Family Newsletter Friday, February 16, 2024

Dear Goodwater Families

Hope this note finds you and your families well.

We have had a busy week. The school has been working on getting additional data from the students to assist in modifying and enhancing student learning. The students have been taking the middle-of-the-year Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments in Reading and Math. This assessment compares the results from the beginning of the year assessment to see the growth of our students. It also provides the guides with information on where the areas of opportunity for continued growth should be focused. These results will be provided to parents by each guide. For additional information please visit the following website: https://www.nwea.org/blog/2021/12-common-questions-parents-ask-map-growth-assessment/.

We will be doing the second nine-week TEKS check-in next week. This is to determine whether a student needs additional support in areas of study for both Reading and Math during this nine-week learning time frame. For grades three through eight, these check-ins consist of 20 questions in Reading and Math. These are done on the computer so the students practice their strategies in preparation for the STAAR assessment later this year. We also do these check-ins for fifth and eighth-grade students in Science, as well as for eighth-grade Social Studies.

Just a reminder that Monday, February 19, 2024, there is no school to celebrate President’s Day. On Tuesday, February 20, 2024, there is no school for students as the Guides will be doing Progress Conferences with Parents/Caregivers, and assistants will be doing professional development. Students will return to school on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at the regular time. I do want to remind everyone that drop-off in the morning begins at 7:40 am and students are tardy after 7:55 am. The gate is closed at 7:56 am and all parents must park and escort their student(s) to the main entrance and sign the student(s) in at the front office window.

Thank you for supporting RAISE CRAZE. The students have completed many acts of kindness so far. It is great to see how students are demonstrating “acts of kindness.” Please continue to support RAISE CRAZE. Hope to see you all at the family dance tonight. 6 – 8:30 pm.

Thank you to all of our families who provided treats for the students as they celebrated Valentine’s Day on Wednesday. We also want to thank our Volunteers who came and assisted in the communities. The students did artwork, made cards, and came to school with “wild hair” and crazy socks. We also want to thank our PTO for providing refreshments to staff. Below are a few pictures of the day.

Kindest Regards

Dr. Bruce

Presidents Day- February 19th, 2024

Question: “Are there instructional resources for Presidents of the United States who were from Texas?”

Three United States Presidents called the state of Texas home, Lyndon B. Johnson, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Texas is the only state to have three presidential libraries.  A presidential library preserves history, facilitates research and education, and contributes to the community through public programs and special events. The LBJ Presidential Library is located at The University of Texas in Austin, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located at Texas A&M University in College Station, and the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Each of the presidential libraries has instructional resources you can access through their websites.

We’d love to see the kind things your students are doing! Please send all photos to raisecraze@goodwatermontessori.org  Still haven’t registered for Raise Craze? There’s still time! Oh and don’t forget to log those AOKS! 

NOT REGISTERED YET? REGISTER HERE:  https://my.raisecraze.com/A4XJ2CN/

Prefer to donate via check or cash? Make the check payable to Goodwater Montessori and include the student’s name and community in the memo field!

WEEKEND CHALLENGE: 

1. THE TOP 5 STUDENTS WHO HAVE THE MOST ACTS OF KINDNESS BY 8 AM ON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 21 WILL WIN TEA AND COOKIES WITH THE OFFICE TEAM ON MARCH 1st! 
2. THE TOP 5 STUDENTS WHO LEAD THE CHARGE IN DONATIONS BY WEDNESDAY 8 AM. FEBRUARY 21 WILL GET TO HAVE LUNCH IN THE ORCHARD WITH MS. KATY & MS. ALICIA

Congratulations to the Sassafras community for triumphing in the State Challenge, reaching all 50 states through hard work and dedication!

2nd Nine Week Assessments

To help our students prepare for STAAR assessments and to monitor progress in TEKS mastery, students will take their second 9-week assessments on February 21 – 23 (math) and February 27 – 29 (RLA). These short, online assessments are STAAR formatted and based on the TEKS that have been taught to students over the second nine-week period.

