CSA Lincoln Newsletter
Friday, October 5th
Principal's Notes and Highlights
Happy Friday!
My Kind of Data
Schools love to collect data. Most of it centers around academic success. Those who know me, know that I am very competitive. Hard to believe right? I want CSA Lincoln Elementary to be the best place for students to attend school. I'm not going to shy away from having high expectations for our students to be successful on state indicators. Whether you agree with standardized testing or not, I believe if you are going to do something you might as well give your best effort. Luckily, I work with a group of people who share this mindset.
So we will celebrate that data, but that is not the most important kind of data we collect. As we wrap up the first quarter, I would like to share three pieces of data that are much more telling of our school and why it is a special place to learn. You won't be surprised to see that staff, students and parents all play a part. It all goes back to relationships, trust, and community. These are the building blocks of a successful school. In fact, we included all three of these in our school improvement plan that was submitted to the Indiana Department of Education. That should give you an indication of how important we believe this type of data is to your student having a great experience.
- Staff-Parent Positive Contacts- I included a photo of a thermometer that has been posted in our staff lounge. Our teachers were committed to making at least one positive contact in person or on the phone with the parent/guardian of each student before the end of the first quarter. As you know, many more positive contacts take place via email and text message, but we wanted to be personal and take it a step further. Periodically, I would update it with our status. We had a goal of 100% and this past Wednesday we achieved 100%! In all, there were over 450 contacts recorded by teachers and staff with at least one contact being made with the parents of all 354 students. You deserve to hear about the incredible accomplishments your children are making at school and we are excited to share the news with you! We will be continuing with our positive contacts (in person, call, text or email) for the remainder of the year!
- Parent-Teacher Conference Attendance (PTC)- You are our allies. Ensuring there is an open dialogue and clear communication between you and the teacher is a critical component to student success. We had an 89.2% PTC attendance rate last year. That is an average of both first and second semester conferences. We set a goal of achieving at least 90% this year. We had a 93% attendance rate during the 2017 first semester conferences. 96% of all parents attended PTC last week! We are fortunate to have incredible parents who are committed to their children and being part of the process.
- Student Climate Survey-Probably the most important indicator of success is the relationship between the teacher and student. For those that are new to CSA Lincoln, each quarter I conduct anonymous student surveys with each class. The teacher leaves the room and K-2 students complete a paper survey and grades 3-6 complete an online survey. They are asked to respond to two yes or no prompts. 1. Do you like your teacher? 2. My teacher wants me to be successful. I review this data with each teacher and it is something our school takes very seriously. We started it last year and achieved an 98.16% approval rating from our students. We set a goal of a 98.50% average for the entire school year. Surveys were done this week and students gave teachers a 98.58% approval rating! The data broken down between indicators was: Prompt 1 (98.54%), Prompt 2 (99.42%). We are off to a great start!
Updates and Announcements
- We had 125 members of the Husky family participate in Walk to School Day! Last year 123 participated. New record! Not that I'm keeping track or anything...
- Ali Copeland (Kindergarten) is our first student to hit a home run in the CSA Baseball Reading Challenge! I announced this morning at Town Hall Meeting that the reward for any student who hits a home run will be "A Day at the Diamond". We are still working out the logistics, but we will be taking students to a baseball game or participating in a baseball game. Lots of details to still work out, but it will be FUN!
- The Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation awarded grants to three CSA Lincoln proposals that will have an immediate impact on our school. They are Contraptions for a Cause- Shawna Netser- $500- 3rd Grade Simple Machines Project, Prosthetic Prototype Challenge-Delaney George and Shawna Netser-$300- 5th Grade Project, Project Stride- Lori Cash and Laura Burbrink- $1,983.60- This will fund a sensory path in our school! Thank you BCSF!
- Ellie Tibbs won the Q1 Husky Gram Drawing. Thank you to Bicycle Station for donating a brand new bike!
- 6th Grade completed their Landforms Project. I've included a link to each 6th grader with their project in this newsletter. Great work students!
Have a great week with your family! Calvin turned three years old today! We have a few fun things planned for him tonight, but mostly will be taking it easy over break. Please don't be a stranger!
Brett
Staff-Parent Positive Contacts
Community Helper Presentation in Kindergarten
2nd Grade Short Stories
Ellie wins the Quarterly Husky Gram Drawing! Thank you to the Bicycle Station!
5th Graders Walk to School Participants
Dr. Roberts walked with us this morning!
Walk to School Day
Walk to School Participants
Walk to School day
Husky Gram Drawing
BCSF Innovation Grant Winner- Shawna Netser
BCSF Innovation Grant Winner-Lori Cash and Laura Burbrink
BCSF Innovation Grant Winner-Shawna Netser and Delaney George
Husky Gram Winners
Zoey Grissom
Courtland Reed
Nolan Mugg
Landon Garris
Riky Lopez
Rudy Monroy-Mendez
Harshini Vemavarapu
Iris Rynerson
Reese Eddins
Molly Hutson
Bristol Myers
Nicholas Sharpe
Kaitlyn Netser
Surti Sureshkumar
Perfect Attendance Contest
Attention Huskies is time for our Perfect Attendance Contest.
From September 4th to December 14th.
Be at school everyday, on time. No appointments, no tardies, no early dismissals.
Students with perfect attendance during this time will be eligible to receive a special prize.
PTO Update
Box Tops or Dimes Fall Contest!
Exciting news, you can now substitute dimes for Box Tops! (Flyers coming home next week or you can get it here) Since each Box Top is worth $.10 to the school, we will now be counting 1 dime for 1 Box Top. You or your child can submit your Box Tops and dimes with your child's teacher's name in the main office by Friday, October 26th. Contest starts the Monday, October 1st! The winning classroom will be awarded a special treat!
Important Dates:
Fall Break - 10/8/18 - 10/12/18
Box Tops or Dimes Fall Contest - 10/1/18 - 10/26/18
PTO Meeting - 10/18/18
CSA Lincoln on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter
Instagram: CSA_Lincoln
Facebook: CSA Lincoln Community
Twitter: @csaprincipal
Brett Findley
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Email: findleyb@bcsc.k12.in.us
Website: http://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/site/default.aspx?DomainID=788
Location: Columbus Signature Academy Lincoln Campus, 5th Street, Columbus, IN, United States
Phone: 812-376-4447
Facebook: facebook.com/CSALincoln
Twitter: @csaprincipal