April 15th, 2019

Monday Notes 4.15.19

*******************NEWS**********************

GMAS  

GMAS testing for 3rd and 5th grade begins TODAY!!! Below are a few friendly reminders! 

Testing will begin for small groups at 8:00 and homerooms will begin at 8:15. Please be as quiet as possible in the hallways during transitions. 

Buddy Bucks store will be closed this week for testing. 

Administration will be assisting with testing so please only call for administrators if there is a true emergency or immediate office referral. We will assist as soon as possible. 

Devices and Internet: Please do NOT have your students on devices during testing. We would like all students off the internet until the announcement is made that testing is over. This even includes computers with a blue cord. (Time frame probably 8:00 am-11:00 am) 

Please turn off your phone’s access to the school’s WIFI. 

Please refrain from using email during the testing period (approximately 8:00 am-10:00 am)

Recess: Please refrain from going out to recess until AN EMAIL IS SENT saying that it’s all clear. We can’t make an overhead announcement since small groups might still be testing but an email will be sent. You may check your emails after 10:00 am.  We are trying to get everyone out in a timely manner so that all grade levels are not outside at the same time. 

Volunteers: please remember we will not have volunteers during the 8:00-11:00 time frame. Parents are welcome to eat with their children during lunch if requested (PreK-5th) 

Announcements: An announcement will be made at 8:00 am to begin testing for small groups. 3rd and 5th grade homerooms will begin at 8:15 am. There will not be an announcement for the 8:15 am start time. An announcement will also be made once all of testing is complete. 

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iReady Diagnostic Testing

Beginning today, all Kindergarten and 1st graders will take the iReady Math End of Year Diagnostic. Testing will be conducted in the computer lab during the following time slots:

Kindergarten 11:30 am-1:00 pm

1st grade 1:00 pm-2:30 pm

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Advanced/Acceleration Placement for 2019-2020

Testing for students to be placed in Advanced Reading/Math or Accelerated Reading/Math will begin today. The process for Advanced/Accelerated testing is as follows: 

Math

• All students K-5 will take iReady aMath Diagnostic April 15th - May 3rd 
• Students who score 90% or higher on the Diagnostic will be considered for Advanced Placement Testing (if they are currently on level) or Accelerated Placement Testing (if they are currently advanced level) 
• Long will be testing all students who qualify and will communicate to you as she is testing students
• Students who are currently Advanced or Accelerated in Math do NOT have to retake the test to remain on that level for next year. 

 Reading/ELA

• Students who are currently Advanced or Accelerated in Reading do NOT have to retake the test to remain on that level for next year. 
• Students who meet the following criteria will be tested for Acceleration by Hess: student's F and P level is accelerated, scored a 90% or higher on Fastbridge aReading, and are a year above in writing. 
• Accelerated placement testing will occur April 15th - May 3rd
• There will not be advanced placement testing  
• Letters will be sent to parents notifying them if their child took the Acceleration placment test and the results from that assessment. Letters will be sent out May 13th-May 20th. 

The following information will be communicated with parents as well. If a parent asks about Advanced or Acceleration testing, please communicate our process. If you have questions, please seek out Hess or Long before responding to the parent so there is consistent messaging. 

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PKES

PKES employees: please complete your Self-Assessment between now and April 30th. All PKES summative assessments will be completed in May and conferences will be scheduled if needed. For questions, please see Pitchford or DiBartolo. 

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PBIS Corner

Monthly Focus: Recess

The focus this month will be recess since the playgrounds are being renovated and we have a smaller area to play. This could potentially cause students to disagree more because they are not sure what to do or where to go. The students would benefit from increased teacher supervision. 

The carpool area will also be available for the remainder of the year in order to give classes more space. 

The PBIS team also encourages you send the message below to your parents through whatever platform you use (Class Dojo, Remind, Seesaw…)

Construction on High Point Elementary’ s new playgrounds has begun! While we are extremely excited about this, we will unfortunately be without playgrounds for a while. Students will still have recess with abundant field space, but we would love to have some play equipment to help them enjoy recess more. Our classroom would appreciate any donations of balls, jump ropes, side walk chalk, hula hoops, etc. that you could provide.

Thanks in advance for helping our students enjoy the nice, spring weather!

April Incentive: “Buggin Out” PBIS Party on April 26th – It will be a spring crafts party. Students can purchase tickets at the Buddy Bucks store.

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Girls on the Run Needs Your Help!

What: Girls on the Run – High Point is looking for two energetic ladies who want to join our coaching team for the 2019-2020 school year.

When: GOTR sessions are Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:45 to 4:15. Coaches only coach one day a week.

Why: Because this program rocks and teaches our girls, grades 3-5 about dealing with peer pressure, anxiety, making healthy choices, and how to let their star power shine!

If you have any questions or are interested in coaching please email Jennifer Silverman – silvermanj@fultonschools.org

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HPES 1st Annual Cornhole Tournament

“Boss of the Toss”

It’s time for some good ole fashion competition between staff. Throughout the next few weeks we will hold a cornhole tournament. Ms. Bearden will put together a bracket for teams to compete in cornhole matches near the playground with the championship being played the week of field day.

If you would like to participate in this fun-filled event, please sign up in the front office by the mailboxes. Fill out your team name and team members (2 person teams). Deadline to sign up is this Friday April 19th.

Ms. Bearden will have more details after everyone has signed up and the brackets have been created. Rules will be provided as well as PRIZES!! Below is how the tournament is structured:

Teams will have one week to get together with their opponent to set up a day and time to play. Both teams must agree before the game starts if you want to play one game or play best out of 3. If you play best out of 3, you only play to 11 for each game (this is to reduce the time so more games can be played on the boards). This is only the case until we get to the Elite Eight, then all matches will be best out of 3 and will be played to 21. You will mark the winner on the bracket in the office.

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KSU Update

Schedule: I am supporting High Point virtually on Tuesday 4/16, Thursday 4/18 and Friday 4/19.

Notes: After testing is complete for the day, encourage students to be engaged in the review process by allowing them to create their own quizzes on Forms. Try assigning unit topics to groups and allow students to collaborate on the best questions to ask. They can then post their Forms on Google Classroom for the peers to complete!

Highlights: As the end of the approaches, check out these ideas from Matt Miller's blog - Ditch That Textbook - http://ditchthattextbook.com/2019/04/03/10-ideas-for-digital-end-of-semester-final-projects/. He shares 10 ideas for digital end-of-semester projects!

*************CALENDAR OF EVENTS**********

Monday, April 15th

GMAS Testing for 3rd and 5th Begin

Tuesday, April 16th


Wednesday, April 17th 
Kindergarten Field Trip
Girls on the Run Mock 5K

Thursday, April 18th
2:55 - PLCs

Friday, April 19th 
Good Friday

*****************BIRTHDAYS! ******************

Happy belated birthday to Anthony Johnson TODAY!!! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!!