Information About STAAR

STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) is the state’s testing program. It is based on state curriculum standards (TEKS, which are the “Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills”) in core subjects including RLA (Reading Language Arts), mathematics, science, and social studies. STAAR tests are designed to measure students’ learning and readiness for the next grade. The goal is to ensure that all students receive what they need to be academically successful. Meeting these individual student needs depends greatly on our school, parents, and community members working together.  

Students begin taking RLA and math assessments at the end of the 3rd grade. Grades 3-8 take RLA and Math Assessments. In addition to RLA and Math, grade five also takes a Science Assessment. Grade 8 students also take Science and Social Studies Assessments. All of the assessments are administered online using a secure testing browser.  

To help your child be successful on these assessments, we have put together the following list of website links that contain resources and information related to STAAR. If you have any specific questions or concerns, please email our testing coordinator at  roberta.givens@goodwatermontessori.org

Important Links:

For general information about the state assessment program, including access to the parent portal and practice tests: https://www.texasassessment.gov/families.html

For information about what is assessed on each test (blueprints and assessed curriculum):https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-resources#G_Assessments

To access released tests (previously administered tests):https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-released-test-questions

To view a video on how to help your child prepare for STAAR:https://www.texasassessment.gov/staar-prepare

All of the above information and more is just a few clicks away at www.texasassessment.gov

To help students with keyboarding on the computer there is a free software application called typing.com.

Important Registration Information

The intent to return Google doc will go out to all currently enrolled students’ parent’s email addresses next week, starting on February 20, 2024. PLEASE check your inbox for a Google survey from Kim.Hodges@goodwatermontessori.org next week to make sure that you are able to respond with your family’s plans for the 2024-2025 school year. It is imperative that we have an answer from you so that we can plan accordingly for staffing for the upcoming year. The survey will be due to GMS on March 8, 2024. If you have any questions, please email me at registrar@goodwatermontessori.org. Have a lovely long weekend! Take care.

~ KIM

ATTENDANCE

Please email attendance@goodwatermontessori.org every day that your student(s) are not in school so that I can excuse the absence. If I only hear from you for one day during the week, yet they miss the entire week, I will only know to excuse them for the day that I had the email. I do not know to go back and check the rest of the week unless I receive a doctor’s note upon their return to school. We have MANY unexcused absences this year and I believe that they could be corrected to excused absences with simple communication from the family. We will be contacting families this week and next to hold attendance committee meetings for those who have more than 10 unexcused absences for the school year. If you have any questions, please contact me. I hope your family has a wonderful weekend.

~ KIM

National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Update

In order to serve our families better and ensure that our students have meals for breakfast and lunch, please order the meals for your children by the order deadline. If you are unable to meet the deadline, please plan to send your child with breakfast and/or lunch.  Here are the deadlines for February and March.

2/21 – 2/23 Deadline has passed. Please send meals if you did not place an order.

2/26 – 3/1 Deadline has passed. Please send meals if you did not place an order.

3/4 – 3/8 Deadline is Thursday, 2/22, at 11 p.m.

3/18 – 3/22 Deadline is Thursday 2/29, at 11 p.m.

3/25 – 3/29 Deadline is Thursday, 3/7, at 11 p.m.

You can order meals for the entire month once the menu is posted in My Meal Order.  This ensures that your child will have meals and his or her name will be on the meal rosters. If you have any questions, please email schoolmeals@goodwatermontessori.org

Upcoming Important Dates

Black History Month	February
President’s Day, No School	Monday, February 19, 2024
Family/ Teacher Conference Day Professional Development ALL STAFF WORK DAY	Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Board Meeting, Georgetown Public Library	Tuesday, February 27, 6:30 pm
Spring Break, No School	March 11-15

Have a wonderful weekend!

~GMS