Anthem School Information
May 13
Thursday, May 20 Last Day of School - Half Day 12:05 Dismissal
DVUSD Technology Reminder
Monday, May 17
- 7th & 8th grade
- K-3 with any devices at home
Tuesday, May 18
- 4th & 5th grade
Don't forget the charger!!!
Grading and Reporting Information for parents
May 12, 2021
Dear Anthem School Parents/Guardians,
In our efforts to continue to expand and grow our academic progress in the Deer Valley Unified District, a large group of educators and parents have been working for just over three years to improve grading practices in the district. The guiding principle the teams utilized to make decisions was authentic grading accurately measures and reflects a student’s performance based upon mastery of the Arizona State Standards.
Two major areas emerged as elements of grading that are critical to address: removing behavior from academic grades and addressing the complications of zeroes on the 100-point scale. Anthem School will be one of ten schools implementing both updates to our grading practices next school year. While some of these practices are not new to Anthem School, our grading and reporting will be aligned and there will be increased consistency in implementation this year.
Behavior
In the 2021-2022 school year, all schools will adopt practices in which behavior is removed from academic grades. Since the goal is to ensure student grades are authentic and consistently reflect the mastery a student has of the standards, it is important that those grades are accurate and do not also reflect behaviors. The grade reported for the late work will be the actual grade earned. Teachers will no longer reduce the grade or cap the grade merely for the work being turned in late. The behavioral aspect of not having work ready to be turned in on time will be addressed by assigning disciplinary consequences (ex, conference, lunch detention, parent conference, counselor referral, etc.). Anthem staff will work together to develop protocols, timelines and procedures campus-wide for accepting late work. Teachers will accept late work and missing work for full credit if the work is submitted within the timeframe and procedures developed by the school and before the end of the grading period.
Grade Scale
To address challenges of the 0-100 grade scale, the team took a deeper look at grading scales.The traditional way of grading that most people are familiar with is a 100-point scale where 90-100 is considered an A, 80-89 is a B, etc. The problem with this type of grading scale is that, whereas each letter grade is made up of 10 points, an F accounts for 0-59 points. So, if a student is missing an assignment and gets a 0, that loss of 59 points has a dramatic impact on his or her overall grade and is extremely difficult to overcome.
The committee spent a lot of time researching many different types of grading scales and concluded that one that puts equal weight for each grade category would be best. Also instead of assigning a letter grade, the grading scale will reflect a level of proficiency of the learning so there is more consistency throughout the district. And whereas it is difficult to have any one policy fit from Kindergarten through 12th grade, the committee felt that there was a need to have two separate scales, one for K-6th grades and one for 7th-12th grades. The following will be the new grading scales moving forward:
For students continuing on to the college and university level, high school transcripts will continue to include grade point averages based on the 4.0 GPA scale with opportunities for an added grade point for honors/IB/AP courses.
Phased-in Approach
There will be a phased rollout of the new grading scales with ten Phase 1 schools implementing the grade scales in the 2021-2022 school year and the remaining schools will begin using the grading scales in the 2022-2023 year. Anthem School is a Phase 1 school and will implement for the 2021-2022 school year. Once the grading scale has been implemented at your school, you will no longer see the traditional letter grades of A-F in PowerSchools, report cards and transcripts (for high school) but rather the numbers listed above. Also, when an overall class/course grade is determined at the quarter/semester/end of year, a student would need to have a score of at least a 2 in order to pass or earn credit.
More details and additional information will be coming throughout this spring semester, summer, and early fall. We know you will have lots of questions. Please periodically visit this web page for more information: https://www.dvusd.org/Domain/10003
We look forward to partnering with you and your student to implement these two adjustments to our DVUSD grading practices. Look for additional information coming throughout the next few months. In the meantime, feel free to submit your questions here: https://url.dvusd.org/2d14ff49 .Questions will be addressed in a Frequently Asked Questions document published later this semester.
Respectfully,
Deb Roets
Principal, Anthem School
Check out our Facebook page: @AnthemSchoolRockets
Follow us on Twitter! @AN_Rockets
Hello Parents,
Our final motto for this school year is:
I learn more by truly listening to others.
I once had a relative complain to me about how kids today (which meant my kids) spend too much time on their phones and don't interact with other people enough. I was frustrated by the comment because I had permitted my children to go on their phones only after they had done a solid hour of visiting.
Then it hit me! Their "visiting" was just a polite physical presence. They appeared to be listening, but truthfully, they were zoning out. While I was impressed with how well they sat quietly when bored because it was an act of respect, I knew we could do better!
Listening is an essential part of any conversation, and strong conversation skills are an asset in life. However, telling our kids to listen is not as helpful as providing a framework for them to practice their communication skills.
I love the Ask 3 & Tell 3 tool and share it each year. You simply ask your children to share three things about themselves and to learn three things about the person they are speaking with when you have friends or family over. This practical tool helps your children interact with others, and summertime is the perfect opportunity.
When I first started Ask 3 & Tell 3 with my kids, they rolled their eyes at me, and I recall bribing them the first time with a promise of Dairy Queen if they could tell me three facts about each person. However, it worked, and they began interacting more! Not only did this help them improve their communication skills, but it also helped them forge stronger bonds with family, friends, and relatives.
Raising children isn't easy. We are all doing the best we can, and I want to thank you for being part of a community where we support one another and bring the best of all of us to our kids!
Until next year,
Danna Evans
All Things E.Q. -The Discovery of You!
May 14 Early Release @ 2:00
May 19 8th grade promotion - LIVE STREAM @ 9:30 am
May 19 8th grade early release @ 12:05
May 20 ALL SCHOOL early release @ 12:05 - Last day of school
Important Campus Information
- Masks are required of all staff and students.
- Students that do not bring a mask will report to the nurse - parent will be contacted.
- Please do not send your child to school if they are not feeling well. Feel free to reach out to Nurse Kelly with any questions.
Please remember that if your child tests positive for COVID-19 or has come into contact with someone who is positive with COVID-19 to contact Nurse Kelly or Deb Roets.
You can read about the COVID-19 Reporting procedures on our website at www.dvusd.org/covidreporting and make a report as soon as possible at this link: https://url.dvusd.org/COVID19ReportingForm.
Report Absences: 623-376-3790
Anthem School
Attendance line: 623-376-3790
Email: deb.roets@dvusd.org
Website: www.dvusd.org/anthem
Phone: 623-376-3700
Twitter: @AN_Rockets