Report cards were sent home with students Friday afternoon, and secondary households should receive their copies in the mail by December 11th (depending on the efficiency of the postal service). I wanted to communicate to families that the report cards may look a bit different this year. You may find that a student has more N/A's (not assessed) in this first marking period; this is due to a pilot of Language Arts resources K-6 and an increase in student absences due to COVID protocols.

What has traditionally been assessed in a first marking period may have shifted in when it is taught during the school year, which means a teacher cannot truly assess student progress on that standard on the report card. Teachers have also had to manage student absences due to COVID quarantines, so a teacher may not have enough evidence to assess progress on specific standards that another student was assessed on.

I have included a graphic below this article which also demonstrates the idea of standards-based grading relative to riding a bicycle. A student will receive a 2 on a standard as they are working on the skills necessary to demonstrate that skill individually. It is perfectly normal for students to have more 2s at this time of year on a report card. If your student is working with more 2s than typical, that is perfectly fine. Teachers will continue to monitor student progress on those standards throughout the year. Our goal is to have students at 3 by the end of the year (and even then, a student may not be at a level 3 across the board). We are not yet out of the pandemic, we have a heavy emphasis on the social emotional needs of the students in addition to their academic needs. We need to recognize both are extremely important right now.

If you have specific questions on the report card, use the Parent-Teacher conferences as an opportunity for dialogue. I would recommend emailing any specific question you have to the teacher by Tuesday morning so that they have an opportunity to maximize the time in the conference and answer your questions.

Mr. Bruno communicated information relative to the Parent-Teacher conferences at the end of last week. Please remember that you have a variety of options for the conferences Thursday and Friday. You may still have them in person, or you may choose a remote option. Remote conferences can either be virtual through Teams or through a phone call. If it is more convenient to have a virtual or phone conference with the teacher, please communicate that desire directly with the teacher by Tuesday. That will allow ample time to consider any technology needs for the virtual conference. Some conferences may be attended by multiple teachers (those who team or who partner with special education or reading teachers). It is important to communicate early so that any desired adjustments can be communicated with all of our teachers.

It is perfectly acceptable to have a virtual conference or phone conference this year. We continue to offer these options to accommodate families that may be busy, have to juggle multiple children and jobs, have to quarantine, or may simply not want to come onto campus. I do feel strongly that campus is safe, but people have a variety of plans for the upcoming holiday season and may not want to put themselves or others at additional risk.

If you do come to campus for conferences, it is expected that you complete the health screening before entering a building (you just need to do it once for each day you are on campus, not for each building). The link to the health screening is below this article. You should also be fully masked while in the building. Conferences can be held virtually if you do not wish to mask. The close proximity of teachers and parents does not allow for a six-foot distance to be unmasked for the conference; you want to be able to see examples of student work and discuss student progress.

Please remember to complete student health screenings every day before 8:15. They should be arriving in the primary email every morning. Contact us at barcley.elementary@bcs1.org if you are not getting the daily health screening in your inbox.

Reminder that we will have half days for students Thursday and Friday for Parent-Teacher conferences. Here is the important student release information for you:

Parent Pick-Up will begin at 11:15 in the Barclay end-of-day line

Buses will release for home at approximately 11:30

If your transportation needs are different, you should contact both the transportation department at 637-1840 and Barclay School at barclay.elementary@bcs1.org or 637-1840.

Adults picking up students should have notified the school by Thursday morning at 10:00 am. Adults should also plan to have their Pick-Up Pals with them (or have appropriate picture identification and be on the student release form from the beginning of the year). The Pick-Up Pal is the most convenient way to keep our process running smoothly!