News from the 'View
Skyview Upper Elementary School
Congrats Sol M. - Character Counts Poster Contest Winner!
#stickyourneckout
Skyview’s December #stickyourneckout challenge began last week. The hashtag #stickyourneckout comes from the Giraffe Heroes project. The nonprofit Giraffe Heroes Project was born in the head and heart of Ann Medlock, a freelance editor, publicist, speech writer and writer living in Manhattan. Ann started the Project in 1984 as an antidote or remedy to the mind-numbing violence and trivia that pervaded the media, eroding or wearing down civic energy and hope. People needed to know about the heroes of our times and all that they were accomplishing as courageous, compassionate citizens. Ann's strategy for the Giraffe Heroes Project was simple— she would find unknown heroes, commend them as Giraffes for sticking their necks out, and get their stories told on radio and television and in print. Giraffe stories would show the public that there was headway being made on the problems of the world, that there were individuals who had solutions—and the courage to move into action. The stories would feed people’s souls, inform their attitudes—and get them moving on public problems that mattered to them.During the week students viewed an inspirational video and each class received a checklist to work to complete. There is something that everyone can do to be an everyday hero no matter who they are, where they come from or what they believe. Students will work together to complete this challenge and turn in the completed chart for the office. This leads up to our annual Community Service Day on December 20, 2018.
News from the Skyview Music Department
The goal of the Skyview music department is for students to grow as individual musicians as well as to have a positive learning experience as part of a larger music ensemble. As a department we regularly reflect on our program to ensure our practices provide for the best learning experiences for our students. After careful consideration of our grading practices, we have decided to make an adjustment. We will be making a change to using an “M (meets expectations), I(inconsistent), N (needs improvement)” system for grading (and moving away from percentage grades.)
Students will be evaluated in two areas: an overall evaluation and an effort evaluation. The overall evaluation will reflect: skills and playing assessments/tests for instrumental and skills and singing assessments/tests for choral. The effort evaluation will include: attendance at lessons, rehearsals and concerts.
Please contact your child’s music teacher (Mrs. Bugosh - band, Mrs. Basalik - orchestra, Mr. Bickle - chorus) with any questions.
Safety Drill Reminder
On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, the Skyview/Arcola campus will again participate in a Lockdown DRILL where a “run, hide, fight” protocol will be utilized. Staff will follow the security procedures in our emergency guidelines as they guide our students through the drill.
The key components to a successful drill are to have the students and staff out of sight and silent during the drill or, if certain sections of the building are free of an intruder(s), staff and students will be quietly evacuating the building to a designated area outside of the school.
Students will be made aware of the drill one day in advance via an announcement and again when the drill begins. Our purpose is to communicate our safety procedures to staff and students and have them practice the drill together.
We will gather feedback to make sure we have the most effective procedures in place as we continue to work with local and state agencies.
Please contact us with any questions you may have.
For your calendar...
December 20 - Community Service Day
December 24 - January 1 - Schools/Offices Closed
January 4- Home & School 9:30 a.m.
January 8 - 5th grade Winter Concert 1:30 and 7 p.m.
January 9 - Music Ensemble yearbook photos
January 10 - 6th grade Winter Concert 1:30 and 7 p.m.
January 21 - Schools/Offices Closed
January 25 - Family Game Night
January 28 - Report Cards Post
Skyview Upper Elementary School
Website: https://www.methacton.org/site/default.aspx?DomainID=732
Phone: (610)489-5000
Twitter: @skyview_msd