Friday Focus
Week of January 9 - 12
Spelling Bee Winner
Both of these students will represent MWE at the District Spelling Bee in February.
Harrison Brooks
Harrison Brooks
Harrison Brooks and Jonathan Barnes
Jonathan Barnes
District Spelling Bee
School Spirit
Watch D.O.G.S.
Watch D.O.G.S.
Please join us for our 4th annual Donuts with Dad the morning of Friday, January 20th in the multi-purpose room from 7:00 - 7:45 am. It's an opportunity for dads and their kids to enjoy some donuts along with coffee, milk or water before school starts. We will have the sign up calendar on hand for dads to sign up for dates for the remainder of the school year.
It's a come and go as you please event so just stop by when you can. The multi-purpose room is located just inside the front entrance doors on the left.
Please contact Kevin Rump at MWEWatchDOGS@outlook.com if you have any questions about the event or the Watch D.O.G.S. program in general.
NEW START TIME FOR STUDENTS - 7:55 A.M.
Beginning January 4th, our new start time for school is 7:55 a.m.
The Bell schedule:
7:30 - Doors Open
7:50 - Students report to class (from cafeteria, library, and other morning events)
7:55 - School starts.
The new time is the result of the students missing a day when the school was without water. Instead of making a major change to the school calendar, adding 5 minutes every day will provide our students with the required number of minutes for the school year. Our CIT met and determined this was the most efficient and least disruptive way to make up the day the students missed.
MWE Library
Susan Robbins resigned from MWE, effective December 16th, due to health reasons. However, you will still see her on campus, since she has agreed to volunteer and help us out in the library. We are sad to see her go, but are happy that she will still have the opportunity to join us!
We will have a sub in the library beginning the week of January 9th, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Our Campus Improvement Team will be meeting the last Wednesday of the month to discuss the hiring of a new librarian.
Teacher on Special Assignment - Extra Help
Please join me in welcoming Meagan Golafshan to the Meadow Wood staff. Meagan recently completed her student teaching in SBISD, has been hired by the district and assigned to MWE this semester. Although she will not have a homeroom class, she will be involved in morning and afternoon duties and routines, tutoring before and after school, pulling groups, covering classes while teachers pull groups, serving as a substitute, etc.
We are absolutely THRILLED to have Meagan with us. Her first day at MWE was December 12, 2016, and her title is Teacher on Special Assignment - Extra Help.
School Report Card
School Report Cards for the 2015-2016 school year for all schools, along with archived School Report Cards from previous years, can be found TEA website below:
School A-F Ratings from TEA
Domain 1
- Percentage of students scoring at the Phase in Level II of the STAAR test and those scoring at the Advanced Level of the STAAR test
- B
- Student Growth/Progress on STAAR
- C
- STAAR scores for Economically Disadvantaged students
- D
- Postsecondary Readiness, which for elementary is the Chronic Absenteeism Rate for students
- C
- School and Community Engagement
- Exemplary
From our Superintendent, Dr. Muri:
We do not believe the state’s A-F rating system is the highest and best way to hold SBISD accountable, and we do not believe a single letter grade provides a true reflection of who we are. Rather, SBISD believes in multiple measures to assess how our students, schools and district are faring. Our Board is now finalizing the measures under The Learner’s Journey, our new strategic plan. These measures will all point to our single-focused T-2-4 goal. We aim for each of our graduates to complete a technical certification or military training, or a 2- or 4-year degree.
Key Things to Know About A-F Ratings:
- A-F ratings are based largely on a single, once-a-year, multiple choice bubble test. (STAAR)
- A-F ratings are not transparent, relying on complicated formulas to create a single grade.
- A-F ratings appear to be simple and easy to understand, but in fact provide no insights as to what best practices distinguish an “A” school from a “D” or “F” school.
- A-F ratings fail to account for socio-economic differences and tend to punish schools with significant student populations living in poverty.
- A-F ratings do not account for improvement efforts.
- A-F ratings may create a false impression about an entire community of children. Reducing a school to a single letter grade unfairly attaches that same grade to every student, educator and the neighborhood as a whole.
- A-F ratings have not worked in other states.
These ratings will be discussed in further detail at the PTA meeting, Principal's Coffees and CIT meeting this month.
Please click below for a news segment by KHOU on the A-F ratings.
PreK Lottery
GENERAL RULES
- The PreK Lottery is for children who live in the home campus attendance area with priority given to those who have an older sibling attending on the campus for the 2017-2018 school year.
- Space permitting transfer students may be included again with priority given to those with older siblings attending at the campus.
- Parents may sign their child up for the PreK lottery any time between January 4th and January 30th. They will be given a post card to fill out, which will be used for the lottery drawing and to notify them of the results.
- The lottery will be held on January 31st at 8:30 a.m.
- Children of teachers who teach on the campus will automatically be enrolled and will not participate in the lottery.
- The remaining children will be on the waiting list. Spaces on the waiting list will also be filled by lottery drawing.
- We will notify the parents via mail of the lottery results.
- Parents whose students who make the initial cut off will be instructed to come to the home campus to preregister their children any time between February 1nd and February 28th. Parents will be asked to pay the registration fee of $50 at the time of sign-up.*
- After February 28th, the names of any children who have not been preregistered will be crossed off the list and the parents of the first child on the waiting list will be contacted to register their child. Those parents have until March 31st to preregister their children. After March 31st, the names of children who are not preregistered will be crossed off the list.
- Students who were not selected to attend prekindergarten on the home campus will be able to preregister for prekindergarten at Wildcat Way. Parents will officially register their children Wildcat Way mid-August. Every parent who pre-registers their child for Pre-K from February 1st on will have a protected space in PreK.
