Principal's Newsletter
January 13, 2020
Principal's Message
Dear Adelante Selby families,
Welcome back and Happy New Year to all Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion families and community! I look forward to continue working with you in 2020 building community and providing your child with the best immersion education possible.
I want to call your attention to the work the school leadership team has been doing around improving reading instruction and our goal to improve reading scores at our school this year. We analyzed K-5 reading data from the end of last year, the beginning of this year, and the end of the first trimester. We have been using Jan Richardson's book, The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading, as we align best practices in teaching of reading in a clear and practical way. Teachers set up a Daily 5 format to help students work independently on literacy activities while the teacher can meet with a leveled group of readers. Ideally, there will be 3 rotations during Daily 5 of 12-20 minutes daily. Teachers plan explicit reading instruction for the small group to help with fluency and comprehension. Using this Guided Reading structure and strategies, all students are able to get what they need to meet their goal.
You can help at home by monitoring and reading with your child daily for 20-30 minutes. Students have take home reading books in book bags in K-2nd grades, and 3rd-5th graders have library books and goals around Accelerated Reader. Parents/Guardians should help facilitate student reading at home daily in a quiet area, asking comprehension questions during the reading, and filling out the Home Reading Chart the teacher provides. Some good reading strategies to help with students reading comprehension involve:
- Predicting--"I think___will happen next because____"
- Visualizing: " I was able to picture in my mind_____ while reading"
- Making Connections: "Are there any characters in the story that remind you of yourself?"
- Summarizing: "The story was mostly about _____"
- Monitoring Comprehension: "What is the setting of the story?", What was the main problem of the story and how was it resolved?, "Who are the main characters of the story?"
- Critical Thinking: "Why do you think the author wrote the story?", "What's your favorite part of the story and why?"
A reminder to everyone about our school district's policy for chaperones to go on field trips: in order to chaperone, parents must successfully go through the district approved background check and also have a current cleared TB test. The process takes about 2 weeks and the background check costs about $70. The background check is good for the time period your children are in the school district. We have a number of amazing field trips coming up and we want to make sure we have enough chaperones so that students can go. Please contact your child's teacher or the office on how to go about getting a background check so that you can help chaperone for a school field trip. I also want to point out and thank the Unidos/PTO group who have budgeted $30,000 so that every class can participate in at least one field trip by the end of the year!
We have had 5 school tours for prospective new parents already and a lot of interest to join the Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion community next school year. Registration and School of Choice opens this Wednesday, January 15th at 9:00 am and families have until February 12th to choose our school. A reminder that we are a School of Choice only school and not a neighborhood school. TK and siblings of current students do have priority in the district lottery. The district will place students maintaining the "Two way" ratio of 50% of students who are native English speakers and 50% of students who are native speakers in Spanish at home. School tours are every Thursday from 8:30--9:45 am in Room 204. Families should call the office to reserve a space on the tour, 650.482.2415.
For current 5th grade parents, your child will attend Kennedy Middle School in 6th grade in the Spanish Immersion strand next year. There are tours and also opportunities for shadowing students at Kennedy. 5th grade parents need to call the Kennedy office to arrange shadowing: (650) 482-2409. The next Kennedy school tour is this Thursday, January 16, at 8:30 am in the Kennedy library. I would encourage incoming families to attend the Kennedy tour. You do not need to RSVP. Kennedy's last formal tour date is Friday, January 24, at 8:30 am in the library. Additionally, Principal Sabrina Adler will come over and do an orientation assembly for our 5th graders in the Spring.
Please visit our school website , Adelante Selby Facebook Page and our PTO/Unidos webpage and social media accounts: unidospto.org, Facebook and Instagram for more information.
Regards,
Director Warren
Reading Matters!!
Students picking a book!
Why reading Matters!
Students reading
Field trips
5th grade 2020 Spirit Sweatshirts!
5th grade 2020 Spirit Sweatshirt
5th graders at Mural
5th graders in Cafeteria
Spirit Days!
January Events
- School Tours for new families every Thursday at 8:30am start in Room 204
- 1/14 PTO/Unidos meeting 6:00pm, Library
- 1/15 Registration and School of Choice opens
- 1/20 No School MLK Jr. holiday
- 1/24 Family Bingo night 6:00pm
- 1/27 ELAC meeting 8:45, Room 204
- 1/29 School Site Council Meeting 3:00pm, Library
- 1/31 Principal's Coffee 8:30, Library
February Events
- School Tours for new families every Thursday at 8:30am start in Room 204
- 2/4 Unidos/PTO meeting 6:00pm , Library
- 2/6 Super minimum day all students dismissed at 11:45am
- 2/10 ELAC meeting 8:45am, Room 204
- 2/17 No School, Presidents Holiday
- 2/19 School Site Council 3:00pm, Library
- 2/28 Principal's Coffee 8:30, Library