No Power, No Problem

Fortunately our loss of power this morning affected only parts of certain classrooms, and we were back to full power before lunches began.  There's just nothing like a little extra excitement on a Friday, an ISAT Friday, that is!

Speaking of ISATs, as we wanted to ensure the best possible working environment for kids, we postponed our tests until Monday.  So, all students will will finish up their reading and math exams on Monday, and 7th grade students will now take the science portion on Tuesday.  

Let's all wish 8th grader, Fabian Garcia, good luck this weekend as he represents Woodlawn Middle School as our first state qualifier in wrestling.  He's competing at Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, IL this weekend.  Congratulations and good luck to Fabian, Coach Berry and Coach Curtis.

Looking ahead, there are a few important events coming up...

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING PARENT NIGHT

Mark your calendar! Plan to join us on Tuesday, March 13 at 7:00 at Ivy Hall for a great presentation about social-emotional learning and how we as a district are working to meet students' academic and emotional needs. 

Monday, April 23 is incoming 6th grade parent information night, so please pass the word to our Kildeer and Country Meadows parents.

LOOKING AHEAD AT STANDARDS-BASED REPORTING

As we come closer to the 2013-2014 launch of standards-based reporting at the middle schools, I'd like to use the weekly blog to answer some frequently asked questions about standards-based reporting. This week's question:

What is a standards-based report card? How will it compare to what we have now?

A standards-based report card is one that depicts student learning by specific curriculum targets. Rather than only reporting a single overall course grade (our current practice), every target on which the student has worked during the trimester is listed, with student proficiency for each target clearly stated. Those of you with younger children attending Ivy Hall or Prairie already have experience with a standards-based report card, since the elementary schools implemented this tool across all grades and buildings beginning this school  year. 

While the targets will all be listed individually, it is still the intent that, at the middle schools, an overall course letter grade will still be reported. This course grade will reflect student learning across all of the learning targets for the trimester. 

To learn more about the middle school standards-based report card, please plan to attend the Middle School Standards-Based Report Card Parent Info Session coming up on April 18 @ 7:00 pm in the Woodlawn Gym. Twin Groves and Woodlawn parents are welcome to attend! As always, if you have specific questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Grana or Mr. Murphy directly.

Finally, don't forget to set your clocks ahead this weekend, and check out the Woodlawn PTO newsletter, as well. 

Enjoy yourselves.