Update 10/30/14

The Title 1 in class math tutors are hired. We are pleased to welcome 3 staff members to our staff - Sandy Emery, Alyson Ritondo, and Sue D'Ambrosio.

Sandy Emery has been a member of the Joshua Eaton family since last year and we are happily extending her hours of employment. Sandy will continue to work with the teachers in grades 3, 4, and 5. She is a certified elementary teacher with a Master's Degree along with16 years of teaching experience in the Everett Public Schools. She took time off to raise her family and is happy to be back in the teaching world.

Sue D'Ambrosio is a certified elementary teacher with 7 years of experience in the Lexington Public Schools. Sue took time to raise her 2 boys and last year Sue worked at Wood End as the Title 1math tutor for grades K-3. Sue will continue a similar role here at Joshua Eaton.

Alyson Ritondo may be a familiar name for some Eaton families as she worked with Mrs. Ingemi as a para in her kindergarten class. Alyson is a certified teacher and has taught grades 4 and 5 in the Newton Public schools. Alyson's passion is teaching the upper elementary grades, especially in the area of math. She will be working with students in grade 4 and 5.

We are confident that with the support of these 3 ladies we will be able to support the students of the Joshua Eaton Elementary.


SAVE THE DATES!! We have developed a schedule that will outline the steps in our school improvement plan. It is important to recognize that some steps and timelines are in line with the support and guidance of DSAC.

· Week of November 3rd a link to a DSAC survey will be sent to parents. This comprehensive survey may be up to 130 questions. It will look for parent feedback on a wide variety of areas of our school.

· Thursday November 13th Parent Math night for families in Grades 3, 4, and 5. Teachers will provide parents with the opportunity to be part of a grade level math lesson. More information will follow.

· Week of November 17th a presentation of the survey results and a World Café will be hosted at Joshua Eaton. This date will be confirmed.

 

The SAC committee met on Monday and began reviewing the School Improvement plan. We will be having an additional meeting to continue reviewing this document. We will inform families of this meeting as they are Open Meetings.

Some Parents have asked about links to information about the PARCC assessment. Below are a few links that provide more information about the assessment and also some sample questions.
http://www.parcconline.org/ 

http://parccgames.com/

 

http://www.parcconline.org/computer-based-samples 

Halloween Howl was a Spook-tacular event

The PTO once again did an amazing job with the Halloween Howl. Thank you to everyone who attended. 

update 10/23

We have immediately begun not only to address the MCAS accountability issue—but also to take the opportunity to reassess and revitalize our entire school community in a positive and comprehensive way.  Using our School Council as the foundational structure, we will be establishing a School Improvement Task Force that will include staff, parents, community members, and students.  As part of this effort, we will be soliciting input from all school stakeholders on all key areas of the school, and we will also be establishing an official Eaton School Council Facebook site, Blog, and Twitter account to keep all stakeholders informed, to receive questions or concerns, and to provide a forum for discussion and increased communication as we move forward.  As this group steers the overall direction and strategies in the weeks and months ahead, we are also moving forward with some immediate action steps, including meeting with the Northeast DEASC team for additional resources to support the change process, implementing our Math and Writing programs to fidelity, bringing in a Math coach to continue working with the staff, adding additional classroom supports during the school day, offering no-cost before/after school tutoring opportunities for students who may be struggling, and expanding our multi-tiered system of supports in all grades.  As we work to address some of the academic or curriculum areas that the recent MCAS data brought to our attention, we are also eager to take this as an opportunity to review all areas that either directly or indirectly can impact the overall success of a school.  We have an excellent faculty, wonderful students, and a committed community—and our goal is to renew our vision in a way that makes everyone proud. 

On Monday October 20th I presented to the School Committee about how the MTSS (Massachusetts Tiered Systems of Support) will help support the students of Joshua Eaton with their social /emotional and academic success. The MTSS process will also help to identify students that may require interventions to better understand concepts and skills. Some of the interventions that are implemented will be: reading support from the reading specialist, additional time in school to use Lexia to develop stronger phonics skills, use of the title I tutors to focus on math and writing skills, frequent body breaks for students, additional practice with the teacher and/or para educator to reinforce skills, and the use of on-line sites to provide additional practice time on skills (both reading and math).  The PowerPoint can be found on edline.

Some Joshua Eaton parents also attended School Committee meeting and took the opportunity during public input to share their concerns in regards to the level 3 status. Helpful ideas and suggestions were made.

 On October 21st Dr. Doherty, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Wilson and I met with the DESAC to identify steps to implement phase 2 of the action plan. With their support we are developing a survey for parents. Mr. Martin and I will finalize the survey.

 A Joshua Eaton Facebook page has been created. You can like us on Facebook by searching Joshua Eaton School Council. Information from the blog will be posted there. Also we have our Tweeter account @joshuaeatonschl We are hopeful that these forms of communication will help families be informed of our steps in moving forward.

Update 10/17

On Tuesday (10/21) Ms. Feeney, Dr. Doherty, Mr. Martin and Mrs. Wilson will be meeting with the DESE District and School Assessment Center also known as DSAC. At this meeting we will develop our timeline for the Accelerated Improvement Plan. The staff has completed the Self-Assessment tool and we are analyzing the data. This is Phase 1 of the plan. Meeting with the DSAC will begin phase 2. There are 5 phases in the process. Here is the link the DSAC website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/sss/dsac/ 

Update 10/15

Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting last week. It was wonderful to have such a large turn out. With parents who are committed to helping be part of the solution the students of Joshua Eaton will certainly benefit. 

I ask that families use this blog as their tool for updates and information in regards to the steps that are being taken with the process. As mentioned the other night please contact me with questions and or concerns. Having one central location for information will reduce misinformation being communicated.

On October 14th the teachers had a busy day of meetings with grade level colleagues from the Reading district. In the morning teachers worked in grade level teams on the conferencing form that will be shared with families in November. They also had time to discuss the pacing of the math program. The conversations were helpful and productive. Also in the morning 7 Joshua Eaton teachers went to visit schools in Topsfield and Boxford to see the Math in Focus program being used. They had the opportunity to talk with staffs that have been using the program longer than us and hear strategies for implementation. In the afternoon our teachers reported back to Joshua Eaton. Together with Dr. Doherty we began looking at the self assessment tool that is required by the state to be filled out. Again this was an other opportunity for teachers to have open conversations about sharing best practices and identifying ways we can improve teaching and learning for all students. 

Next week Mrs. Ockerbloom and I will conduct interviews for the Title 1 tutor position. We will have an update on the interviews by the end of next week. 

Picture Day 10/7/14

Just a reminder that picture day is tomorrow 10/7/14. Bring your best smile! 😀