Principal's Message 1/26/09

ELA SHOUT OUT

First and foremost, I would like to thank the ELA teachers, sixth grade teachers, Ms. Palermo, and all other teachers who supported the preparation for the ELA exam. The feedback from the students was extremely positive. It was great to see the students nervous on Wednesday, it was the evidence I needed to see that they cared. I knew they cared but it was good to see that they were willing to share it.

HOW ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION!

I also want to take time to thank Mr. Rej and the grade teams for doing an incredible job arranging for the viewing of the Inauguration of our new president. The high school students were jealous that they did not have anything organized. I think we would have deeply regretted not doing anything for our students on that day. They deserved to see the incredible historical moment. Most presidential speeches have been over 30 minutes. President Obama only occupied 18 minutes of the hour and a half we allocated for the celebration. Thank you to everyone for their flexibility in rearranging our day so that chaos did not slip its fingers into our school. Overall, it was a great success. The students felt like they were a part of something incredible. I appreciated that we were able to share the moment with them.

NEXT STEPS

As the sands travel through the hour glass, so do the days of testing….To finish one test only means beginning preparation for the next one. The time should start immediately. The math teachers have been working diligently to reserve as much time as possible to review before the test. Just like last year, administrators, staff, and teachers will be pushing into classrooms to provide extra support for teachers and struggling students. As usual, we will be rebuilding the students’ confidence and reminding them that they are more than capable of doing well in math.

The important steps we need to do as a school is to assess what our students know and expose them as much as possible to what they have forgotten or never really picked up in the first place. Some things that come to mind in various grades are the concept of a fraction, finding percent of a number, calculating a discount on an item, plugging numbers into formulas, understanding the concept of a variable, and/or, most urgent, our approach to open ended questions. We still face the same problem of students not reading the entire question and either skipping the problem all together or barely answering what is needed from them. We need to find out what support our students specifically need so we can help each one of them reach proficiency.

We have 26 schools days to help our students reach level 3 or 4 on their exams. We have 5 Saturdays also to get as many students as possible signed up so we can support them even more. The more students we recruit and expose to the strategies offered and the concepts and skills associated with their exam, the more successful they will be. So what do we need from you if you do not teach math? We need your help in recruiting students for the Saturday Academy. We need your support in reminding the students each day in school is at least one more question right on the exam. So please continue to push the importance of attending each of the 26th school days before the test. Anything that can be done within the 37.5 minutes to help the students prepare for the test would be greatly appreciated. Finally, any time you can include a problem or more during your class is also welcomed. If you need suggestions, do not hesitate to ask Ms. Iorizzo. She is extremely helpful.

Thank you for your anticipated support. Keep up the great work.

ATTENDANCE FOR THE WEEK

Monday: No School
Tuesday: 88%
Wednesday: 97% Record Attendance
Thursday: 98%
Friday: 92%

Birthdays:

Ravi Seeram January 5th
Gabriela Vargas January 15th
Esther DeJesus February 22nd
Sheryl-Ann Mayers February 24th
Phil Williamson February 24th

Quote of the Week

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.”
---Barack Obama