April 1st- 5th Peak Memo
Culture Collaboration Curriculum
Message From Director
I was talking to 4th grade and one of them said it best. At first you want that "bad weather day" in January but then when it comes in March, we are so happy to have it! Many of you have asked about the result of the parent meeting. The parent meeting was very interesting and the only concerns that were discussed for primary was the concern for safety on playground during lunches. They said that teachers are there, but that they are all in one area and therefore, unable to see all scholars. We shared an easy aggressive monitoring fix, that is highlighted further down in the memo.
We will also meet Thursday to send home some communication to parent regarding the plan and response of their concerns and meet again next Monday at coffee and tea with directors.
Well continue to do what you do and that is work hard and PUSH our scholars for greatness!
Let's nail again where we are trying to land OVERALL as a school with state assessments:
80% Approaches 50% Meets and 30% Masters
This is very doable! Let's dig in even harder the next few weeks with some specific intentionality to ensure our scholars are able to b successful in this manner.
I love you all enjoy the next three days!
Safety/Discipline Concerns: Recess
- Teachers are not to be huddled into one area or by the door
- Teachers are not to be on cell phone
- Teachers are not to be grading papers
- Teachers are not to be conducting a small groups
This will help better equip us to be able to have eyes on scholars from all areas of the playground.
BE Sure to Report What happens!
Call or write a note! Its not enough to address it, we must beat the the scholar in the communication! Ensure that parents hear from you FIRST!
No communication to parents means NOTHING was done! communicate, communicate, communicate!
Internal Transfer Window
Internal Transfer Window: The Uplift transfer window will be open April 1st – 5th. If you are interested in applying for a position at another campus, please let Rich know prior to applying.
Cover all walls in Testing Rooms
Summer Day Camp opportunities
Munger Place Church Literacy Summer Day Camp Opportunity
Teachers, Munger Place Church right down the street has informed us of an opportunity for our scholars to join their summer literacy day camp. It is an 8 week program from 9am-3pm over the summer and only costs $20 per scholar for the entire 8 weeks (no more than $50 per family). They have asked us to send home flyers to scholars who would most benefit from this program and/or scholars/families who would be most likely to take advantage of this opportunity.
I will put 5 copies of the flyer in each of your boxes. Please send this flyer home at least 5 scholars in your class. Let me know if you have any questions, thank you! ~ Melissa
Panoroma Survey
It’s time again to measure our scholars’ social and emotional development through the Panorama survey. The Panorama survey will be administered to all 3rd-12th grade scholars from March 25- April 8, 2019. In This document , you will find survey administration instructions, proctor instructions, a mini vocab lesson for scholars, FAQs, and information on next steps.
Mr. Bearfield will print out your scholar’s individual access codes and put in your box before March 25th.
Action Steps-
Check-out the Chromebook cart for at least 30 minutes sometime within the window.
Read through all the instructions in the attached document beforehand
NEW EXPECTATION- present the vocabulary lesson imbedded in the hyperlinked document with your scholars before they take the survey.
Progress Reports
Important Dates
April 4th: EOY MAP Window Opens
April 9th: Primary Progress Reports Go Home
April 13th: Peak Primary 9th Annual Art Festival
April 16th: 2nd grade field trip
April 19th: No School
May 17th: Primary Field Day
May 21st: Kinder Commencement, 5pm – 6:30pm
May 23rd: 5th Grade Crossover
Homework Hall Reminders
Teachers please remember if you have homework hall duty, you are responsible for stacking the chairs so the floor can be cleaned.
BLACKOUT Day Reminders
April 1st, 18th, and 22nd
May 21st-24th
AND ALL STAAR testing dates for EVERYONE
IB
IB
This week’s IB Learner Profile is inquirers and Ms. Castillo’s Maverkicks will lead announcements. IB defines a scholar who exemplifies being an inquirer as: They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.
Some ideas for morning meetings topics pertaining to the IB learner profile inquirers are:
- Think about our mission: The mission of Peak Preparatory is to provide a college preparatory education that empowers students to reach their highest potential and inspires a lifelong love of learning, achievement, service, and responsible citizenship. How does being an inquirer relate to our mission?
- Have you ever wondered why we have day and night? What causes tides? Why we don’t just fly off the Earth into space? If there is life on other planets besides Earth? People have always been inquirers. We make discoveries in science because of inquirers like you who are driven by their curiosity to learn more about how the world works. What will your inquiry prompt you to discover? Life on other planets? A new invention?
- Have you ever been sitting in class and had a BURNING question? You just can’t wait for the teacher to call on you to answer that question? That’s inquiry! You can also use books, the internet and plain old THINKING to help answer your questions!
- Being an inquirer requires some independence. Why do you think this is?
- How do you think that being an inquirer and being able to conduct research will help you as a college scholar?
No Word Consciousness next week
School Attendance
ESL Certifications
ESL Certification: Below is information regarding ESL Certification training sessions. Please keep in mind that for the 19-20 school year, all content areas will need to possess their ESL Certification. Please reach out to Kadoria if you have any questions.
Wednesday PD
WORKING WEDNESDAY
Texting all of leadership
Birthdays
Teacher/Staff Absences
Data Dashboard
A brand-new network assessment dashboard is now available. This dashboard will refresh throughout the year to include data from our two network assessments (TWA and CA).
An admin version of the dashboard can be found here
Important dates/announcements etc.
Grading: teachers please ensure that you are keeping up with grades weekly. As stated in our policy , at least two grades per week should be put in the grade book. Keep in mind that CA's and TWA grades should always be included in report card grades when necessary. These are important assessments and scholars and parents need to be aware of them. However, these grades should not fail a scholar if you have more than enough grades in your grade book. Below are some examples to help you as we move forward in Q4.
Math & Reading grades
· At least 2 tests/project grades in each content area
· At least 6 minor assessment grades in each content area
· At least 8 classwork grades in each content area
· At least 3 homework grades in each content area
Science, Humanities, &ELA
· At least 2 tests/project grades in each content area
· At least 4 minor assessment grades in each content area
· At least 4 classwork grades in each content area
· At least 2 homework grades in each content area
Grade reporting periods
Q3 checkpoint 2/8 – end of Q3 3/7
Q4 checkpoint 4/19 – end of Q4 5/24
*Schedule for when reports will be distributed:
Progress Reports:
- April 9th
- April 30th
Report Cards:
- May 24th mail home
* VOLY is our Parent Support Posting Form for Peak Website- Want volunteers then submit completed form to Nora Apolinar and MariCarmen Corona. Also this is how they track our parent volunteers at PEAK and we wan to make sure our parents are recognized for their volunteering so please fill these out.
Chrome Cart Schedule/Peak Monthly Calendar
Chrome Carts
Please find the updated Chrome Cart schedule below. If you would like to reserve the chrome carts outside of your regular time, email Melissa and she will approve or deny the request based on availability and send you a calendar invite.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-OPxcY2gn7tdqmGG5P2UzJAhdLEKdMLZLn-yHYAeNzw/edit?usp=sharing
Peak Primary Monthly Calendar: Please see attached links
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pq26-fEBDEsqbJrolUFiwDgIKyKYTqAjAh1U9I61lHA/edit?usp=sharing
Scholar Attendance
Upcoming News
We're Listening....
How can we continue to Grow
Upcoming News/Survey
At Peak we will foster a Game Changing Growth Mindset! Feedback is crucial to timely and continuous growth. Please use the survey link below to let us know what we can continue to work on to improve and what things we are doing well and should continue to push to higher levels of excellence. Suggestions are key! *the greatest room on earth is the room of improvement!