Week 16

Great Things I Noticed:

• The second grade team working hard to analyze and respond to student need during their prep day!  And a special shout out to Sara for getting noticed by the district for the amazing work she has done with her students! 
• Clarissa  - It is so much easier to  be home taking care of my own kids when I know Clarissa is here taking care of all of you - THANK YOU!
• Beth for hosting a wonderful holiday get-together!
• Danielle and Marcia and the work they are doing in LAB - stop by the office and see the results from Marcia's students!
• Thank you for your paitence with the Holiday shop!  We will be reviewing and adjusting for next year! 

Nuts and Bolts:

• The thermostats have been set to 76 - please direct any questions or concerns regarding the temp in your rooms to Lorenzo.  He will place the workorder if needed.
• Shut down all computers and uplug your devices before you leave on FRIDAY! 
• For Parties - Place all trash by the door and request extra bags before FRIDAY! 
• Please take a moment to remind students to be safe, respectful and responsible this week.  
• I am requesting that you meet your line on the blacktop ASAP - we are having behavior spring up as students wait for teachers after recess and lunch.  
• Please let us know if you are interested in training for restorative practices/community circles, there is a training opportunity through RCOE on April 23, 24.
• Sign up with Cindy to book the office bulletin board for March-June - We love to see the student work! 
• No Santa this year - Fritz Ford could not connect with their supplier.  

Flyer Focus:

Team Meeting/January 10

The intention of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for us to share common and best practices and look at evidence that the processes and procedures we have put in place are making and impact on student achievement.  Each teacher is required to bring evidence that our common commitments made impact on student achievment or learning.

Common Commitments:

1. Establishing a clear partnering procedure
2. Requiring students to restate the question orally or in writing
3. Intentionally providing think time for students 

Evidence can be in the form or student work created after a partnering, or student work that was improved through students restating the questions or having more think time.  Teachers can also film partnering procedures and I would love to have one or two of these to share!  

We will be sitting in mixed grade level groups and sharing with our colleagues.  Once again, with the goal of sharing best practice and the evidence that our commitments are making a difference.  

Please let me know if you are interested in filming your video practice or if you have any questions.  

Upcoming Events:

12/20  9:00 Special Ed Holiday Performance

12/21  1:30-3:00 DJ Party for Perfect Attendance
12/21  3:00 Staff Cookie Exchange
12/22  2:00 TK/Kinder Holiday Performance
12/25-1/5 Winter Break

  Have a safe, restful and wonderful Winter Break!

Week 15

Great Things I Noticed:

• Marcia's 6th graders doing CODE!  Way to integrate computer science into your day! 
• Steve Carrasco's useful PL goal setting  template he used with his class - I noticed the "Obstacles that might get in the way" section.
• Beth Wilbur scheduling, monitoring and running the SST meetings! 
• Beth Wilbur hosting the holiday party - Thank you, Beth! 
  
• History one pagers in Kevin's class!
• Science with Foss in 5th grade (Chasing Shadows)
• Our FANTASTIC cafeteria staff!  Thank you for serving our students with a smile! 
• Art to Go in 3rd grade!  Wolf Heads! 
• Doree Montgomery walking to Arlington to participate in an Hour of Code with the AP Computer Science class!  So Cool!  

Nuts and Bolts: 

National History Day Volunteers Needed

RUSD History Day competition is quickly approaching on January 27, 2018. In order to have a competition, we need volunteers to judge and help out in other ways. Please encourage your teachers and/or parent volunteers to sign up to help RUSD put on a great competition for our students. You can sign up on this form. For more information contact Carolyn Power cpower@rusd.k12.ca.us or x53016

TK-6 ELA/ELD Instructional services has gone into dibels.net and created English Learner Instructional Groups for every K-6 teacher in RUSD. These groupings will allow teachers to disaggregate student data for their English Learners in further efforts to inform instruction.

Take some time to remind your classes about behavior expectations and character counts curriculum... Remind, reteach and reinforce! 

In case you missed it... the California Dashboard is LIVE.  We will be looking at this during our January Team Meeting.  Below is a letter from the District Office...

Dear RUSD Staff,

Have you heard of the new California School Dashboard? It's is an online tool designed to help communities across the state access important information about their local districts and schools. The Dashboard features easy-to-read reports on multiple measures of school success. 

The California School Dashboard replaces the previous state accountability systems (Academic Performance Index) which only provided a single number regarding performance. Now, several state and local indicators are used for county offices of education, districts and school sites. This Dashboard is just one step in a series of major shifts in public education, changes that have raised the bar for student learning, transformed testing, and increased the focus on equity. 

