Mar 18, 2016 - CW Friday eNews. Mar. 18, 2016. What did you do today at school? ... Our district's AAA committee is host
CW Friday eNews
We Stand Up. We Think Visibly. We are CW!
Mar. 18, 2016
Dear CW Families, In my role as a school leader, I find myself constantly reading the latest research and ideas on how to innovate within our schools and create opportunities for deep thinking and learning. I am rarely satisfied with the status quo and I am always thinking about ways to create exciting learning opportunities for our students. Next week,TuesdaySaturday, I will be in San Diego, California for the 2016 Deeper Learning Conference. The conference takes place at High Tech High, the school featured in the movie, Most Likely to Succeed that was shown by FHPS. This week long conference has innovators from across the globe attending. If you want to follow along with my learning, I will be tweeting from @davidsimpson512 during the conference using the hashtag #deeperlearning I feel blessed to work in a district that supports these types of experiences…stay tuned for what I learn! CW News M-Step - Testing begins for our 5th grade students on Tuesday, April 12th! Please see page 2 of the eNews for an informational letter. AAA Event: Mark March 21st on your calendar! Our district’s AAA committee is hosting an event for both Student and Families titled Bulletproofing Your School. More info at http://fhps.net/community/bully-proofing-youth/
Check out the information video at https://youtu.be/jGEvUFNDkAw
PTO Dinner Night Out: On Monday, March 28 from 5-8 p.m. at Subway on 28th St.
Student Sponsored Coat Drive!: We have two 5th grade students sponsoring a coat drive. Here is their message: Hi! My friend Ava and ( Paulina) wanted to take a moment from your schedule to tell you this, Ava and I thought that CW could hold a coat drive to stand up and speak out for our community. With the organization were using One Warm Coat you can • Donate a slightly used coat (please make sure its clean) • Donate a new coat (please take off the tags) Ava and I ask you to stand up and speak up for your community by donating you oldcoats to One Warm Coat Extra Info:
The coat drive will be held March 14 - March 28 Boxes will be provided to put the coats in by the office and the bus entrance 5th Grade Music Fittings: Music Fittings were last week. Students met with music teachers to help them determine successful 6th grade music choices. Discuss 1st and 2nd music choices with your children with consideration to their fittings experience and music teacher comments. The Fittings Form is due no later than March 25. If you have any questions, please contact a music teacher.
Tweet of the Week John Larmer @johnlBIE 4 Ways to Promote Growth Mindset in #PBL http://bit.ly/1nAXn7c via @iDoSchool #DeeperLearning #Education
What did you do today at school? Those are famous words uttered by thousands of parents in hopes of gleaning a small window into what happened at school that day for their child. Teachthought.com provided a great guide to 25 questions to ask your child. I will preview some of those in the coming weeks.
When were you most creative today?
Tell me one chance you took today, and how it ended up.
What should you do with what you’ve learned?
CENTRAL WOODLANDS 5/6 David Simpson, Principal 400 Alta Dale SE, Ada, MI 49301
Phone: 616.493.8790
Fax: 616.493.8795
March 2016 Dear CW Families: This spring will mark the second administration of the new Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (MSTEP). This once-a-year test is given to all Michigan public school children in grades 3-8. The results from the test are used to report the academic progress of individual students their families and to report overall student performance to the public. The Michigan Department of Education determines the testing windows and tested subjects for each grade level as shown in the table below. Grade
Tested Subject Areas
Testing Window
5
th
English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies
April 11 – April 29
6
th
English Language Arts, Mathematics
April 25 – April 13
Central Woodlands will administer the M-STEP during the scheduled three-week window for each grade level as indicated above. Individual classrooms will have specific testing dates and times within the testing windows to administer these computer-based assessments. Your child’s teacher will provide more specific information as the testing dates approach. We ask that you please avoid scheduling any appointments for your child(ren) that involve time out of the classroom during the assessment administration window. This is especially important because time for make-up assessments is limited and some required components cannot easily be replicated in a make-up setting. M-STEP results are an important measure of your child’s academic progress. Please help your child by making sure they have adequately rested and has a good breakfast each day. We want our students to be able to do their very best so that their test results reflect the thinking they have done all year at CW. For more detailed information related to M-STEP and/or to preview practice items, please visit http://www.michigan.gov/mde. Again, thank you for your ongoing support and your help in ensuring our students are in school on these important dates. Sincerely, David Simpson
Forest Hills Public Schools - Daniel Behm, Superintendent 6590 Cascade Rd. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
SPRING STRING FLING March 22nd marks our 32nd anniversary of the annual Spring String Fling put on by the 6th through 12th grade orchestras! The string students will load buses at their prospective schools and rehearse together at 10 AM at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center (FAC). Cellos and basses should plan on dropping their instruments off at the FAC in the foyer between 8:30 AM and 10 AM that morning. If that is not possible, then they can take it on the bus but, it takes up a seat so try your best to drop it off. There is no need to bring music stands from home for this event. All students will return to their prospective schools at 11 AM. Call time for students is 6:15 PM at the FAC. The concert is set to begin at 7 PM. It will be a great night highlighting all our separate orchestras and ending with all students on stage performing together! Students are expected to stay to the very end when they perform again on stage with all the Central strings. Please remind your child that technology (cell phones, ipads, ipods, etc) are not allowed in the concert. We are looking for volunteers to help chaperone the morning rehearsal (arriving and departure mostly) and during the concert that night. If you volunteer to help during the evening performance, I will have you sit with the 6th graders and help with behavior during the performances. Please email me if you are interested in helping at
[email protected]. Tuesday March 22 Rehearsal at the FAC 10AM11AM Students will take busses to and from this rehearsal. Cellos and basses should be dropped off at the FAC that morning and all instruments may stay at the FAC until after the concert that night. 6:15 PM call time at the FAC 7 PM Concert time Concert attire: Central Woodlands music tshirt, jeans, sneakers Order of performance: 6th grade: Simple Square Dance, Dragon Hunter 7th grade 8th grade concert orchestra symphony orchestra All perform together: At the Grasshopper Ball
CENTRAL WOODLANDS WEEKLY CALENDAR March 21 - 25, 2016 Monday, March 21 -OM World Parent Mtg, Media Center, 6:00-7:00 PM -Board Mtg, Meadowbrook Elementary, 7:00 PM -Jeff Veley, “Bully Proofing our Youth, FAC 7:00 PM Tuesday, March 22 -Orchestra students rehearsal at FAC, board buses at 9:10 AM & return by 11:20 AM -Tutor Club, FHC NaQonal Honor Society Volunteers, Media Center, 3:45-4:30 PM -Bricks 4 Kidz/Jr. RoboQcs, D-7 (Tue’s 1/19-4/19), 3:45-5:00 PM -Girls on Track, A-1, (Tues & Th’s 3/1-5/21) 3:45-5:15 PM -Winter Baseball Training-final night, Gym (Tue’s 2/16-3/22), 3:45-5:15 PM -CW/CMS/CHS Spring String Fling, FAC 7:00-8:30 PM Students should arrive by 6:15 PM Wednesday, March 23 Thursday, March 24 -Hot cocoa sales during lunch 11:45 AM-1:00 PM -Girls on Track, A-1, Tues & Th’s 3/1-5/21 3:45-5:15 PM -Peaceful Dragon Self-Defense-final night, (1/21-3/24/16) Gym, 6:00-9:00 PM Friday, March 25 -HIT Spirit Day – Team Jersey Day