December 29, 2015
We have maintained our commitment with Rutgers University by serving as a close partner with them in implementing best practices in literacy instruction for your children. At this point, we have now worked at varying degrees with the Rutgers Literacy coaches for about four years now. The first couple of years were more “hands-on.” Last year, they presented English Language Arts topics at two of our professional development days. Most recently this year, our coaches visited the teachers in what was termed a “Listen and Learn” day. Along with their visits, there was time scheduled for them to collaborate with the teachers. The administration will be sitting down with the coaches to discuss a plan moving forward. Perhaps our relationship with the Rutgers coaches is best summed up by a couple of our teachers:
“The Rutgers coaches were extremely helpful in teaching me what balanced literacy looks like in an elementary classroom. They both thoroughly explained and modeled each component of a balanced literacy block. They have also given suggestions regarding letter and sight word instruction.”
Teacher
“Building a partnership with literacy coaches from The Rutgers Center for Literacy Development has been instrumental in my success as a classroom teacher while working at Califon School. The coaches’ knowledge and expertise in best teaching practices and English/Language Arts content standards are outstanding. Their willingness to articulate as colleagues as well as to serve as mentors offering support, feedback, and advice has validated and advanced my instruction for my students and helped me to grow as a professional. I am appreciative of having this opportunity and experience of working with such positive and informed literacy specialists.”
Teacher
Teachers are using Go Math, our new math program. There are several features of the program that we feel are important in teaching your children mathematics. It has the cohesion necessary across grade levels to properly prepare students for each advancing year, it addresses the major Common Core standards and rigor associated with them at each grade level, and it is a well balanced program with features that enhance student mastery.
Recently, teachers were given the opportunity to observe other schools using the program, and we also had a consultant well versed in the program provide additional professional development. The feedback from our teachers regarding the latest support has been very positive, and they are excited to utilize the abundant resources, including the technology associated with it.
Our middle school science teacher, Mrs. Johnston, recently organized another Rutgers Science Bus visit. As a matter of fact, we have partnered with them for this opportunity over the past several years and we were the first school to have the bus visit this year! The Rutgers Science Bus includes presenters from Rutgers who teach students various science topics. This year, students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades had the opportunity to investigate New Jersey marine ecology in “One Fish, Two Fish.” They explored food webs, water quality, and how humans may impact the environment. They looked into a hypothetical fish kill event and discovered the concept of eutrophication.
Once again, teachers took advantage of the WinterFall Grant opportunity that occurs twice each school year. Gloria Winter and her committee reviewed several applications and she was pleased to announce the following:
- to Mr. Zimmerman and Mrs. Johnston for the purchase of a 3D Flashforge Finder printer and accessories for use by the sixth through eighth grade students
- to Mrs. Medea for the purchase of a set of four each of the Nicky Fifth book series for use in the ELA/Social Studies curricula in the Grade 4 classroom
- to Mrs. Charleston for the purchase of three iPad Mini 4s to complete access to assistive technology for the fifth grade students
- to Mrs. Medea for an author's visit to the Califon School community - author to be announced in early 2016
- to Ms. Heyduke for an online subscription to Scholastic Math Magazine for her middle school math students to initiate discussions of STEM career opportunities, to provide enrichment opportunities that parallel our new Go Math program, and to provide additional digital learning opportunities for her students
Thank you Gloria for your continued generosity and support for our school and its programs!
In addition to the great learning opportunities that our teachers pursue for your children on a continual basis, we are pleased to announce that students in grades four through eight have now received their Chrome Book. Teachers have already incorporated them into their lessons. Students use them as a word processor, online research tool, and a collaborating mechanism among students and the teacher. As we move throughout the year, the technology infusion with the Chrome Books will become more prevalent. In addition to the advantages the Chrome Books provide for our fourth through eighth grade students, it frees up more laptop availability for our younger students.
We recently sent home your child’s Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) results. We were extremely pleased with the results given the fact that this was the first time our students took part in this assessment. The PARCC test is clearly more challenging than any other standardized assessment they have taken in the past. It requires your child to think at a higher level, cite evidence to support their thoughts, and to interpret, analyze, and synthesize information from a variety of sources. Many of our students performed well in a number of areas, but of course, we will focus on where improvements may be needed.
I hope everybody had a great holiday season this year and as always we appreciate all of your support as we move into the 2016 calendar year!
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