BAMS Staff Newsletter
May 3, 2015 - Volume 2, Issue 30
It's a Great Day to Be Great!
Bessie Allen Middle School - SLO & Goals
Building SLO:
By June of 2015, 80% of students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade will show growth in their opinion writing sample rubric score from the September 2014 writing benchmark based on the school developed writing rubric (adapted from the Smarter Balanced writing rubric).
Goal Update: Here are the results from our mid-year assessment
6th Grade - 61% of students showed growth; overall achievement increased 14%
7th Grade - 69% of students showed growth; overall achievement increased 12%
8th Grade - 57% of students showed growth; overall achievement increased 3%
School wide - 62% of students showed growth
Building Goals:
DPI School of Recognition
PBIS School of Merit
Routinely Take Literacy Risks
Be a CEO
Driving Question for 2014-2015:
What have we changed with our instruction to prepare our students for the Badger Exam assessment (and other higher level thinking opportunities)?
Goals for SSR and SSW
- Provide a time for every student in our building to read and write.
- Ensure this time is a positive part of our students' day.
News and Notes
- Teacher Appreciation Week - I'm very excited to honor the great teachers we have in our building this week. Thank you for caring for our students, putting in extra time, teaching with an over-full plate, and all the other things that go seen and unseen. I'm very proud of the work that you have done this year!!!! You'll notice a few surprises and snacks in the workroom throughout the week. Enjoy :)
- Class Activity (Badger Exam) - Thank you to Connie, Jenna, Judy, Sarah, Beth, and Melissa for administering the math class activities for the Badger Exam. There was much uncertainty with how this part of the test would go. Way to look adversity in the eye! These went great!
- Smiles for Life - On Tuesday, some students will be pulled in the PM to complete dental work and check-ups. This date was not communicated to us until very late. Fortunately, this only impacts a small number of our students.
- Grade level teams will again be helping with collecting iPads at the end of the year. Dates will be communicated to staff once teams have finalized plans. Let the un-rollout begin!
- There is still time to take the Clarity Survey. Please contact Lee if you need the link. Also, thank you for taking time to administer these surveys with your students. The grade level teams scheduled these surveys for their students.
- The 6th grade team piloted a different brand of tablets with a few of their students in April. After getting feedback from the students and through teacher observations, it has been decided that our in-coming 6th graders will be sticking with iPads for next school year. Our IT director and district tech team will continue to consider and look for technology options are worth exploring.
- Student Handbook Review - Thank you for support in reviewing elements of the students handbook. Many hands and eyes have been reviewing content and ensuring that our handbook benefits our students. I will be making final edits for board approval in the summer.
- As we talked about at the staff meeting last week, I don't anticipate any major changes to the schedule for next year. We will tweak and reevaluate some scheduling components. The School Improvement Team will be discussing some of these changes at our next meeting. Please propose an idea and a solution if you have something that you want considered.
- The PLTW Team is set to meet on 2 different days in May. The team consist of Todd Whittaker, Kim Broten, Brandon Switz, Beth Stroede, Adam Broten, Linda Wodsedalek, and Tom Kiser. Todd Whittaker has also begun to receive training for the PLTW course we will be offering for next year. You'll be hearing more about our model at Bessie Allen as we move forward.
- Summer School Room Assignments - For this summer, all HS classes, 6-12 weight lifting classes, and our MS work completion class will be held at Horace Mann. All other classes will be held at BAMS. A lot goes into scheduling classes and assigning room assignments for summer school. Thank you for being understanding to this. I'm considering all rooms as options for classes this summer. Once assignments are complete, I will get this information out to you.
Out of the Office
- May 4th - 9-11am - Admin Teacher Effectiveness Meeting - DMR
- May 4th - 1:45-2:35pm - Honor's Study Hall
- May 5th - 9-11am - Admin Team Meeting - DMR
- May 6th - 8:30am - BAMS BCT Meeting
- May 15th - 8:30am - District ELL Meeting - Deb's Office
Oriole Way - Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe
- How many BAMS Bucks have you given out this month?
- How many GREAT forms have you filled out this month?
- At this week's meeting, our team discussed the discrepancies in our Benchmark of Quality (BOQ) survey. This survey is taken by the PBIS Team members to reflect on our effectiveness. This will help drive our PBIS framework.
- If you need behavioral data for a student, please contact an Oriole Way Team member.
- NEXT Meeting - May 13th, 7am
OASYS and Teacher Effectiveness
- SLO - Due by May 15th or when data is available
- End of Year Conferences for Year 3/New Educators - Due by May 31st
Click Here for a link to Teacher Effectiveness Info from CESA 6
Click Here for a Teacher Effectiveness Calendar for EDUCATORS/SPECIALISTS
Dates to Remember
May 4-May 8 - Teacher Appreciation Week
May 4-May 15 - STAR Testing Window III
May 6 - Spring Band Concert 6:30pm
May 7 - Mid-Quarter Grades Due 7am
May 8 - Early Release 12:45pm-3pm
May 11 - School Board Meeting, 7pm
May 12 - 6th Grade Orientation Night, 5:30-7:30pm
May 13 - Spring Choral Concert 6:30pm
May 13 - Writing Sample Benchmark #3 for Building SLO
May 15 - BAMS Medal of Excellence Names to Jennifer
May 18 - BAMS Honors Reception 6pm
May 20 - 5th Graders Visit BAMS, 9-11am
May 22 - Pep Assembly 1:45pm *5th Graders in attendance
May 25 - No School
May 27 - Staff Meeting 2:50-3:30pm
May 28 - Oriole Leaders Meeting 10:40-11:40am
*See Google Doc titled "2014-2015 BAMS Yearly Calendar" for a look at events for the entire year.
Staff Meeting Agenda
Staff Meeting: May 8th - 12:50-1:15pm - DMR
Agenda:
Oriole Way Update
News and Notes
Next Meeting: May 27th - 2:50-3:30pm - DMR
Highlights from April 27th School Board Meeting
- Our newest board member, Mike Streetar, was in attendance and was sworn in at the board meeting. This was his first school board meeting.
- Roles Changing on the School Board - There was a lot of action at this month's board meeting. Pete Chisholm was voted the new board president. Steve Hock was voted the new board vice-president. Vickie Goldapske was voted the new board clerk. Last, but not least, Mike Streetar was voted new board treasurer. Awesome!
- All-Conference Wrestlers and All-State Forensics Competitors were honored by the board.
- Ryan Pelot has officially moved out of the district and can no longer serve on the School Board. The Board has begun the process of finding a new member. The current timeline is to find a replacement by June.
Parent Link Messages
We use a system called Parent Link to send mass messages to families. Please let me know if you need anything communicated.
Messages sent this week:
NONE