Excellence does not come without a price!

November 29, 2014

Good evening!

It is a wonderful weekend with great food and a big Buckeye Victory over that team up north! I hope everyone had an opportunity to enjoy their time with their family and friends over this holiday weekend. I know my Fiancée and I had a wonderful weekend with her family and preparing for our soon to be big day!This weekend of thanks, did not go without noticing how blessed all of us at Columbia Elementary are to have the great students that we serve each and everyday.

As with life in general, the path towards excellence takes a lot of hard work and lots of effort, but I know that our students are up to that challenge and they will be successful! I want to take a moment and focus in on Grades 3-5.  I feel that it is important that we focus in on some data:

Specifically in the Third Grade we just received individual student scores back on the Fall Reading Ohio Achievement Assessment.  This is a state reading test that determines whether a student passes the third grade or not.  Third Grade Students will have two times to pass this State Reading Test during the course of the normal 14-15 School Year.  It is vital that our students practice their reading and math skills to do well in life and on these state tests.  Currently, we had 59% of the students already meet the requirements of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee by achieving a score of a 396 or above on this state reading test.  This means that we need 41% of the students in third grade to do substantially better in the spring.  The success of our students on these tests is a direct reflection of their hard work, effort, classwork, success on classroom tests, and involvement of both our teachers and their families.  It takes success on all of these different components for our students, your children, to be ready for the Fourth Grade.  A simple step to helping your children succeed would be setting time aside for them to read each night, and making sure that they are comprehending the material that they are reading.  It is also important that you make every effort with us to expand your child's  vocabulary that would be appropriate for that grade level.  Individual student score sheets will be sent home soon when the official student reports are received from the Ohio Department of Education.  We know that our students can achieve a 100% success rate on The Ohio Achievement Assessments and their classwork with their hard work and efforts!      

Each student in Grades 3-5 has been challenged on Study Island.  For those of you that don't know, Study Island is an online computer testing tool that we use here at Columbia Elementary to gage our students' understanding in English Language Arts and Math.  This understanding is based on material that they should know at the end of their grade level.  Each week, I receive a summary of how our students are performing in this program based on the week and the year.  This summary also outlines our students' strengths and challenged areas.  The challenge is that the first grade level to achieve an 80% average in English Language Arts and Math and at least maintain that 80% average for four straight weeks, I will buy the entire grade level pizza.  Currently, our third graders are in the lead with a 74% average in English Language Arts and Math.  This is a program that your child can access from home through our district website.  These students can achieve this challenge!

As you already know, our students in Kindergarten through Second Grades are the building blocks to our school of excellence! These students need to constantly strengthen their success on their high frequency words by practicing them on a daily basis.  If your child does not have a list of their high frequency words, be sure to contact your child's teacher to get a copy of one.  Their reading comprehension skills are also a key to their success at school and in life.  Be sure they take time each day to read and be able to express to you what they read.  If you need suggestions of what material would be on their reading level be sure to contact your child's teacher.  Lastly, be sure your child is practicing their basic math skills.  Without practicing their basic math skills now, it will dramatically impact their success rate in math in their future.  Just like building a house, the foundation of a child's education is vital to their success.  This success of your child, our student, comes from a collaborative team effort from our school and your family.

Interim Reports went out last Tuesday before Thanksgiving Break.  If you have not received one already be sure to check with your child and if they do not have it, feel free to contact us for another copy.  The big issue that I have seen looking through our students' grades are: missing homework, unsigned Reading Logs by their parents, and not completed work.  These are items that can snowball quickly and cause a student to go from doing well in a class to failing quickly.  Be sure to keep strong communication with your child's teacher and frequently access his/her grades on Progress Book (an online gradebook) to make sure your child does not fall into this trap. If you need more information, feel free to call our office at 740-393-5975 and we would be happy to help!

 
I wanted to conclude by keeping you informed on some upcoming events, which I want to make sure are on your calendar:

a) Secret Santa Shop-December 1st-5th during your child's Gym and Music Classes.
b)Grades 3-5 Christmas Concert-December 18th@9:30am-10:30am
c)Kdg-2nd Grade Christmas Concert-December 18th@1:30pm-2:30pm
d)Christmas Classroom Parties-December 19th@2:30pm


Please feel free to check out this week's morning announcements:
CLICK HERE

Just an FYI, there will not be a weekly blog between 12/5/14 and 12/15/14.  I will return with a closing one just before the Christmas Break.

Thank you again for all of your efforts to help lead our students to excellence!

Go Tigers!
Matt