October 2023
Primary Education Center Newsletter
One Purpose. Your Pathway. Our Promise.
Dear Lewiston-Porter Primary Education Center Families,
It truly feels wonderful to have the school year underway. I am energized to have the opportunity to serve as the PEC Principal for my 13th year. As we begin the 2023-2024 school year at the Primary Education Center, we are committed to our mission, One Purpose. Your Pathway. Our Promise. Our purpose is to ensure that when students leave Lewiston-Porter, they will be ready to face the world with confidence in themselves and what they can accomplish. While students are here, they will be challenged to grow along their pathway and discover their personal best because we promise to give them our best.
We are inviting our entire school community to join us in celebrating our new school theme: Lancers Lead with the Habits. We have already begun to teach our students the 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey through children's literature. Students are also guided by their teachers to Drop Everything and Lead (DEAL) to support their social-emotional growth. Please ask your child about the habits and how they can use the habits at home, school and in play to be their best self.
We had an incredible turnout of over 100 families for our Volunteer Orientation at the PEC Parent Night. Our volunteer program will begin in October. Teachers will send out scheduling information to all volunteers trained. We are excited to have parent volunteers back in our school supporting our early childhood mission.
We are looking forward to a special year at the PEC. It is truly a privilege to be a part of a community where parents, teachers, and students care for each other, and strive to build positive relationships that support academic and social-emotional growth.
The week of October 10 - October 13 will be Spirit Week 2023-2024. Check out the schedule of the Spirit Week themed days in our PEC calendar. Spirit week includes all students and all staff. Let’s have some fun; Get your LP Spirit on! GO LANCERS!!!
Varsity Football Game: Thursday, October 12th, beginning at 7:00 PM
Location: Blakeslee Stadium
Respectfully yours,
Mrs. Tamara Larson
Principal, Primary Education Center
Re: Fall Response to Intervention
Dear Parent/ Guardian,
The Lewiston-Porter Primary Education Center recognizes a wide range of interests and abilities within our student population. Children in the earliest grades demonstrate learning strengths and needs along a broad continuum in each academic area. All teachers strive to implement the best teaching practices in their classrooms to support the most rapid and successful attainment of learning goals for all our learners.
As we work with your children, we are mindful that some will need enrichment because they are demonstrating skills beyond what is expected of them at this time. On the other hand, we are mindful that some will need interventions because they need support to demonstrate success with skills expected of them at this time. Some students may need a little of both. We are here to meet their needs–whatever they are. In fact, our school implements a multi-tiered, school-wide academic service delivery system. We use research-based interventions, progress monitoring, and ongoing data evaluation to help students improve.
Specifically, we use the Response to Intervention (RtI) Model to identify which students may need enrichment and/or interventions. This model uses data to drive decisions on student needs. Specifically, we use a standard protocol to determine if a student will receive academic interventions. As part of this protocol, our school administers universal screening to all students in Kindergarten through second grade three times per year to identify students who are not making academic progress at expected rates in both reading and math. To learn more about this process, please see the Student Evaluation, Promotion, and Placement Handbook.
Our universal screener, aimswebPlus, generates scores that are used to determine when/if students qualify for academic interventions. You can click here to learn how to access your child’s aimswebPlus Universal Screening Results. The report will provide you with a percentile rank for your child in reading and math. The percentile rank indicates your child’s standing compared to other children in the same grade nationwide. It shows the percent of students that your child scored as high as or higher than. For example, a percentile rank of 60 means that your child scored as high as or higher than 60% of children in the same grade.
Please note, our standard protocol does not consider the aimswebPlus recommendations. Therefore, if you see something in your child’s report that differs from what your child has actually qualified for in school, don’t be alarmed. We are committed to providing your child with the best possible support for their success.
If your child qualifies for interventions using our standard protocol, you will receive a separate communication from the teacher and intervention provider. As well, the interventions will be closely monitored. We will provide you with ongoing communication on your child’s progress; students who respond to the interventions will be dismissed from that service and those who need additional academic support or other related services will continue to receive support.
Please contact me or your child’s teacher if you need further assistance in understanding how your child’s score compared to national scores. Your child’s teacher will inform you if your child needs any level of Academic Intervention Services (AIS). Thank you for your support and involvement in your child’s educational plan.
Sincerely,
Tamara Larson, Principal
Enclosures
The PEC is a place where Everyone Belongs!
District Wide Coat Drive
October is Hispanic Heritage Month!
Picture Day Was A Smiling Success!
If you missed Picture Day, our school picture retake day will be November 14th. Please keep an eye out for more info that will come home.
New Opportunities & Faces at the PEC
There are many new exciting faces and lots of fun changes on the LP campus. Not only do our classrooms have new teachers. Every great teacher has strong support staff.
Lets welcome our new support staff to the PEC!
We wish all of our staff success in their new positions as they grow in new directions.
Jennifer Nicol- Teacher Aide
I’m originally from MA so I won’t mention what teams I’m into ;)
I’m a mother to 3 and have worked in the school setting as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant for 17 years. I moved here to Lewiston 3 years age from Oahu, HI. I’m also a certified yoga and fitness instructor and run my own online fitness studio
My favorite things to do in the weekend is anything outdoors. I am super excited to be part of the Lew-port Team!!
