Husky Communication 12-2--2022
Safford K-8 Community School
Principal Kuhn Message for the week
Can you believe it is December! This year is flying. We have upcoming events, celebrations, testing and conferences. So many things happening, and so quickly. Here are some of the exciting things coming up and how we can help our community support our students.
December 3rd, Student of the Month is happening this Friday! We are celebrating those students who exemplify kindness. The SOM Celebration is at 8:00am in the Library.
December 9th, Photos with Santa. Picture money is due on or before picture day. Keep your eyes open for the flyers and payment envelopes - coming home soon.
December 12-16, Spirit Week
Join us in showing our Husky Spirit. Remember dress code rules still apply.
December 12 - Student/Teacher Day (Students dress as teachers and teachers dress as students)
December 13 - Movie Character/Book Character Day
December 14 - Blue and Orange Day
December 15 - Stripes Day
December 16 - Obnoxious Sweater Day
Safford K-8 Community School - Winter Festival I
Tue, Dec 13, 2022, 04:00 PM
Winter Band Concert
Tue, Dec 13, 2022, 06:30 PM
Safford K-8 Community School - Winter Festival II
Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 04:00 PM
Winter Orchestra Concert
Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 06:30 PM
Horton Hears a Who! That was Safford last year in relation to our Letter Grade.
Horton could see that just one more voice was all that was needed.
If you have never read this book - I highly recommend you read it to your students. Horton is a wonderful kind soul, who can the value of every person who lives in a tiny village. It took everyone in the village to make Whoville be heard.
Safford is very similar!
It is no secret that Safford is growing now. It is also no secret that we have a way to go, in order to show the world all the great things happening at our school. Letter grades are based on the previous year, so this years score is a reflection of what happened in 2021-22. We made growth, but fell short by 1.2 points - out of 100! If just one more Husky classroom had moved in proficiency levels - we would have made it. Every student counts.
The classes are being taught at high rigor level. This means that our teachers and staff are making sure the classes are pushing out students to reach their potential. Many of our students are working hard to make up over 2 years of learning loss. Our students work so hard everyday, and we want them to be able to celebrate their growth.. That is why all of us need to work together and help our students understand the importance of being ready to focus on their testing.
Here are some tips to help your student shine:
- Be in school everyday
- Be on time (don't miss the most important time of the day, the morning)
- Show up ready to learn
- Get good rest the night before school
- Plan vacations, appointments and family events on breaks from school. It is hard to catch up if you miss 1 day - imagine missing 3 to 5 in a row.
- Discuss daily with your student - What did you learn today? What can we practice tonight to make tomorrow easier? How can we catch up on missed work, so you don't feel behind your classmates?
- Practice essential facts - Does your student still need to learn all of their alphabet? Can you work for 1 minute a night on the letters your student still needs to learn? Can you have your student practice multiplication facts for 1 minute a night? Can you sit and look at Parent View together tonight and make sure your student is caught up in class?
- Everyday our students learn a new skill, lesson, activity or experience. If they miss the day it causes a gap in knowledge. Our teachers cannot build on learning if they are continually working to get all students on the same page. This is what causes learning loss. Attendance is the key.
- Leaving home to go to school is always better when you know your parents value your education. Remind your students that you will be there to support them and that you understand how important their "work" at school will be to their future.
- It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a Community School to support a student. There is lots of support at Safford - reach out if you need help or have questions.
Testing Schedule for December 2022
Benchmark Testing Dates, Grades and Type
December 2022 Benchmark testing schedule
These tests are given in the Homeroom Class. So for K-5, students will test with their teacher. For 6-8 students will be testing in the 4th Period Class. The MS schedule will change on the days we test, where the 4th period class will happen in place of their 1st period class, lasting for 3 class periods. The reason for extending this testing time is to ensure all students have time finish their test and not feel pressured to rush through it.
It is incredibly important that on testing dates they are in school, on time, rested and ready to test. Please ensure your student gets a good night rest, a full breakfast, focused and ready to do their best. Spend sometime working with your students on their focus and on understanding that testing is important. Our students deserve the right to choose their own future. Even if your student does not think they need good test scores to get into the school they are headed to next year or in the future, we want them to be able to choose their own path.
One of the goals this year is to move the schools letter grade. We have seen extremely wonderful growth, but the test scores are how letter scores are made. If every student does their best, the sky is the limit for Safford!
We only missed moving up in letter grades this year by 1.2 points. If just a few students had made it to the next proficiency level, Safford would have moved one letter grade up. If our students focus on their testing, and take it seriously, we will be celebrating next year.
Monday, November 28-December 16th - Dibels for K-3 students
Monday, Dec 5: 2nd math, 4th ELA
Tuesday, Dec 6: 3rd math, 4th writing, 5th math, 6th, 7th, 8th ELA
Thursday, Dec 8: 5th ELA, 2nd writing, 6th, 7th, 8th math
Friday, Dec 9: 4th math, 3rd writing
Monday, Dec 12: 2nd ELA, 3rd ELA, 5th writing
Wednesday, Dec 14: 6th, 7th, 8th writing
Wednesday, Dec 14 through Friday, December 16: make ups
Safford is making noise - join us in the making of noise.
No one can ever take away the knowledge you worked so hard to gain.
Every student at Safford is growing. Celebrate the growth and show it off.
Hello Huskies!
Thank you for your continued partnership with our Higher Ground Team as we continue to deploy the Restart S.M.A.R.T. strategy at Safford K-8 Community School. Our goal is to support the Safford students, parents, staff, and neighbors as we transition into a community school and set systems in place to create sustainability.
Over the next few weeks we'll be presenting the 4 Pillars of Community Schools. The 4 Pillars are:
- Integrated Student Supports
- Expanded and Enriched Learning Time and Opportunities
- Active Family and Community Engagement
- Collaborative Leadership and Practices
Number 1, Integrated Student Supports:
- Coordinate with community partners to ease cost barriers around school like technology, uniforms, supplies, wellness needs, and transportation
- Take a whole-child approach to wellbeing
- Build understanding between students and parents to develop self-guided, sustainable, healthy systems
- Scaffold the development of agency skills and executive functions
Here is a brief update of our work over the last (short) week:
Student Support (Sidney/Stacey/Brittni):
Sidney, Stacey (intern), and Brittni (colleague) met with 15 students this week
Facilitated coaching sessions with 10 students. In these conversations, students are either asked to identify goals and make plans toward the goals or to examine inter- or intra-personal issues they are dealing with and identify how it's affecting them and identify solutions
Stacey and Brittni facilitated activities with 5 students in order to find out their personality traits, love languages, major life changes and traumas, grit skills, and self-control skills. The data collected in these activities allows us to identify individual needs and assets, as well as school-wide student and family needs and assets. This will inform what kind of supports and resources we will bring to the community
Family Support (Inna):
- Working with a family experiencing homelessness
Connected with 3 families to discuss their needs and provide support
Generating a project list to cover Pat Ponce’s responsibilities while she is recovering from her injuries
Site Director (Fred):
- Reaching out to set up a job fair on campus
Set up process to get list from teachers of Spring Semester supplies
- Fixed/replaced clips on the school flagpole
- Completed permitting process for the Student Leadership fundraising project for the Downtown Light Parade
Looking for a new source of food boxes to address food insecurity issues on campus
Supporting Higher Ground Staff
Please let any member of our team know if you have any questions. Thank you for your continued collaboration!
Sidney, Inna, and Fred
Safford K-8 Community School
Location: 22 East 13th Street, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: (520)225-3000