Principal's Newsletter
Week of: November 2-6
The Week Ahead
I begin with a reminder that there is no school on Tuesday, November 3. Students do not participate in any virtual school, in-person, or extension day activities. This is a Professional Development Day for staff and it is also Election Day.
I am very happy with the manner in which we were able to transition our Road to Hybrid students into Cunniff West last week. Students easily mastered routines for navigating their way within the classroom and the school. Parents and guardians have done a commendable job preparing students for their return to in-person instruction.
I am looking forward to another noteworthy week ahead.
I will resume my daily morning announcement beginning tomorrow. You can continue to use the same link - Ms. Ciarlone's Daily Morning Announcement. However, I will be leading the morning announcement at 7:45 instead of 8:00 AM. This change will enable me to be outside when students arrive each day.
Classroom teachers will resume their daily morning meeting beginning tomorrow.
The month of November will be a busy one. This includes:
- i-Ready diagnostic (Mathematics & ELA) for students in grades 1-5;
- VIrtual School book distribution event on Friday;
- Parent & teacher conference planning and preparation.
Pictured above: Students at work in their personal space within the classroom
Daily Attendance
A reminder that daily attendance in school - hybrid model or virtual school - is mandatory. This includes participation in extension days and the daily closing circle which now begins at 2:10. Appointments should be scheduled outside of these times.
We take formal attendance several times throughout each school day. This includes:
Morning Meeting - 8:15 AM
Two Special Classes (Art, Music, PE, Library)
Spanish (grades K - 4 only)
Closing Circle - 2:10 PM
Beginning on Wednesday, we will be adjusting daily attendance based on the percentage of the day a child is present.
i-Ready Diagnostic
For the third year, we are implementing i-Ready diagnostic assessment in Reading and Math. Below, you will find information on the program and how we will be using it in the classroom.
What is i-Ready?
i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s needs, personalize his or her learning, and monitor progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child exactly where he or she is and provides data for us to increase your child’s learning gains.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student sees is individualized based on his or her answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier questions. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade, but instead to determine how best to support your child’s learning.
How will this work in hybrid learning?
Students in grades 1-5 will participate in only two, 45-min assessments (one literacy, one math).
The math assessment will be given the week of 11/2 during in-person math class and -if needed - will be completed at home during asynchronous Science/Social Studies time.
The literacy assessment will be given the week of 11/10 during in-person literacy class and will be completed at home during asynchronous Science/Social Studies time.
i-Ready Testing Support Via Zoom link will be open for students to use during their asynchronous time if they need support with taking the i-Ready at home.
What can I do to help?
To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, please encourage him/her to:
Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.
Try their best on each question - try not to rush, but if the question is really too hard, don’t spend too long trying to figure it out.
Try not to worry about questions they do not know—remind them that it is expected they will get about half of the questions correct.
Use paper and a pencil to show work for math questions.
Do not help students answer the questions. Remember, this is an assessment that adapts to what children know and do not know. If they receive help, iReady will not assign them the lessons that they may need because they will think students have already mastered certain skills.
Review the i-Ready family guides in your native language: English | Spanish | Portuguese | Haitian Creole
Watch the Family Guidance for Administering the diagnostic At Home videos (English | Spanish)
What happens next?
The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help teachers identify what your child already knows and determine the next steps for instruction. Teachers look forward to sharing these results with you throughout the year and to providing a learning experience that will attract and hold your child’s interest while teaching important skills and concepts.
If you have any questions about i-Ready, please do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s teacher. You can also learn more about i-Ready by visiting i-ReadyCentral.com/FamilyCenter.
As always, thank you for your continued support and for being a partner in your child’s learning!
VIrtual School Book Distribution on Friday
Parent & Teacher Conferences
- Monday 11/30: 1:40 - 2:30 PM
- Tuesday 12/1 1:40 - 2:30 and 5:00 - 7:00 PM
- Wednesday 12/2 1:40 - 3:00 PM
- Thursday 12/3 1:40 - 2:30 and 6:00 - 8:00 PM
From Rashmi Pimprikar
We look forward to supporting you with your educational technology questions.
Please visit the WPS Family Ed-Tech for ALL website for updated resources. weekly 10/30 Family Ed-Tech for All Newsletter, Live support sessions, Resources, Tutorials & tips that are curated and created, just for you.
Please complete the WPS Ed-Tech Support Request Form if you need support with Ed-Tech. A member of the WPS Ed-Tech team will reach out to you asap.
Please visit our WPS STEM Week 2020 Website that hosts diverse STEM offerings for different grade levels. You can print your school-specific WPS STEM Week 2020 student certificates from the website.
Please visit WGBH WORLD Channel which is created to serve students at home with no or limited internet access, or to augment online learning. This At-Home Learning Resources document provides an overall schedule of the broadcasts for this fall. Link to Mathematics broadcast Schedule and MA Standards alignment.