Principal’s Message
April 26, 2019
SBO Elections:
Student Body Officer Elections will be kicking off next Monday, April 29. Seventh grades who meet the requirements are eligible to run for SBO. Mrs. Niemann will be having a meeting before school on Monday, April 29, in her classroom. She will repeat the meeting after school. The meeting will be when all the requirements and process for the elections will be discussed. It is imperative that your student attend the meeting if they are interested in running for office.
After the meeting, the process will be as follows: petitions for running are due on Tuesday, April 30 so eligibility can be checked. Posters will be due on May 1st with Primary Elections being May 2nd. Primary winners will be announced on May 3rd and the SBO Skit Assembly and Final Elections will be on May 9th.
Peer Leadership Team Selection:
Peer Leadership Team Selection will begin on May 6th. The process will be completed by May 10th. Students may apply for Peer Leadership even if they are running for SBO. If a student wins and SBO position, they will not be placed on Peer Leadership Team. If they do not win an SBO position, they will be eligible for a Peer Leadership Team position. Peer Leadership Team placement is based on an application and interview process, and the intent is to complete the process during the week of May 6-10th. Applications will be available in the main office.
Physics Day at Lagoon:
We will be participating in Physics Day at Lagoon again this year. Permission slips should have gone home already, but I wanted to clarify a few things as well. The Robotics Team, all 8th graders, and Mr. LeStarge’s 7th grade GT science class will all be participating on May 17th. We will bus students to Lagoon and bus them home. The cost for Lagoon is $35.00 and can be paid in the main office. If your student has a season pass for Lagoon, their cost will be $5.00 for the bus.
We will plan on leaving Lagoon at 4:45pm; however, Lagoon is open until 10pm that day. If you would like to give us permission to leave your student at Lagoon when we leave, please indicate that on the permission slip by checking the appropriate box. Please be aware that Cris Brimley will be calling to verify with you that you really are ok with having your student stay at Lagoon and that you will be arranging a different way home for them. We will be verifying this because we don’t want a student checking that box and then getting left at Lagoon without a way home.
Musical Festivals:
Congratulations to all of our music groups. They have been participating in their festivals throughout the month of April, and they have all done well. The Jazz Band, Concert Band, and Concert Orchestra all received “Superior” ratings, which is the highest possible rating. The Concert Choir received an “Excellent”, the second highest rating possible. Great job by the kids and Mrs. Taylor in preparing and performing in their festivals.
If you’d like to hear the kids play and sing live, they have concerts coming. Band will be May 8, and Orchestra/Choir will be May 9th.
Testing:
We will be testing differently this year than we have in years past. Last year, we did school-wide testing for ELA, and we liked the process for it. This year we are going to move to school-wide testing for all content areas. We feel strongly that this will provide the best testing environment for all students.
By doing school-wide testing for all areas, we are able to push the testing all the way back to the week of May 6-10 and Monday, May 13. This means teachers have the next two weeks to continue teaching their content, which gives students extra instructional time without the worry of testing that might be happening from day to day. It also compresses the testing window from four weeks to a week and a half (Ms. Chester’s 8th graders will still do their Writing RISE next week on Monday and Tuesday in her classes). This should help alleviate some of the testing burnout that happens when things carry over the course of a month. We are also hopeful that having the testing all together in a shorter time will help students stay focused and committed to doing their best on the tests.
The week of May 6-10 is also the week we have chosen where ALL students can get free breakfast at school. So please help us remind your student that they can swing down to the cafeteria during that week to get some fuel and energy for testing.
We will have special class schedules for testing week. The schedule will allow for a 1.5 hour testing window each day. Each RISE test has two sections, and the state is estimating that each section should take an average of 50-60 minutes. By providing a 90 minute window, teachers will have time to do a quick mindfulness exercise from Inner Explorer, provide instructions, get students logged-on and still have 60-70 minutes to provide to students for actual testing. All students should bring a reading book with them every day that week so they can quietly read if they finish their testing prior to the end of the 90 minutes.
To facilitate all students testing at the same time, the classes will be rotating which test they are doing on the two day test blocks. For example, on Monday and Tuesday, May 6 and 7, the 8th grader will take ELA, the 7th graders will take math, and the 6th graders will take science. By Monday, May 13, all three classes will have taken all three tests. We then have until May 16 to finish any make-up tests that need to be completed.
Finally, pushing the testing window back two weeks does allow some additional time for parents to turn in opt-out forms if desired. The new deadline for opt-outs will be Wednesday, May 1. As always, we encourage all students to take the RISE tests, but parents do have final say in opting your students out if desired. As a reminder, students who opt-out should still attend school on testing days, and they will be provided an equivalent assignment to work on while the other students are testing. The equivalent assignment will not be graded just as the RISE test is not graded.
Class Fees:
Please check your student’s account to make sure there are no outstanding class fees owed. Class fees for fourth quarter electives have been added to accounts. We are asking that everyone get it and make sure you don’t have any outstanding balances on your student’s account. The end of the year will be here quickly, and when summer begins, I’m sure your mind will be on other things.
After School:
We are having some problems with students staying and hanging out in the building after school gets out. Please make sure your students head home when school releases. We have added a bell that rings at 3pm Monday-Thursday and 12:45pm on Fridays to remind students to leave. Once those times come and go, the only students who should be in the building are those under the direct supervision of an adult, meaning they are in Homework Club, another club meeting, are at practice/intramurals, or are at rehearsal.
Important Dates:
April 29 SBO Election Process begins; Meeting before or after school
April 30 SBO Petitions Due
May 1 SBO Posters Due
May 1 Track @ Granger HS
May 2 SBO Primary Elections
May 2 Golf Tournament @ Fore Lakes
May 3 SBO Primary Election Winners Announced
May 6-7, 13 RISE Testing
May 6 Peer Leadership Team Application and Selection Process begins
May 7 PTSA Meeting, 11:30am
May 8 Track @ Skyline HS
May 8 Band Concert, 7pm
May 9 District Golf Championship @ Meadowbrook Golf Course
May 9 Orchestra/Choir Concert, 7pm
May 10 Track Championships @ Kearns High, 12pm
May 14 Panoramic Picture for 8th graders
May 14 Community Council, 1:30pm
May 16 Dance Concert, 7pm
May 17 Dance Concert, 7pm
Sincerely,
Josh LeRoy
Principal