You can find the California School Dashboard here: www.caschooldashboard.org, and you can find more local resources on the RUSD website at: http://bit.ly/CAdashboardRUSD

RUSD is committed to inspiring students to take advantage of life’s opportunities in a global society by preparing them academically. We will continue to grow and create exemplary learning experiences for every student, every day.

Below you will find resources and links related to the California School Dashboard, which was released by the CDE on December 7, 2017.

Resources:

Videos: RUSD Superintendent’s video about the Dashboard: https://www.facebook.com/RiversideUnified/videos/1774137015930862/
RUSD-Produced CA School Dashboard Overview English (https://youtu.be/BZtHgZpBywY) + Spanish ( https://youtu.be/6Mw_P5u3lJ4)
Parent Letter: CA Dashboard LCAP Communication English  (Spanish letter pending)
Overview Flyer: CDE Getting to Know the CA Dashboard

Flyer Focus

Hour of Code

Computer Science is the future for our students.  When we talk about equity and access we should be talking about how do we give our Preschool-6 grade students the greatest opportunity to have equitable access to the jobs of the future.  

This past week, Doree took her third grade class over to Arlington to participate in an "Hour of Code" with students from the AP Computer Science class.  Principal Steven Ybarra wrote this about the experience: 

Computing is the fastest-growing, highest-paying, and largest sector of new jobs in the United States, and it seems as though our students may not quite have the exposure to this field to (1) develop an interest and (2) have an understanding of the opportunities that lie ahead.  Thanks to our incredible students and staff, however, we are taking steps to change all that.  Patti Burdeaux had all her students participate in the Hour of Code this week.  Patti, as you know, is teaching one period of AP Computer Science Principles and makes sense she would have these students participate.  You know what, it also makes sense she would offer the opportunity to all of her students.  And that is what she did.  On Tuesday, Patti had her Math 2 and her Accelerated Math 3 students experience the power of coding. 

Brent Brubaker and our ASB students took it a step further and extended an invitation to 3^rd grade students at Hawthorne Elementary School to come to Arlington and participate in the Hour of Code with their high school community members.  Of course it helps that we have an inside connection with Hawthorne Elementary in the form of one Anne Marie Montgomery; however, the experience, exposure and community connection made sense even without the assistance of the mother-daughter connection.  Ms. Montgomery (Doree Montgomery that is) agreed to have her students come to Arlington as part of this exchange.  Our ASB students welcomed them with open arms and spent time with coding with our future Lions.  What a sight to see.  “Take care of yourself, take care of one another and take care of our community.”

I believe there is no greater area of opportunity for our students, especially in California.  Reading, writing, mathmatics, and computer science.... Let's figure out how to bring this to our students.  

Upcoming Events:

12/12  3:00 Character Counts Meeting

12/13  2:55  Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

12/14  Student of the Month

• 1-3        8:50
• 4-6       9:40
• Tk/K   10:40

12/14   3:30 District Leadership Team (Carrie and Clarissa)

12/16   Bikes for Kids - Pick up and Delivery

12/20  9:00 Special Ed Holiday Performance

12/21   1:30  DJ Party for Perfect Attendance

12/21   3:30  Staff Cookie Exchange

12/22  10:00 TK/Kinder Holiday Perfomance

12/22  2:00 Class Holiday Parties

12/23 - 1/7 - Winter Break

Week 14

 

Great Things I Noticed:

• Successful Parent Teacher Conferences!  
• Returning from break with renewed energy to finish the year! 
• As always great instruction across the grade levels! 
• FANTASTIC, AWESOME and AMAZING growth from our Read 180 students in the first trimester!  Thank you Danielle for the great work you do!

Nuts and Bolts:

• AVID Summer Institute deadline is quickly approaching!  The institute dates are June 28-30 - Anaheim - We have enough money to send 2 per grade level (possibly 1 team leader and 1 teacher leader).  I need names from your grade level by FRIDAY.  
• Just a reminder (and a big "way to go!" to those keeping up with it) to do you progress monitoring
• Schedule Data planning meeting before winter break, send us the date and we schedule a staff developer as needed
• Teams - please send me your ELD schedule - thank you!
• We have scheduled FOSS PLANNING DAYS on January 19-23 (subs have been ordered) - more information to come!

Upcoming Events: 

12/4 - Carrie at DO 8:00-2:30 (Interview Panel)

12/5 - Asst. Supt. Jackie Perez 1:30

12/6 - DELAC (8:30-10:00)

12/6 - TEAM MEETING CANCELLED

12/7 - Principals Meeting (Carrie out AM)

12/8 - Honor Roll Party 2:00

12/12 - Character Counts Meeting (committee)

12/13 - Coffee with the Principal/Silly Spray Activity/Walk to School Wednesday

12/14 - Student of the Month

12/14 - District Leadership Meeting (Carrie and Clarissa Out 2:30)

12/16 - Bike Delivery