here for a Teacher Effectiveness Calendar for EDUCATORS/SPECIALISTS
Dates to Remember
March 4th - BAMS PTO Meeting 3:30pm - DMR
March 5th - 6th Grade Badger Exam practice with students, 4th Hour
March 6th - Last Day of 6th Grade Exploratory Rotation
March 11th - 8th Grade Badger Exam practice with students, SSR/SSW
March 12th - 7th Grade Badger Exam practice with students, SSR/SSW
March 13th - Early Release 12:45pm-3pm
March 17th - ATOD Survey for 8th Grade Students, 10:40-11:20am
March 19th - 8th Grade Badger Exam practice with students, SSR/SSW
March 23rd - NFDL School Board Meeting, 7pm in DMR
March 25th - 7th Grade Badger Exam practice with students, SSR/SSW
March 25th - Staff Meeting 2:50-3:30pm
March 26th - 6th Grade Badger Exam practice with students, SSR/SSW
March 26th - Oriole Leaders Meeting 10:40-11:40am
March 27th - BAMS Medal of Excellence Names to Jennifer
March 27th - End of 3rd Quarter
March 30th - 3rd Quarter Grades Due 7am
March 30th - April 3rd - Spring Break
*See Google Doc titled "2014-2015 BAMS Yearly Calendar" for a look at events for the entire year.
Staff Meeting Agenda
Staff Meeting: March 13th - 12:50-1:15pm - DMR
Agenda:
Review Oriole Way Data
Badger Exam Latest
Other
Next Meeting: March 25th - 2:50-3:30pm - DMR
Parent Link Messages
**Update - I have been trained with our new messaging system called Parent Link. My first thoughts is that it is very slick. I will keep you updated via the newsletter of any messages that are sent out.
Messages sent this week:
- Yearbook $ Due Date Extended to March 6th - sent March 2nd
- Change to Schedule - No Block Days - sent March 2nd