Spring Newsletter
Amsterdam School
Superintendent's Corner
Dear Amsterdam Families,
It has been a productive third quarter, and students brought home report cards on Friday. The students have been involved in a flurry of activity, with schoolwide participation in Whoo's Reading, the start of 5th and 6th grade track in coordination with Manhattan Christian School, Spring Art, MOSS science programming, and continued academic growth. Thank you to parents and staff for the continued support of our students.
Amsterdam's state accreditation documents have been submitted to the Office of Public Instruction, and community feedback from the Comprehensive Needs Assessment aided both in completing those documents and drafting Amsterdam's Strategic Plan. Open enrollment policy 3141 was approved at the March Board Meeting, and applications for enrollment for out-of-district students seeking to attend Amsterdam are due on or before April 15. Additional information can be found on the school website.
In other district news, school board elections will take place on May 7, with two seats open and three candidates, Mr. Todd Graham, Mr. Ben Flis, and Mr. Jeremy Gingerich running. Amsterdam School District #75 has appointed the Gallatin County Clerk & Recorder to run the school election by mail ballot; there will be no mail ballot drop box at the school. Voting will end at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Voted ballots should be mailed to the Gallatin County Election Office, 311 W. Main Street #210, Bozeman, MT 59715 or dropped off there. Amsterdam School District will seek NO additional mill levies for operation and maintenance for the 2024-2025 school year.
We are looking forward to finishing the school year strongly, and more updates will follow in the coming weeks regarding spring assessment, school field trips, the talent show, and field day.
Sincerely,
Marisa Stewart,
Superintendent/Principal
Amsterdam Receives Its Annual ESSA Report Card From Montana
Each year, the Montana Office of Public Instruction provides a report card to illustrate a snapshot of each school's academic achievement. Amsterdam's report card can be viewed HERE. The SBAC testing data is compiled from the previous school year (2022-2023). Our students are doing very well, according to this measure. Staff aspires to use this data and other measures to provide informed instruction for Amsterdam students.
Smarter Balanced Assessments
The annual statewide assessments (SBAC) will be administered April 18 - May 10 at Amsterdam for third - sixth graders. Additionally, fifth graders will take the Montana Science Assessment. These tests are intended to help inform instruction. Parents, please read the letter HERE for detailed information.
Attendance and Achievement
School attendance has a strong positive correlation with student academic achievement, and there is much research to support this claim. As attendance rates go up, so does academic achievement. Unfortunately, this also means that as attendance rates go down, academic achievement goes down. This has been known for many years, but has been more recently underscored by the COVID pandemic and its effects on attendance and learning.
Amsterdam has noticed an uptick in student absences recently, and we know that leads to challenges with student learning. Every day matters! Chronic absences in the state of Montana are considered to be 10 or more absences in one semester. Nationwide, chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 18 or more school days per year. Below are some helpful links on attendance research.