ANNOUNCEMENTS

FROM THE PRINCIPAL MS. DONOVAN

Dear Families,

Happy New Year! January is one of the busiest and most educationally important months of every school year. We examine carefully the growth and academic progress of all students through the gathering of data and reassessing. During the first week of February each grade meets with me, the reading teachers, and a variety of other support staff to discuss and plan for children we have concerns about. Our discussions are based on data gathered from reading assessments (DRA, weekly FUNDATIONs tests, etc.), math assessments (AMC, end of unit tests, quick checks, and daily work), and writing prompts and daily samples. DRA testing has begun for those students who have been receiving reading services as well as those students who are not progressing as much as we anticipated in the fall. The meetings in February are one way that we actively insure that our students’ needs will be met as they grow and develop throughout the school year.

In response to parent and teacher feedback concerning the parent orientation for incoming kindergarten parents, the district has decided to make some changes this year. There will be no town-wide Kindergarten Orientation meeting. Instead, informational meetings will be held at each individual school sometime in the early spring. Kindergarten Registration will also take place in each school in mid-to-late March. Parents of incoming Stratton and Thompson kindergarteners will be notified of the dates and times for these meetings within the next few weeks.

Finally, I want all families to know that during the month of January we will be having another lockdown practice. This time we will not be informed ahead of time and therefore cannot share the date and time with our students. We are telling children that it will happen just not when.

Sheri Donovan

 

 

FROM MRS. DALEY

As we enter another new calendar year it reminds me that we are just about half way through the school year already! It has been busy here at Stratton as you are all aware, and as we progress towards events and activities of the spring - Stratton will be bustling!

Before spring though we do have to get through the winter months, which bring their own challenges. We have been very fortunate with the mild weather up until now, but I am trying to prepare and be as proactive as possible with regard to transitioning in and out of the school at the beginning and end of the day. The drop-off and pick-up has been working quite well for most of the year, with some minor adjustments along the way, but I know that the likelihood of snow must be fast approaching! My friends who ski are so hopeful! As we think about this I would love to remind everyone about where they should be entering the building on the days that are very cold, rainy or snowy. In addition to this please be mindful of traffic flow, and be patient when buses are unloading or loading. The most important thing is the children’s safety.

Morning Drop-Off Procedures During Inclement Weather

Fifth Grade: Unless working a morning safety patrol post, please enter the building on Pheasant Avenue at the last door by the lower gym. Wait in the lower gym with Mrs. Shediac.


Fourth Grade: Please enter the building on Pheasant Avenue through the last door next to the lower gym. Wait in the lower gym with Mrs. Shediac.

Third Grade: Please enter the building on Pheasant Avenue through the last door next to the lower gym. Wait in the lower gym with Mrs. Shediac.

Second Grade STRATTON students: Please enter the building at the front through the doors opposite the cafeteria and head immediately to the large gym (Mr. Rufo’s gym). Mrs. Pratt or Ms. Donovan will be in there.

Second Grade THOMPSON students: You will be dismissed from the bus and should enter the kindergarten doors into the cafeteria. Ms. Dichter will be in there - please wait with your class.

First Grade STRATTON students: Please enter the building at the front through the doors opposite the cafeteria and head immediately to the large gym (Mr. Rufo’s gym). Mrs. Pratt or Ms. Donovan will be in there.

First Grade THOMPSON students: Children will be dismissed from the bus and should enter the kindergarten doors into the cafeteria. Ms. Dichter will be in there - please wait with your class.

Kindergarten THOMPSON students: Children will be met at the bus by kindergarten teaching assistants and brought to classrooms directly, entering through the kindergarten doors, NOT through the Gym.

Kindergarten STRATTON STUDENTS (EXCEPT Ms MARSH and Ms SWEENEY): Please enter through the kindergarten doors next to the circle, and head directly to the large gym and meet with your safety patrol leader. Mrs. Pratt or Ms. Donovan will be in the gym.

MS. SWEENEY and MS. MARSH STRATTON STUDENTS: Please enter through the front door and go directly to the classroom where you will be met by your safety patrol leader and teachers.

This plan may need modification again as we move forward but until further notice, please try to use all the suggested entrances. We would like to keep the workload as easy as possible for custodial staff and we would like to make getting to class as efficient as possible.

Please remember, if you have more than one child to drop off, and you need to drop them in one spot, it would be favorable to drop all children at the drop off point for the youngest child.


Late Arrival Procedure

In addition to this, there is a slight change being implemented in the morning for tracking those children arriving to school after the second bell at 8:15am. We have always had the policy that if you arrive late you enter the building through the main entrance and stop at the desk, where the secretary will issue a “pink late pass” which is then brought to the classroom teacher. The child is then marked “tardy” in Powerschool. Recently some children have been bypassing the main desk and not checking in, which means that we may not have an accurate record of who is in the building. In order to improve this procedure we are now requiring every child arriving after the second bell to sign in at the office with Mrs. Fischer or Mrs. Rose, and pick up their “late pass”. Please inform children that they must follow this procedure when they are late, so we can keep accurate records for the AlertNow system, and so parents do not receive unnecessary calls that their child is absent.

This is of utmost importance as the district is formally activating the AlertNow system within the next couple of weeks, and parents will be receiving notifications of their child’s absence through that system along with other important announcements.

Redistricting

Finally, many people have shown interest in the redistricting that is currently being worked upon in Arlington. As I have mentioned before, Chuck Hannon and I are the Stratton representatives on the Redistricting Committee, and we welcome your input with regard to the potential changes occurring.
I strongly advise you to familiarize yourself with the happenings by visiting the APS website and clicking on the “Redistricting Information” link. All of the information gets posted following our meetings and there are also draft maps available. I would like to caution you that the planning is still in the preliminary stages and much more work has to be done before we reach the final proposal.

As we get closer to a final district map there will opportunities to come to open meetings at the school to look more carefully at the impact on the Stratton community, so please watch for those announcements in the upcoming months.

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I am looking forward to a wonderful 2012 at Stratton, and if the past two weeks back are any indicator, things will exciting, challenging and rewarding!