Walt Disney School Update
January 20, 2023
#PHMExcellence
Be sure to save the date for P-H-M's annual Young Authors' Conference for elementary students grades K-5. This year's event registration is FREE thanks to Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker & other generous #GivingTuesday donors to the P-H-M Education Foundation! Registration opens Monday, Jan. 30 so be sure to register early. Details at phmschools.org/YAC2023.
Welcome Message from Mr. Towner
Dear Parents,
This week marked the beginning of our second semester. Our intermediate students are well into their middle of year Clear Sight testing. Clear Sight is a formative assessment that students take on their chromebooks, and it closely mirrors the testing environment for ILEARN. I am impressed by the efforts our students have given, and the data is valuable for us as educators. With the assessment being standards-based, our teachers will soon go through their data, and use it to form standards-based reteaching opportunities for students. Our consistent mission is to get all students to mastery in their grade level standards. As a parent, please engage your child in conversation about their learning. Some conversation topics might be to talk about their learning goals, what skills they are learning in math, or something interesting that they have recently read during reading time.
We will soon begin DIBELS testing with our primary students. DIBELS provides very rich data for us to understand where each student is at on their pathway to becoming a proficient reader. DIBELS data helps to inform our small groups for literacy instruction. It also allows us to look closely at our instructional practices. We seek to use systems of instruction that are researched based and keep our students progressing forward. We hope you are similarly seeing progress as you read with your child each night.
I also want to congratulate our Dolphins of the Quarter! Each grading period our teachers select one student who has exemplified great school effort and citizenship. We then delivery Dolphin of the Quarter signs to the students. Yesterday was delivery day! Congratulations to these Dolphins on a job well done. This morning they also had a Dolphin party! I have included some pictures below from our sign deliveries.
I wish all Dolphins a restful and fun weekend!
Mr. Towner
Mr. Towner
Love for Lewyn (Last day to order!)
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!
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.