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El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Appreciating our Teachers – The first week in May is National Teacher Appreciation Week and it’s an excellent time to let your children’s teachers know how much you value the work they have done with your children this year. Please take a moment during this week to let the teachers in your child’s life know that you appreciate their work. A personal note, a flower to build a bouquet from the whole class, or any small, thoughtful token mean a great deal. We are fortunate to have an amazing and dedicated teaching staff. They work long after school is over to design effective and differentiated lessons for our students. This week, please join me in thanking them for their dedicated service to our students. The Reflective Parenting Class (in Spanish) continues on Tues. mornings at 8:45 am Congratulations Readers! – A shout out nd to the students in Ms. Jimenez’ 2 grade class who earned the most points from Edison in the Read to Succeed 2 contest through KidBiz! Good job readers! Facilities Update –Contractors are continuing to work from 3:30 pm to midnight to install air conditioning units in each classroom. Work on the back staircases, playground, and outbuildings continues on schedule. New Math Adoption – Next year SMMUSD elementary schools will be using the My Math! Program as a tool in our teaching of Common Core Math. We could use some volunteers in the library as we catalogue and disseminate these resources. Please see Library Coordinator Carol Garcia Ramirez if you have some time to share. Lost and Found – Please come check the Lost and Found racks before the end of the month. There is a huge collection of sweaters, sweatshirts, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc. that we’d love to see returned to their owners. Warm Food in Lunch Boxes – If you are sending warm food with your child in a lunch from home, please pack it in a thermos-style container so it will stay warm. Staff are not allowed to heat food for students.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: YEAR END ASSESSMENTS, PART II The article in last week’s Semanario talked about year end assessments and the new state assessment system. We’ve been talking about the new California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) off and on for the last year, when California students took the pilot tests. Since these new Common Core aligned tests are rd th th about to begin again for our 3 , 4 , and 5 graders, we held a parent workshop about the tests the evening of April 23. To make the information more widely available, we’ll be posting the presentation we used as the basis for that meeting (prepared by SMMUSD’s new Director of Assessment Evan Bartelheim) on the Edison website and producing a translation into Spanish. We try to offer another workshop later this year to answer questions about how to interpret scores. But I also wanted to repeat some of the great questions that emerged during the workshop here. Which grades will take the SBAC? In Elementary Schools, only nd third, fourth and fifth graders will take the SBAC tests. 2 grade is no longer included. All three grades will take Common Core aligned tests in th English and Math and 5 graders only will take the CST in Science. When will SBAC testing happen at Edison? The week of April 27 rd th th 5th graders will take the CST Science Test. 3 , 4 , and 5 graders will take the SBAC in English Language Arts the week of May 4, and all three grades will take the SBAC in Math the week of May 11. Most of the testing rd th for 3 and 5 grades will take place from 8:30-10:30 am, so on time th arrivals are critical. Most 4 grade testing will take place from 10:3012:30. A specific schedule is posted on grade level bulletin boards. How long will the tests take? These are not timed tests, but the suggested number of hours of testing for English and Math together is 7 hours. The fifth grade science tests will take about two additional hours. We break the tests up into sessions of about 1.5-2 hours per session. What should I be doing to prepare my student to take these tests? These assessments are measures of skills students have been working on all year, so there is no specific content for them to study. They are not the kind of multiple choice tests where students can memorize a “right answer.” Our students have had opportunities in class to take practice assessments and learn to take assessments on line. Just send them to school on time, well-rested, fed with a good breakfast and calm. These are not high stakes tests for students or for the school and students will do best if they are not anxious. They are just one of many tools that we use to look at student progress. Ballet Folklorico – Afterschool on Wednesdays through 5/27 $2.00 per class
Immersion Fiesta – for families of Immersion students at Edison, JAMS, and Samohi 5/8 at 6:00 at JAMS
White Water – Family Screening – Aero Theater, May 16 at 2:00 p.m. Suggested Donation: $5.00