Pioneer PumaNews
January 7, 2020
Upcoming Events
January 7 – 2020-21 Lottery Applications (Online through January 30)
January 15 – 5th Grade Band Concert (6:30pm in the Cafeteria)
January 16 – Prospective Student/Family Tour (10am in the Cafeteria)
January 17 – Early Release (1:25), End of 1st Semester
January 17 – Spirit Day - Theme: Art (be creative and represent art/artist)
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January 20 – No School, MLK Jr. Day
January 22 – Prospective Student/Family Tour (4:15pm in the Cafeteria)
January 24 – Art Fair (6:00 PM, free event hosted by PTA)
HALLWAY ART WALK
Help Us Promote a Healthy Campus
Thank you for helping us reduce the spread of illness by keeping your child home when they are sick. Children should be fever free (without a fever reducing medication) and not vomiting for at least 24 hours before returning to school. We understand that this can cause a childcare burden but adhering to these guidelines significantly reduces the likelihood of impacting other students, families, and staff.
And, as always, thanks for promoting positive handwashing habits.
2020-21 Pioneer Lottery Applications Due January 30!
The lottery for the 2020-21 School Year is right around the corner. Positive word of mouth helps us maintain strong enrollment which allows us to continue to offer our unique instructional program. Please let other families know about your experience at Pioneer and encourage them to apply if they are interested.
If you have a child that would be NEW to Pioneer next year, remember to fill out an application (on our website from Jan 7 – Jan 30). Siblings of concurrently enrolled students will receive a preference in the lottery, but do need to have an application completed by 1/30/19.
Reporting Student Learning
In recent newsletters we have covered priority standards, proficiency scales, and what proficiency scores mean under the new reporting system West Ada is implementing. With the end of the first semester approaching on January 17, we wanted to make sure parents know what to expect regarding report cards.
The end of year report card will represent student learning by priority standard. It will contain information from both 1st semester and 2nd semesters, but there will not be a formal 1st Semester report card. That might lead a parent to ask …
So how do I know how my child is doing?
We see three main sources of this information …
- First, and perhaps the most valuable, are the assignments and any sort of progress information teachers are sending home for your review. By reviewing this information with your child, you will be able to see how they are doing, provide additional support as needed, and reach out to your child’s teacher if you have questions.
- Second is PowerSchool. By logging in periodically, you will be able to see evidence pieces that the teacher has entered which will become part of the basis for the proficiency level they assign when instruction for the priority standard has ended. You can also check ‘standards grades’ at any time. This score represents the most recent score entered for each priority standard. The teacher may have other evidence that has not yet been captured in PowerSchool that will inform the final grade assigned for each priority standard.
- Third would be the teacher reaching out to you if they have concerns. Our teachers are committed to communicating with parents, especially when they identify a significant need. By teaming with you once such an issue is identified we can better ensure we meet your child’s needs. If you are not hearing from the teacher, it will generally be indicative that your child is making appropriate progress toward learning targets.
Why might there not be very much in the gradebook right now?
With this shift in grading/reporting, there may be less PowerSchool entries as our teachers determine how to most accurately report student learning in PowerSchool. Many of our Priority Standards are written as end of year targets and our teachers are mindful of not creating confusion about student performance. While the target score for each standard is 3.0, be aware that early in the learning progression a 2.0 is completely appropriate (and perhaps even the highest score possible for that assignment). Also … it is important to understand that a teacher may record some progress information outside of PowerSchool which will be incorporated before the end of the instructional sequence.
Art Fair!
Friday, Jan 24, 2020, 06:00 PM
Pioneer School of the Arts, West McMillan Road, Boise, ID, USA
About Us
Website: westada.org/pioneer
Location: 13255 West McMillan Road, Boise, ID, USA
Phone: (208)855-4100
Facebook: facebook.com/pioneerpumas
Puma Ponderings
If you have a time-sensitive specific question, don’t hesitate to call the office at 208-855-4100.