Dear Everitt Families:
I'm sitting here with a huge (if slightly exhausted) smile on my face thinking about this week. Although both our Back-to-School Night and Orientation plans were a little bit impacted by the rain, we had a record number of people attend both events and we were so happy to reconnect with many of you and meet new families, too. We had a great day on Tuesday with our 6th graders and new students. They toured the building, walked through class schedules, participated in an epic game of rock-paper-scissors, and met new friends and teachers. On Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome our returning 7th and 8th graders. Our students are exemplifying our big 3: show up, do your work, and be respectful. They are present in every way, they are working hard, and they are respecting themselves, each other, and the adults in our building. It's going to be a wonderful year!
At this point, every student at Everitt has received a presentation of our school rules and conduct code. There is a link to that presentation below so that you know what was shared with students. Please talk through these expectations with your children and let us know if you or they have any questions.
This year, we are going to be focusing on one character trait per month. This month, our focus is on curiosity. It seems to me that curiosity is the trait that most often leads to learning! The wonder that comes from curiosity leads us to learn about the world around us and about each other. It's the perfect trait for the beginning of the school year as we get to know one another and begin digging into the learning that will happen in our classes throughout the year. We will be celebrating curiosity in both students and adults, learning about curiosity (and the growth mindset that comes with it) in our Lab Time groups, and weaving curiosity into our lessons. It would be wonderful if you would join us in this focus. If you see your child demonstrating curiosity this month, please send me an email telling me what they were curious about and how they explored that curiosity. We will celebrate them here in the newsletter.
Speaking of curiosity, the resource that we are using for math is changing this year. Our new resource, Illustrative Mathematics, is all about curiosity! Below, there is a description of this new problem-based resource and information about how you can support your child in their math learning at home.
You will also find a link to a survey in this newsletter. If you were unable to attend Back-to-School Night or if you were unable to fill out the family survey in your child's science classroom, please fill out this survey so that we can better know how to partner with you this year. We believe that partnerships with families are critical to students' success and, like you, we believe that your child can succeed.
Thank you for supporting and believing in your neighborhood school. It is our privilege to partner with you!
Amanda
Amanda Pouliot, Principal
Everitt Middle School
303.982.6288
Important Updates Here--Please Save these Dates!
Wed 8/24 ~ School Picture Day
Thurs 8/25 ~ Late Start for Students 8:59 am/Professional Learning for Teachers
Mon 9/5 ~ Labor Day NO SCHOOL
Tues 9/6 ~ Sea Camp Information Night 6:00 pm
Wed 9/7 ~ PTA Mtg (6:30 pm); SAC Mtg (7:30 pm)
Fri 9/23 ~ No School for Students
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Learning in Science class | Games with Mr. Leonard | Team Building |
Learning in Science class
Games with Mr. Leonard
Team Building
Illustrative Mathematics
What is a problem-based curriculum?
In a problem-based curriculum, students spend most of their time in class working on carefully crafted and sequenced problems. Teachers help students understand the problems, ask questions to push their thinking, and orchestrate discussions to be sure that the mathematical takeaways are clear. Learners gain a rich and lasting understanding of mathematical concepts and procedures and experience applying this knowledge to new situations. Students talk about math, listen to each other’s ideas, justify their thinking, and critique the reasoning of others.
This kind of instruction may look different from what you experienced in your own math education. Current research says that students need to be able to think flexibly in order to use mathematical skills in their lives. Flexible thinking relies on understanding concepts and making connections between them. Over time, students gain the skills and the confidence to independently solve problems that they've never seen before.
What supports are in the materials to help my student succeed?
Lesson Summaries
Practice Problem Sets
Learning Targets
Family Support Materials
Each lesson includes a lesson summary that describes the key mathematical work of the lesson and provides worked examples when relevant. Students can use this resource if they are absent from class, to check their understanding of the day’s topics, and as a reference when they are working on practice problems or studying for an assessment.
Each lesson is followed by a practice problem set. These problems help students synthesize their knowledge and build their skills. Some practice problems in each set relate to the content of the current lesson, while others revisit concepts from previous lessons and units. Distributed practice like this has been shown to be more effective at helping students retain information over time.
