Aspen Updates March 2, 2018

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BOOK FAIR

The Grand Prize winning classroom in our Change Wars fundraiser was Ms. Wolfson’s 4th grade!  Way to go!  We are happy to report that Aspen collected over $540.00, mostly in change.  That not only benefits our school, but it also benefits children in need. Every dollar raised equals 1 Scholastic book donated to a children’s charity, and all the money our school raises goes towards books for our classrooms.   Thanks, again, for supporting our students in this way!

PARCC TESTING IS COMING

PARCC testing begins on March 7th and will continue until April 20th.  PARCC, which is the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is an online assessment of English Language Arts and Math, much like the previous ISAT test which Illinois no longer administers.  We consider these assessments as an “educational GPS system”, assessing students’ current performance, and pointing the way to what students need to learn to be ready for the next grade level and, by high school graduation, for college and/or a career.  These assessments are designed to give schools and teachers more information to improve instruction as well as let parents know how their child is progressing academically.

We are asking for your help in preparing your students in the following ways:

  • Please make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and comes to school well-rested for the assessments.
  • A healthy breakfast would also benefit your child and has been proven to help students achieve higher academic success.
  • Please be sure and let us know if your student will be leaving earlier than the regular dismissal times.  We will not start their assessment in that case.  It will need to be made up at another time, taking away from other instructional times.
  • If your child is sick, please do not send him/her to school!  We have built-in make up days for those students who miss a test due to illness.  Sniffling, sneezing, coughing, etc. all serve as distractions for those taking the assessments.

Thank you for helping us make PARCC testing a positive experience for your students.  We look forward to seeing the growth of your students when the data arrives next fall.