- If a child is registered at Wildcat Way, and a space becomes available here, parents have the option to have the child’s registration switched. The deadline for making this change in September 15th.
REGISTRATION FEE
*The registration fee will not be collected for those students who are eligible through State criteria. Those criteria are: LEP students (who must be tested using the Pre-IPT during registration to determine their language levels), economically disadvantaged (the free/reduced lunch applications will not be available until July, so you must qualify them with paycheck stubs), Military Families, Homeless and students who have ever been in CPS custody. Scholarship applications are on line and parents may begin sending them in with a copy of their 2016 tax return as soon as their return is available.
TUITION INFORMATION
The current rate for tuition is $5355 per year and will be collected at each school on the first of each month in nine installments of $595.00. This tuition rate is subject to increase, so it is very important that parent agreements are completed in August.
DATES TO REMEMBER
January 4-30 Parents sign up for lottery
January 31 Lottery drawing
February 1-28 Preregistration of lottery winners at MWE
February 1-28 Preregistration of children at Wildcat Way
March 1 Parents of children on waiting list contacted for preregistration
March 1-31 Parents of children on waiting list preregister
Mid-August Registration begins
September 15 Last day to change from Wildcat Way to MWE (space permitting)
Preregistration guarantees your space, but you will still need to return in August to formally register your child for school.
Exams for Acceleration and Credit by Exam 2016-2017
Exams for Acceleration (Grades 1-8)
Exams for Acceleration (skipping an entire grade) offers students in grades 1-8 the opportunity to advance one grade level by scoring 80% or better in each of the four required subject areas of Social Studies, Science, Math and Language Arts. Testing is free for all enrolled SBISD students. Kindergarten students are not eligible for testing until the summer prior to the first grade year. Spring exams will be administered at the student’s home campus. Summer exams are administered at the SBISD administration building.
Credit by Exam
Credit by Exam offers students the opportunity to gain course credit in the subject area being tested. Single Subject Acceleration is available only in mathematics. Credit by Exam may be taken with or without prior instruction, and testing is free for all enrolled SBISD students. Spring exams will be administered at the student’s home campus; summer exams are administered at the SBISD administration building.
The testing windows are:
March 6-10, Applications due February 3, 2017
June 5-8, Applications due April 28, 2017
July 10-13, Applications due May 19, 2017
Students scoring an 80% or higher on the exam administered in March, June, or July may accelerate in August of the following school year.
For further information, please contact Kayla Hicks, MWE Testing Coordinator. Te study guides for testing can be accessed by clicking the link below:
Construction Update
The exit from MWE on the side closest to Spring Forest was closed when we returned from the break. This has resulted in quite a lot of traffic backup in the mornings and afternoons.
SBISD was unaware that the exit had been closed. However, the Construction Project Manager has been contacted, and has informed us that the exit will be closed probably through all of next week.
In order to help with the traffic flow, the officer will now control the light at the intersection to allow the school traffic to take precedence during arrival and dismissal.
Upcoming Events
January 9 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Cox)
January 10 - Student Council Meeting after school - Library
January 11 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Pena)
January 11 - 9:00 a.m. PTA Meeting
January 11 - 1:30 p.m. CLUTCH (student assembly)
January 11 - 6:30 p.m. Basketball Practice, Family Point
January 12 - 6:00 p.m. Principal's Coffee
January 13 - 9:00 a.m. Principal's Coffee
January 13 - Spiral
January 14 - Kingdom Kids Basketball
January 16 - SCHOOL HOLIDAY
January 18 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Pena)
January 18 - GT Parent Meeting - Language Arts
January 18 - 6:30 p.m. Kingdom Kids Basketball
January 19 - Hands on Science - 4th grade
January 19 - Mentor/Mentee event - after school
January 20 - 7:30 a.m. Donuts for Dads (Watch D.O.G.S.)
January 20 - Spiral
January 21 - Pinewood Derby, Scouts - Cafeteria
January 21 - Kingdom Kids Basketball
January 23 - Consultant John Samara here
January 23 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Cox)
January 24 - STAAR Practice 5th grade Math
January 24 - 3:30 p.m. CSHAC meeting
January 25 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Pena)
January 25 - STAAR Practice 5th grade Reading
January 25 - 9:00 a.m. PTA Executive Officer meeting
January 25 - CIT meeting - Library
January 25 - Basketball Practice, Family Point
January 26 - 4th grade field trip
January 26 - 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. International Festival
January 27 - 8:30 a.m. Lunar New Year program (student assembly)
January 27 - Spiral
January 27 - Wear College shirts
January 28 - Kingdom Kids Basketball
January 30 - STAAR practice - 4th grade writing (composition)
January 30 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Cox)
January 31 - 6:30 p.m. Scouts - Cafeteria
January 31 - 3:00 p.m. - Student Council Meeting - Library
February 1 - Basketball Practice, Family Point
February 1 - Elementary to Middle School Transition Day
February 1 - Writers in the Schools (3rd grade - Pena)
February 1 - 9:00 a.m. PTA meeting
February 3 - HOS - 2nd grade
February 3 - Spiral
February 3 - Progress Reports Go Home
Meadow Wood Elementary
Email: pamela.redd@springbranchisd.com
Website: mwe.springbranchisd.com
Location: 14230 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX, United States
Phone: 713-251-6200
Facebook: facebook.com/Meadowwoodelementarysbisd
Twitter: @reddprincipal
At Meadow Wood Elementary, our mission is to provide the personalized support needed for every student to grow and reach their personal best, taking into account the unique academic, social and emotional needs of each child.