Each lesson includes a few learning targets, which summarize the goals of the lesson. Each unit’s complete set of learning targets is available on a single page, which can be used as a self-assessment tool as students progress through the course.
Family support materials are included several times in each unit. These materials give an overview of the unit's math content and provide a problem to work on with your student.
What can my student do to be successful in this course?
Learning how to learn in a problem-based classroom can be a challenge for some students at first. Over time, students gain independence as learners when they share their rough drafts of ideas, compare their existing ideas to new things they are learning, and revise their thinking. Many students and families tell us that while this was challenging at first, becoming more active learners in math helped them build skills to take responsibility for their learning in other settings.
Here are some ideas for encouraging your student:
If you’re not sure how to get started on a problem, that’s okay! What can you try? Could you make a guess? Describe an answer that’s definitely wrong? Draw a diagram or representation?
If you’re feeling stuck, write down what you notice and what you wonder, or a question you have, and then share that when it’s time to work with others or discuss.
Your job when working on problems in this class is to come up with ideas and share them. You don’t have to be right or confident at first, but sharing your thinking will help everyone learn. If that feels hard or scary, it’s okay to say, “This is just an idea . . .” or “I’m not really sure but I think . . .”
Whether you’re feeling stuck or feeling confident with the material, listen to your classmates and ask them about their ideas. One way that learning happens is by comparing your ideas to other people’s ideas, just like you learn about history by reading about the same events from different perspectives.
At the end of class, or when you are studying, take time to write some notes for yourself. Ask yourself, “Do I understand the lesson summary? Do the learning targets describe me?” If not, write down a sentence like, “I understand up to . . . but I don’t understand why . . .” Share it with a classmate, teacher, or other resource who can help you better understand.
We are excited to be able to support your student in their journey toward knowing, using, and enjoying mathematics.
PTA NEWS
It was great to see so many new families at the Back to School Night meeting teachers and grabbing dinner or a cookie! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the PTA table and signed up to receive more information about joining the PTA. Look out for an e-mail in the coming week.
We would love to have as much participation from our families in the PTA meetings and community events we are planning. We encourage you all to stay connected and get involved in the following ways:
1 - If you are on Facebook, please join the Everitt PTA group to stay up to date on information and to use as a resource on questions or concerns here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everittpta
2 - Join the PTA TODAY to have a voice and be a part of our community - Sign-up here: https://forms.gle/iekuJqx6YGXFsg6q7
3 - Attend our first monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 7th and always the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm in the Everitt library or online via Zoom (link to be sent out ahead or available on the PTA page of the Everitt website).
We are always open to new ideas on how to bring our great Everitt community together and look forward to learning from each other. Please feel free to send any questions or suggestions to the PTA at EverittPTA@gmail.com or to me directly at dan.b.weinstein@gmail.com or 720-291-1435.
The Dreaded Pick Up and Drop Off Line
1. Carpool -- Fewer vehicles in our parking lot means a shorter line.
2. Pull all the way forward in the drop off/pick up lane -- My engineer husband ensures me that this will create less congestion and speed up the whole process.
3. Pick your child up at the Recreation Center and have them use the tunnel to cross under Kipling.
4. Drop off a little earlier and pick up a little later - We are on supervision duty at 7:00 am and the line is very short at that time. It is also short after 2:40 pm.
5. Once the buses have left in the afternoon, please feel free to turn right at the base of the parking lot and exit in front of the north side of the building. It will help you avoid having to turn right or left onto Kipling.
Our neighbors on Independence would like me to ask you to please not use their driveways to turn around. It's important to us to be a good neighbor to our neighbors whose homes border our school and to the businesses nearby. Please join us in that effort.
From the Counselors...
Students are always welcome to join a club already in session! There is a description of each club and more information about joining on the Everitt website.
Here are the clubs and their meeting days:
Chess Club - Mondays 2:30-3:30 starts September 12th
GSA - Mondays 2:30-3:30 starts August 28th
Junior Optimist Club - Mondays 2:35-3:30
Theatre Guild - Thursdays 2:30-4:00 starts September 1st
Everitt Middle School
With foundations of equity and excellence, Everitt empowers and inspires our students as individuals, lifelong learners, and creative critical thinkers to engage in authentic learning and contribute meaningfully to their communities and their world.
