Avoca West News
Week of May 28, 2021
Report Card & Other End of Year Info
As we turn the page on the month of May, we are also wrapping up end of the year benchmarking for our students. This is includes MAP reading and math testing for our 2nd-5th graders as well as other assessments for reading and foundational literacy skills. Having this information about our learners allows:
- This year's teachers to gauge each student's progress
- Next year's teacher to get a sense of where to target instruction, and
- Our school MTSS team to get a big-picture view of where to support students and staff so that we can ensure continuous improvement and upward movement.
The PTC's 5th Grade Celebration Committee has been working and thinking creatively to find ways to mark the end of our students' time here at Avoca West. Between COVID protocols, juggling remote and in-person student needs and wants, and the ever-changing landscape of our schedule here at school, this has been a MAJOR undertaking. Bravo to the committee, our students, and our teachers who are making this a moment to celebrate and support the transition to Marie Murphy!
Finally, all of our teachers are thinking beyond the academics at the end of this year to mark the epic year this has been and to help support students as they grapple with the upcoming change. While many students (and teachers!) look forward to the summer, change is hard on many -- and that can look different for everyone. Social-emotional needs have been a major focus for us this school year and we continue to look at ways to help our students notice, express, and manage their feelings and to recognize the perspectives and feelings of others. This is HARD work, and I believe that this work will serve them far into the future. Parents, please recognize that we do have such a wide range of feelings in our AW community around COVID, returning to school, masking, vaccines, and so much more! Modeling flexibility in thinking and validating feelings and perspectives will be key to continuing the work in the months ahead.
If there is something we can do over the summer months to support your student or your family, please don't hesitate to reach out. While I might not have all of the answers, I'm happy to utilize my resources to find them! Be well, stay safe, and thank you for your continued support.
Summer Work for Our AW Team
- MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support) - Team will continue working on develop a systematic process which outlines roles, responsibilities, framework for assessment and interventions for supporting academic and behavior growth.
- SEL (Social Emotional Learning) - Team will continue the work from this year and add specific resources and lessons aligned to the prioritized grade level social emotional learning standards. This will help make sure that every teacher is prepared to explicitly teach the standards either in Morning Meeting or/and as something woven throughout daily instruction.
- ELA (English Language Arts) - Team will work to investigate and identify specific evidence-based interventions to use within the classroom to support our learners.
- Inclusive Pedagogy & Materials - Team will work towards the goal of making sure lessons/materials are inclusive, while remaining age-appropriate and aligned to standards.
- Viking Time - Our new schedule for 2021-2022 includes dedicated time for teams to flexibly group students based on identified needs and to better target specific skills. We will be supporting team leaders with common practices and procedures around Professional Learning Communities and establishing parameters for using Viking Time to differentiate and target instruction for all learners.
This list is not exhaustive, though our goal is to be sure we are not exhausting our staff who have worked so hard this school year! I look forward to sharing our progress on these goals and seeing it in action in the 2021-2022 school year.
ABC Countdown - Continues!
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Questions? Comments?
Website: http://avoca37.org/avocawest/
Location: 235 Beech Drive, Glenview, IL, United States
Phone: 847-724-6800
Twitter: @AvocaWest37