Medlock Bridge Mustang Message
We educate and inspire all students to be lifelong learners!
From the Principal's Desk
Medlock Bridge Community,
We truly enjoyed seeing so many of you at our recent Curriculum Night! We were glad to have the opportunity to open our doors to you and share a bit about the wonderful year that awaits your child. Thank you to our marvelous PTO and to Abbotts Grill for providing a delightful dinner for our teachers and staff before the event.
If you missed the event, grade levels will be posting their presentations to their grade level websites. You can also view the welcome video from administration and PTO using the links below.
Administration welcome: https://youtu.be/9hcPuCwv_NA
PTO welcome: https://youtu.be/vpferdLTPEE
As I shared at Curriculum Night, we have earned an additional 1st grade teacher (see letter here). We have also earned an additional ESOL teacher and a part time Early Intervention Teacher. We will be hiring for all three positions in the coming days. While time is of the essence, we will put great care into finding the best possible teacher to serve your students. I will keep you posted as we progress through this process.
At a recent Fulton County School Board meeting, a change was made to the 2018-19 school calendar out of an abundance of caution for schools that are also election sites. Even though Medlock Bridge is not an election site, these changes apply to our school calendar.
- Tuesday, November 6, 2018 changes to a Teacher Work Day.
- Friday, March 8, 2019 changes to a regular school day.
- This revision will not change the total number of instruction days for students.
Families, if you have already made travel plans for March 8th, please know that there are allowances for pre-approved excused absences in board policy. Please contact me at vancem@fultonschools.org if you need further guidance.
As part of our strategic plan, we are committed to offering a safe, positive, and welcoming learning environment. To that end, we are surveying our staff and community to determine what practices we should keep, adopt, or change as we go forward. Your feedback is valuable to this process.Please take a moment to complete this brief, six-item survey. Your feedback will help us grow! https://tinyurl.com/MBES1819SPWsurvey
Additionally, we are developing our Social Emotional Learning efforts as part of our strategic plan. On September 4th, we will begin using the 7 Mindsets Social Emotional Learning curriculum with our students as part of Mustangs R.O.C.K. If you would like to know more about 7 Mindsets, please click here for a brief parent letter.
Finally, our first Spirit Day is this Thursday! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in their PTO Spirit Shirts. Thank you for your continued support of Medlock Bridge Elementary!
- Matt Vance
Important Dates
Tuesday, August 28th
Mustangs R.O.C.K. Kickoff Presentation from DreamShakers
Student Work Folders Go Home
Thursday, August 30th
Spirit Day - Wear your "What's Your Superpower?" PTO Shirt!
Monday, September 3rd
Labor Day - School Closed
Wednesday September 5th
Inside Track: Parent Coffee - Classroom Technology and TAG
Friday, September 7th
All-Pro Dads @ 7am in Cafeteria
ESOL Parent Meeting @ 7:45am Room 131
Portuguese Parent Meeting: Nurturing Independence @ 9am in Room 131
Partners In Education Summit at Alpharetta YMCA @9am
Tuesday, September 11th
School Governance Council Meeting @ 7am
Changes to 2018-2019 School Calendar
This school year, November 6, 2018 has been changed from a regular school day, to a teacher work day. March 8, 2019 has been changed from a teacher work day, to a regular school day. The decision alleviates safety concerns raised by some parents and staff, allows for additional staff training on safety protocols, and maintains instructional time for our students. Additionally, our school board has expressed interest in addressing a long term solution through the legislative process.
Information Regarding Student Dismissal Changes And Bus Transportation
Due to limited space, safety, and security reasons, students may only ride their assigned bus. Exceptions to this rule will be considered for emergency and/or childcare purposes. Please know that we have some buses at capacity that cannot accept any additional riders.
Any request for an exception for a specific day must be made in writing and should be delivered to the child's teacher. The teacher will give the request to the front office for review. If the request is denied, parents will be contacted so that they can make other transportation arrangements.
Volunteer Registration
Do you want to be a mystery reader? Would you like to help out in your child's classroom? We welcome all parents to come volunteer and be a part of your child's school experience at Medlock Bridge. Per Fulton County policy, ALL parents (even is you have completed the application in the past) that want to volunteer for the 2018-2019 school year MUST complete the mandatory training or they will not be allowed to volunteer in classrooms!
In the past, we have had to turn many parents away as they haven't completed this training - which is heartbreaking for everyone! Please don't let this happen to you - visit the FCS site directly to complete the required informational training at least 72 hours prior to volunteering:
http://www.fultonschools.org/en/divisions/sup/comm/Pages/partnersvolunteers.aspx
Curriculum matters
By Patty Neumeister, MBES CST
Email: neumeisterp@fultonschools.org
Website: https://mbescurriculumsupport.weebly.com/
What’s all this “BASing” going on at MBES?
Part 1
The Benchmark Assessment System (BAS)
One of the best ways to assess students in reading is to simply listen to them read and then ask them questions. Medlock Bridge teachers have been doing this for years, of course, but approximately 7 years ago, we (and many schools in Fulton County) moved to a highly-regarded reading assessment program designed by Fountas & Pinnell (http://www.fountasandpinnell.com/) called The Benchmark Assessment System, or BAS, for short.
If you’ve had a student at Medlock Bridge prior to this year, no doubt you’ve heard from their teacher about your child’s Independent Reading Level. This is the level of book a child can read by themselves with sufficient fluency and comprehension. The levels that teachers refer to with colleagues is a child’s Instructional Reading Level. This is the level of book a teacher will use to instruct students to help them gain eventual independence at that level.
As students gain strength in their reading strategies, decoding abilities and fluency, it is expected that they move “up” BAS levels at a somewhat predictable rate. BAS levels begin with A and go up to Z. Below is a Fountas & Pinnell BAS level chart which indicates where students should be INSTRUCTIONALLY. Their independent reading level will be one level below their instructional level. So, for example, it is expected that by the end of kindergarten students are reading instructionally at a BAS Level D and therefore their independent level would be at a BAS Level C. Similarly, third graders are expected to be reading at an instructional BAS Level P by then end of the year. This means that most of the books they read independently should be around a BAS Level O.
Thank you for supporting your child’s learning during these formative years. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to their teachers or myself with any questions!
Best - Patty
Medlock Bridge Strategic Plan
Medlock Bridge Elementary School
Email: vancem@fultonschools.org
Website: http://school.fultonschools.org/es/medlockbridge/Pages/default.aspx
Location: 10215 Medlock Bridge Parkway, Johns Creek, GA, United States
Phone: 4702542980
Twitter: @MBESPrincipal