In the Loop 018Â 2 Â h c r a M
Photo by: 8th grade Monday Morning Show Photographer at Edison
A Message from the Superintendent Across the district, we have seen amazing achievements and growth in many areas as you will read in this edition. One major area of focus has been improving school attendance. Chronic absence is associated with lower academic performance, adverse social and emotional impacts, and higher school drop-outs. Some of the strategies implemented at each school and with the assistance of our Student Services Coordinator include: districtwide Back-to-School Campaign, evening and weekend phone calls instead of day or work calls, home visits, one-to-one meetings with parents and students, partnering with local community such as Skagit Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault Services, Volunteers of America, Good Will, Youth Dynamics, Oasis, YMCA, Job Corp, Community Action. In addition, we have established a local Truancy Board to help students and their families address attendance by removing barriers and offering services. Our efforts are working. We are beginning to see fewer chronic absences and students attending school, are staying in school. We will be seeking some grant opportunities for next year to support attendance! Superintendent Laurel Browning
Allen
Having passed the mid-point of the school year, we are collectively assessing student progress, working with students to celebrate growth, and focusing efforts on the specific learning needs of students as revealed by the assessments. From kindergarten students who come to Allen needing to learn the sounds of letters and concepts of print, to our 8th-grade students' beginning algebra work, our students have used their assessment results to set goals and track their progress. In early March, we will be recognizing students who have demonstrated measurable growth during the first 5 months of school in math or reading (and for grades 1-3 this will be growth in both English and Spanish reading). We are proud to report this will be nearly every student at Allen! Principal - Steve Finch
Bay View It is so rewarding to reflect back on the achievements our students have made since September! While we celebrate the growth students make on tests like the DRA or MAP test, we are also on the hunt this year to find new ways our students are showing gains. Staff members are asking great questions about how we measure student improvement in areas like thinking, independence, perseverance as well as math and reading. We’ve been evaluating classroom-based assessments, end of unit performance assessments, and rubrics where we can input specific success criteria. Although we have just started this work, we are excited to learn and continually improve the way we assess our students. Principal - Amy Riesner
n o s i Ed At Edison we’ve been focusing on student growth in a variety of ways. The new School Improvement Plan format of using learning progressions helps us look at student growth through a deeper lens. We have been learning more about our nondominant learners, meaning students with special needs, English language learners, students with ACEs, and our highly-capable students. We’re growing our toolbox of instructional strategies to better support these students and realizing these practices not only help these learners, but support all students. Some teachers have begun to use the Deeper Learning 6C progressions as part of their student growth goals to track growth in areas such as communication and collaboration. Principal - Amy Staudenraus
B-EHS
At B-EHS, students continue to demonstrate perseverance and academic determination throughout the long, cold winter months of the school year. Challenged by eight different courses, and with many engaged in multiple co-curricular activities, our students displayed their resilience by successfully completing first semester finals and the culminating coursework. Now several weeks into the second semester, students are building on their skills and developing proficiency with qualities like character, citizenship, and creativity. B-EHS teachers continue to seek out innovative strategies to support student learning and engage learners in experiences to promote deep learning. Teachers from all disciplines infuse technology into their lessons, providing students opportunities to use digital media to develop 21st-century skills. Over the next few weeks, students will begin registering for the 2018-2019 school year, presenting additional opportunities to engage in coursework to prepare them for college - 1, 2, 4 or more. Principal—Todd Setterlund
B-E North
There are all sorts of good things happening this month at B-E North. We have student volunteers working on our spring blood drive. A group of young men have designed this year’s CANstruction entry (on display at Cascade mall March 3rd through March 10th!) and have partnered with our local Rotary Club to secure the resources for this event. Another group is preparing for a trip to Seattle to see Hamilton and partake in a day of history and theater learning. Teacher– Sam Wasson
w e i V West
At West View, we are focusing on growth as it applies to the whole child. We continue to provide opportunities for academic growth by strengthening our Dual Language Deeper Learning program through our study of Beeman’s work, “Teaching for Biliteracy, ” and Zwiers book, “Academic Conversations.” Understanding that social/emotional growth and development is equally important, we have implemented a monthly character trait that is studied throughout the month and honored at our Bobcat Tale Assembly. We also believe our students have the best opportunity for significant growth through meaningful, authentic relationships between home and school. In an effort to strengthen these relationships, we have committed one early-release Wednesday a month to family visits. Our goal is to be in the homes of 50 West View families this year! Principal - Tamara Skeen
Lucille Umbarger
At Lucille Umbarger we have been focusing on the implementation of positive discipline and deeper learning as methods for increasing students engagement and achievement. Our hypothesis is that if students feel a greater sense of love and belonging, and are taking part in learning experiences that are culturally sustaining and relevant, then they will be more likely to participate meaningfully in the learning process. While the process of implementing these lofty goals is very much a longterm strategy, we are already seeing great progress with our staff and students in attaining them. In our first grade classes, we have a team of teachers working in collaboration with our counselor and consultant teacher to implement a unit that supports students in social problem-solving. Already we are seeing students use the strategies they are learning to solve problems in class, in the halls, and at recess. The students are learning to work together as a community to support each other and deal with conflict respectfully. These are skills that will serve them well as learners in the future. In our seventh-grade language arts classes, students and parents were prompted to give their teacher feedback as to what current political issues they were interested in exploring. Out of this, developed an inquiry-driven, student-centered examination of DACA that allowed students to openly investigate from a variety of viewpoints a political issue that matters to them and their families. These are just two of many examples of the growth we are seeing in our school around supporting our students are learners. Principal - Nick Hayes
Opportunity K We are having a great start to our new year in Opportunity Kindergarten! With over 16 students our time together has just begun! The students are all very excited to be at school! We are learning all about daily routines in our classroom, working together, making new friends, and what it means to be a Kindergartner! Teacher– Alex John
Early Learning Measuring growth of our youngest students is a key component of a strong early learning initiative. We believe the assessment of learning must be authentic, developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, and tied to daily activities. Observation of the children engaged in self-directed learning is the ideal moment to assess a child’s understanding. Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers at B-ESD utilize an observational skills inventory titled TS Gold. TS Gold allows teachers to identify where students fall along a developmental continuum in multiple areas and provide teachers and parents a framework to support each child’s growth and development. By focusing on the developmental trajectories of the social-emotional, physical, cognitive, language, literacy, and mathematics domains we partner with our families to support each child through their own, individually paced development.
Burlington-Edison Resource Center We continue to build capacity with family engagement through innovative programming in our parent center. Our parents have become active volunteers in our schools, they attend academically based workshops, and they are learning about the benefits of enhancing communication between teachers, home, and school. We are committed to providing our families with valuable information from learning how attendance impacts student achievement to using Chromebooks to access resources in our community.Partnerships with our community agencies help to better serve our students' families as a whole. Enhancing the lines of communication between parents, educators, administrators, and students helps to create real partners in education! Both students and families and teachers feel supported for lifelong success. BERC Liaison—Luis Lopez
BERC