James Morris School
Regional School District No.6
Principal's Message for September 17, 2015
Parents, Guardians and Community Members,
On behalf of our entire staff, I thank each of you who attended last night’s Open House. Our appreciation also extends to the PTO for hosting an information table and providing ice cream for the children.
If you are available, please join me from 9:00AM - 10:00AM on Tuesday, September 22nd for "Coffee with the Principal" (Principal's Advisory Committee meeting), the first such meeting of the new school year. In recognition of your different schedules, the meeting times will vary over the course of the year. If you are unable to make this particular meeting, please consider attending future sessions. At this first meeting, I will present a revised draft of our current vision statement and school improvement plan and ask for your feedback, concerns and suggestions for the future of JMS. If you believe that you will be able to attend, please email me at kchapman@rsd6.org or call the main office at 860 567-7420 to put in your advanced order for coffee or tea!
During the spring of 2015, students in grades 3 through 8 were administered the Smarter Balanced (SBAC) English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics assessments, which included both adaptive tests and performance tasks. Individual scores (for students currently in grades 4, 5, and 6) will be mailed home on Friday. The Connecticut State Department of Education has SBAC parent guides available that you may access here. Also, please feel free to contact the school with any questions you may have. In addition to the Smarter Balanced assessments, there are many other relevant ways that your student will be evaluated throughout the year. Examples include the STAR adaptive tests and classroom assessments. All evaluations are used to ensure that students are making appropriate academic progress toward higher standards. We are committed to working with teachers and parents to provide support for all students to succeed.
Our new Makerspace is up and running and students are beginning to discover, design, explore, and apply their knowledge to a variety of independent and collaborative activities. What’s a Makerspace? Check this link out! Inspired by Caine’s Arcade, students will participate in the 4th Annual Global Cardboard Challenge over the next several weeks. Follow our Elementary Media Specialist @MisterPrescott on Twitter for updates and photos as students create and play.
Please note the following:
The PTO Carnival kicks off at 1:00 this Saturday. Please join us in celebrating the end of summer with games, prizes, and fun with our students and community members!
Square-One Art is underway. Students will be working on their pieces over this two week period.
The annual JMS Harvest Luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30th. Please see the link below to register.
Congratulations to Mrs. Barbara Connery, who was selected as a National Oratory Fellow from Ford’s Theater, which offers her the chance to help connect JMS students with students from across the country to collaborate on a multidisciplinary literacy project.
Flyers for this week are linked below:
Please contact me at any time with questions, comments or concerns.
Sincerely,
KC Chapman