South Meadows Parent News
April 2018
Parent News
We will be starting our state testing this month. Students will get tested in Language Arts and Math during those classes. Make sure students get to school well rested and prepared. Thank you for supporting your students and getting them to school on time. We are working on improving our overall attendance.
Have a great month.
Sincerely,
Mary Mendez
Dates to remember
April 7-STAMP test
April 11- In-coming 7th grade Welcome Night 6:00
April 13-No school
April 16- Spring Picture Day
April 26-28-School Play-Alice in Wonderland 7:00
Welcome night for families of incoming 7th graders
State Testing Begins this month
School Play
STAMP test-April 7th
PARENT NOTIFICATION LETTER: Smarter Balanced Assessments
Dear Parent/Guardian:
I am reaching out with some important news about this year’s statewide assessments for English language arts and mathematics. As you may know, Oregon adopted tougher national standards called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to elevate academic expectations for our students in grades K-12. With the CCSS, Oregon students are now gaining important critical-thinking, problem solving, and effective communication skills, and we, as educators, now have a template that clearly identifies what students should know by the end of each grade and what to do if they are not quite where they should be.
To accurately measure our students’ learning as well as help our educators pinpoint areas in need of improvement, we use the Smarter Balanced State Assessments (also known as SBAC) in English/Language Arts and mathematics, which are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. These tests provide an academic check-up and are designed to help teachers and parents know whether students are on track to be career- and college-ready by the time they graduate. Student performance on these assessments helps teachers and school leaders do a better job of making sure your child receives the best education possible.
Smarter Balanced assessments offer significant improvements over other types of assessments including writing at every grade, a variety of question types, and Performance Tasks that ask students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems. SBAC includes question formats that allow students to demonstrate a broad set of skills, like critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical writing rather than just regurgitating facts.
At SMMS, students in grades 7th-8th will take the Smarter Balanced tests sometime between April 2 and the end of the school year. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have about state testing this year. If you would like to quickly access more information about SBAC, visit the Hillsboro School District website: https://www.hsd.k12.or.us/Page/2291
Sincerely,
Jose Barraza
Smarter Balanced is…
A Better Assessment System
Using the Digital Library, teachers can access resources to support student learning. Teachers can also use optional and flexible interim tests to check student progress throughout the year. Summative, or end-of-year tests, measure student achievement and growth in English and math in grades 3–8 and high school. Learn about our complete system.
A Customized Assessment
Students take a customized test using a computer adaptive format: questions get harder when students answer correctly and easier when they answer incorrectly, allowing students to better demonstrate what they know. Read more about testing technology.
Designed for All Students
Additional supports make the assessments accessible to students with disabilities and English language learners. Explore accessibility and accomodations features.
Relevant to College and Career
The online format with extended research, writing, and problem solving tasks measure the critical thinking and problem-solving skills students need for success. Learn what makes the assessment useful for life after high school.
Useful for Teachers
Our system helps inform instruction and identify where students need more support. A Digital Library of tools—including professional development materials and instructional resources—is available to teachers to use all year to meet students’ individual needs. Go to the Educators page for more information.
Dear South Meadows Families,
I wanted to let you know that we received some very sad news over the weekend. One of our staff members, Kim Ellsworth, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday.
Mrs. Ellsworth was most recently a special education teacher here at South Meadows, but her connections span our community, as she has worked at all HSD high schools and has coached track, soccer and basketball over the course of her 20 years in the District.
A specially-trained group of counselors and District administrators known as the Flight Team is here at our school today to assist students and staff in coping with the news of Mrs. Ellsworth’s passing. They prepared the communication that was shared with students by their teachers during first period, and set up a support room in the library where students could come and take some time to grieve and process with the counselors.
Even if your student did not know Mrs. Ellsworth, news of her passing could still be impactful to them. Seeing their friends or teachers grieve, or thinking about other sad or traumatic things that have happened in their life could bring a multitude of feelings to the surface. If you feel your child is having a difficult time coping, please contact our front office or the school counselor so we can provide support.
In times like these, we all need to be there for one another and to be especially kind and patient with each other.
On behalf of all of us at South Meadows Middle School, we send our most heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Ellsworth’s family, friends, and all who knew her.
Sincerely,
Mary Mendez
Principal
Mary Mendez, Principal
Email: mendezm@hsd.k12.or.us
Website: http://schools.hsd.k12.or.us/southmeadows
Location: 4690 SE Davis Rd, Hillsboro, OR, United States
Phone: 503-844-1220
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/874310209328004/