Walt Disney School Update
January 13, 2023
Welcome Message from Mr. Towner
Dear Parents,
We have enjoyed our first week back from Winter Break - the first week of 2023! As well, today marks the end of our first semester and second grading period. This means that our teachers are completing report cards, which we plan to have available for view in Skyward Family Access on January 20th. As a reminder, if you need help with family access, please send an email to familyaccess@phm.k12.in.us , and a member of our technology support team will help you.
This time of year also brings our middle of year testing. For students in grades 3-5, they will complete Clear Sight Interim 2 in Reading and Math. We stress to our students the importance of giving great effort and having the test be an accurate representation of their skills. The data from this testing is very important to us, and allows us to form small groups for remediation. Our goal is to reach mastery of every skill with every students. Clear Sight also is a good experience prior to ILEARN, as the test is very similar in format.
For students in grades K-2, they will soon begin DIBELS testing. DIBELS is an assessment conducted one on one with the teacher, where the core skills of reading are assessed. Again, this data is heavily used to inform instructional groupings. We look forward to seeing students growth on these assessments!
Posted below this message is a video that was recently shown at a school board meeting, featuring our Reading in a Winter Wonderland literacy event. I again want to thank the many staff who contributed to this night. Thank you to the many families who attended. We hope you found this time to be valuable.
A reminder - school will be closed this Monday, January 16th, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
This Smore has many updates, and I thank you for your time in reviewing it! I wish all Dolphins an outstanding weekend!
Mr. Towner
Love for Lewyn
I sent a Smore to our school community this week sharing about Lewyn, a third grade student at our school, and his journey with adrenoleukodystrophy. I shared about our "Love for Lewyn" campaign, and this link will take you to an online store to purchase a t-shirt, sweatshirt, or hoodie. A portion of the proceeds of each item sold will be donated to Lewyn's family.
Thank you for your consideration and support! The online store will be open until January 20th!
PHM Young Author's Conference, 2023
For more information about the upcoming Young Author's Conference, and to register, please visit:
https://www.phmschools.org/news/jan-2023/young-authors-conference-2023
Kindergarten Registration for Next Year!
Kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school year begins this Tuesday, January 17th! If you have a student in your family to register, please contact our office at (574)259-2486, or feel welcome to email Mrs. Caudillo at kcaudillo@phm.k12.in.us. Please feel welcome to share with neighbors and friends who reside within our assigned territory at Walt Disney. We look forward to meeting them!
PTO Update
WIDA Testing is Happening!
Students in our ENL program are currently working through annual WIDA testing! This is the "ILEARN of ENL", and is used to determine a student's growth in English language proficiency. Walt Disney has consistently beaten state averages for growth on this assessment. I thank our ENL teachers, Nicole Parker and Kari Osborn, for their diligence with English instruction, and proctoring this important assessment. Best wishes to our ENL students who are taking the WIDA test!
Lost and Found
We have accumulated many items in our lost and found! Please encourage your student to look at the lost and found for any items they have lost. Any unclaimed items will be donated to the Salvation Army on January 20th. Parents are welcome to call are office to schedule a time to come in, if they wish to look for their child's lost item.
The amount of lost and found has become considerable, which causes us to need to donate items.
Community Fitness Opportunities
As the weather quickly shifts from fall to winter, the school district is happy to pilot free fitness opportunities for the P-H-M community. This will take place four (4) days per week at the sites listed below.
Who is eligible to participate: The P-H-M Adult Community and Staff (no students). This includes residents of the school district and non-resident parents/guardians of attending students.
What: Access to walking/jogging tracks, open gym/basketball courts, and weight room
When: Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at the sites listed below. Note: The fitness centers will be closed during designated school recess dates.
Lunchtime Visitors
The Lunchtime Visitor Sign up genius has been updated for the second semester. It can be accessed via this link.
Outstanding Academic News
- As reported by the IDOE similar schools summary, Walt Disney is in the top 6.7% of schools that are similar in size and demographics, as measured by ILEARN. Of 127 similar schools, we outperform 118 of them. Our focus is of course on outperforming everyone, and being the best!
- Walt Disney continues to beat state averages on the IREAD-3 assessment, and we have returned to pre-Covid performance for our students in third grade. Walt Disney is the only school in the state where minority subpopulations and ENL subpopulations have outperformed the overall school performance on IREAD-3 (as well as beating the state overall passing percentage!) Our free/reduced subpopulation always outperforms the state for that category by nearly 10%.
- PHM is in the top 3.67% of school corporations in the State of Indiana!
Free Covid Tests - While Supplies Lasts
Skyward Family Access
If you have questions about Skyward Family Access, please email them to familyaccess@phm.k12.in.us and we will be glad to assist you!
Pictures from Around the Pod
Free/Reduced Meals and Textbook Assistance
We want to remind all parents that free/reduced meals and textbook assistance is available for eligible families. An application can be completed for this program online, by following the link below. As well, we are happy to provide a paper copy upon request.
School Fees are Due March 31st
For information on school fees, or to proceed with paying your child's school fees, please follow the button below.
Food Services
To access accounts digitally, go to https://www.phmschools.org/pay-meals-online to access our School Cafe program online.