Sara Jackson-Long term substitute Social worker
I am a Certified School Counselor. I have previously worked as a long-term substitute Counselor at Orchard Park Middle School, and elementary school. I have also worked at St. Amelia School for 5 years. I am married, with 2 cats, and we love to travel and go camping.
Amber Morse- Long term substitute Special Education
Teaching is a life long passion of mine and I am excited to work with you and your child. Outside of school I am a mother to three amazing and active little boys Evan, Ivan and Jameson. They take up most of my free time but I enjoy being outside, crafting and exercising. I also love animals and have 2 cats Tiny and Gypsy. This will be my second year in the district at the PEC. I am a Long Term Substitute Special Education Teacher and will be pushing into classrooms to work with your children. I look forward to a great year together!
Amanda Emmons-Special Education Teacher
Mrs. VanEgmond's 2nd Grade Scientists in the making!!!! Exploring, Observing and Solving problems!
Our Days Are Busy But We Love Our Reading Workshop and Center Time Fun!
Welcome Back to the 23-24 School Year
- Technology Forms, Policies, and Agreements
- Parent Portal
- Updating Demographic Information
- Technology at Home
- Requesting a Mobile Hotspot
Getting Started with Parent Portal
If you are a parent/guardian that has not yet had an opportunity to set up your parent portal, please take some time to do so as soon as possible. Having access to parent portal and using the app can be a helpful way to receive important information regarding your child's grades, missing assignments, and other important updates. This is especially true for parents of students in grades 3-12. It can also be used to verify your contact information, as you'll see in the next section. Parent Portal also gives you access to Porfolio + which is a data warehouse that we use to distribute report cards, Aimsweb reports and NYS testing data. To access the parent portal, visit our website and click on the icon that looks like the image you see pictured here on the right.
If you are trying to reset your username or password, there is a link on the sign-in page. Follow the prompts and check your email. Sometimes it may find its way into your spam box. Once you get the email you should be able to reset your account.
If you are new to Parent Portal, you should have received a letter that would give you access codes to get connected. If you did not get that letter, or if you experience difficulty getting signed up, you may call your child's school for assistance.
Click this link to visit the Parent Portal Resource Page on our website. Here you will find everything you need. I have also included some resources for you here:
1. Links to the apps:
PowerSchool App (Google Play Store)
PowerSchool App (Apple Store)
2. Video on how to get set up with PowerSchool (see below).
3. Written instructions are also available here.
*Parents will need a working email address, and a PowerSchool Access Code. This is provided by the school at the start of the year. If you need that information, please contact the main office of your child's school. For the app, you will also need the district code CSXQ.
Updating Contact Information in Parent Portal
Digital Equity
NYSED is requiring that districts collect information from families regarding their technology access at home. This data will assist school districts in making sure that all families have equitable access to educational resources.
Earlier this year many families completed a survey that helped to jumpstart this process. As a result we were able to assist families that were in need of internet access.
Now we have the ability to store this information securely and confidentially in PowerSchool so that we have a thorough understanding of our student population.
Students in grades 6-12 will be given time to log into their student portal and complete the short survey. As parents, you will have the opportunity to review and edit those responses if needed.
We ask that parents of students in grades K-5 log into their parent portal and respond to questions on behalf of their children.
This presentation will walk you through this very simple process.
Thank you in advance for your help with this. If you are unable to to complete the survey electronically, please call your child's school and we can record the information for you.
Technology at Home
Lewiston-Porter is a 1:1 school district. That means every student has a device assigned to them to facilitate learning. In grades 3-12 all students are assigned a Chromebook. In grades K-2, all students are assigned an iPad.
From the start of the school year, students in grades 4-12 bring their Chromebooks home on a nightly basis. Students in these grade levels benefit from having the device for study, review, homework, projects, and communication with teachers. After a couple of weeks of getting used to the Chromebooks, our 3rd grades will also start bringing their devices home on a regular basis.
Students in grades K-2 keep their devices in school for about the first 6 weeks. The requirement for work at home is significantly less and we don't want to burden the students or parents with the responsibility of caring for an expensive device if it is not completely necessary. During the month of October we will provide more information about sending devices home in an effort to prepare for possible emergency weather/closing days.
Over the past few years we have provided parents of students in grades K-2 the option to accept or decline devices for this purpose. Some parents felt that if we were closed for a day or two they could use the technology they have at home for remote instruction (computer, laptop, tablets, phones). Others accepted the device so they could ensure their child had something to work with in case school closed. Please keep an eye out for this information and choose the option that works best for you. Along with that, we will be sharing emergency closing schedules and procedures.
Mobile Hotspot
Dear Families:
At Lewiston-Porter we have made a strong effort to ensure that all students have equitable access to digital materials while they're at school and while they're at home. To that end, we have partnered with T-Mobile to offer free mobile hotspots to families that are in need.
If you would like to request a hotspot please complete the form below.