Clinton Township Newsletter, Clinton New Jersey, May 2013 Issue
Issue link: https://siegelphotography.uberflip.com/i/943914
1 6 M a r c h 2 0 1 8 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com C L I N T O N T O W N S H I P S C H O O L N E W S www.ctsdnj.org I N O U R S C H O O L S : Spruce Run School Olympic Spirit: This past February, classes at Spruce Run School caught the Olympic spirit and learned about the Winter Olympics during physical education classes. Students also participated in different Olympic events, minus the snow and ice, in our very own SRS gym. From speed skating on paper plates to two-man bobsled on roller scooters, the students learned about courage, strength, determination and good sportsmanship. Our students had a wonderful Olympic experience. Read Across America: At Spruce Run School, we focus upon learning to read and developing a love for reading! The month of March brings a special view on reading in our school as w e c e l e b r a t e D r . Seuss's birthday, and our students engage in special s p i r i t d a y s a n d r e a d i n g a c t i v i t i e s during "Read Across America" week! During our special Spirit Days t h r o u g h o u t t h e week of February 26, students celebrated a different Dr. Seuss book each day. This reading celebration was started in February with a very special visit from the Cat in the Hat. LET'S READ! Patrick McGaheran School Spreading Kindness: Did you know that February 11-17 was Random Acts of Kindness Week? At Patrick McGaheran, the Word of the Month for February is Kindness and students and staff were busy planning ways that they can spread smiles and laughter. At the All-School Morning Meeting on February 1, students viewed two videos to help inspire them with ideas of ways to be kind. One video featured township maintenance workers shoveling a path for an elderly gentleman to visit a park in memory of his late wife. The other video showed a girl helping a blind stranger hail a cab. The focus was on acts of kindness rather than gifts involving money. Students then brainstormed and shared ideas for ways that they plan to make someone's day during the month of February. Classrooms continued to participate in activities to promote and share kindness throughout the month and kindness awards were given out at the month's end. Community of Artists: Patrick McGaheran students will be working on a very special project this spring. The Clinton Township Foundation for Educational Excellence recently awarded our school with a grant, enabling an artist in residence to work with our students. This May Dan Fenelon will be working with all of our students to create a large mural in the cafeteria. We are very excited about this project, and we will share updates and photos later in the year. Round Valley School In science, students in 4th grade created their own devices that transferred energy. The students worked together with their group members to create a device and poster. The posters included a diagram of their devices, an explanation of how their devices transferred energy, along with a listing of what materials they used. Students in 5th grade are learning how to read non-fiction text closely by studying text structures. They are comparing and contrasting the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/ effect, and problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, and information in texts. After analyzing different texts, students created posters to teach others about these text structures. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.5: World Cultures Club held a Mexican hot chocolate fundraiser, and it was a great success! The hot chocolate was made, packaged and delivered by the 6th grade World Cultures Club members. They were able to donate $125 to Direct Relief for the victims of the Hurricane in Puerto Rico and the earthquake in Mexico. Sixth Grade physical education classes organized and ran a volleyball tournament. At the end, there was a championship where four top teams competed in a playoff in front of the entire 6th grade. Once a winner was crowned, that 6th A L e t t e r f r o m Pamela C. Fiander, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools Last spring marked the third administration of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the second opportunity to compare year-to-year results. CTSD students took PARCC English Language Arts and Literacy Assessments (ELA) in grades 3-8, PARCC Mathematics A s s e s s m e n t s i n grades 3-8, and End of Course Assessments i n A l g e b r a I a n d G e o m e t r y . E i g h t s t a t e s a n d t h e District of Columbia participated in the Spring 2017 PARCC administration. PARCC performance levels are organized into five categories, and NJ considers Levels 4 and 5 passing: • Level 1: Not yet meeting grade-level expectations • Level 2: Partially meeting grade-level expectations • Level 3: Approaching grade-level expectations • Level 4: Meeting grade-level expectations • Level 5: Exceeding grade-level expectations While Clinton Township School District students continue to perform above state standards, this data helps to inform curricular decision making in affirming our choice for Readers and Writers Workshop instruction, linking to standards, re-working the scope and sequence of math units, focusing on math fact automaticity and assessments, and improving efficacy of instruction through: ● Evidence Statement Analysis ❍ Grade and Team Level Meetings ● Instructional Strategies ❍ Cooperative Learning, Problem Based Learning ❍ Technology Infused Curricula ● Assessment Strategies ❍ Performance based ❍ F o r m a t i v e & s u m m a t i v e assessment review and training ● Articulation ❍ H o r i z o n t a l a n d v e r t i c a l articulation (meet with the common grade level, and also grades above and below) PARCC Spring 2018 Administration Dates are set for April 16 through May 25, 2018. For more information, go to: http://ctsdnj.org/resources/ parent_resources/p_a_r_c_c/. – Pamela C. Fiander, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools Dear Clinton Township Community Members: P A r C C P r e S e N T A T I O N T O T H e C T S d b O A r d O F e d U C A T I O N