Ms. Debbie Garrison
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Dear Parents,
Every year a Quality of Education Parent Survey is sent out to our parent community in the spring. Last year’s survey results are as follows: Percentage that agreed Statement or strongly agreed 1. My child is safe in school. 90.8% 2. My child’s school building is in good repair and has sufficient space to support quality education. 88.9% 3. My child’s school holds high expectations for academic achievement. 93.9% 4. School personnel encourage me to participate in my child’s education. 93.2% 5. The school offers adequate access to up-to-date computers & technologies. 80.4% 6. School staff maintains consistent discipline which is conducive to learning. 92.1% 7. My child has an adequate choice of school-sponsored extracurricular activities. 68.7% 8. My child’s teacher provides sufficient and appropriate information regarding his academic progress. 95.7% 9. The school staff employs various instructional methods & strategies to meet his needs. 88.3% 10. My child takes responsibility for his learning. 92.6% 11. I prefer this survey be available on-line through the internet. 46.4% 12. APS goals for high achievement, low dropout, and better business practices result in improvements that benefit education 69.3% 13. APS provides sufficient opportunity for parent engagement and communication. 84.6% 14. Over the last year I have seen improvements in my school that benefit my child. 71.2% 15. I support the board decision to make money flexible so schools and their communities can decide how to best use the funds. 87.7% .
Parents feel that Mitchell teachers provide sufficient information regarding student progress. They also believe that students are held to high expectations by the school. Many think they are encouraged to participate in their child’s education. Parents also appear pleased with the consistency of school discipline and feel it is conducive to learning. Parent perception is that our students take responsibility for their learning. A large majority is of the opinion that their children are safe at school.
Aside from the fact that our respondents preferred not to have the survey be available on-line, our lowest percentage score dealt with school-sponsored extracurricular activities. It is an area that we as a school have also felt we should augment. In addition, fewer parents feel they have seen school improvements in the past year that benefit their children. In fact, they appear to feel less sure that APS goals are benefiting education.
The results of this survey will provide useful data as our leadership team works to establish future goals and objectives for Mitchell Elementary. We have also kept the comments that were written in the survey by parents who wanted to include more specific information. Thank you for the time and effort you took to respond to the survey. We will put it to good use.
Raquel Reedy Principal
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November, 2008
Dear Parents,
Wow, the Fun Run was some fun! I so enjoyed spending time on the field with students and parents. I want to thank our amazing PTO for all of the hard work that went into the Fun Run. We did not raise as much money as we had hoped, so we may end up selling something later in the year. We will keep you posted.
I look forward to seeing everyone at our Literacy Luncheon on Wednesday, November 5th from 11:30 - 1:00. Each classroom will be celebrating literacy with presentations, puppet shows, coral readings, etc.
We look forward to welcoming our students’ family members to school during conference week, November 17th – 21st. Family members look forward to hearing the successes and challenges that face their child in the classroom. Teachers look forward to sharing anecdotes, data, and information about each child in their classroom.
The steps to ensuring a productive conference include the following:
· Review the parent friendly standards for your child’s grade so you know what content he/she will cover during the school year.
· Reflect upon how you and your child are managing homework time. Write down any questions you may have about classroom procedures or your child’s progress and bring them to the conference.
During the conference you should expect to:
· See samples of your child’s class work
· Review your child’s Standards Based Progress Report with the teacher.
· Discuss any concerns you or the teacher may have about your child’s academic progress, social skills development, or behavior.
· Celebrate the progress made by your child since August 12, 2008!!!
Conference time is valuable for all of the participants. We appreciate the time you set aside to come to school for your child and his/her teacher.
Since the beginning of the school all Mitchell students, grades K-5, have taken district assessments for math and/or reading. These tests have provided baseline data regarding student academic performance. These fall scores, along with scores from last spring, are used to determine if a student is at risk for not mastering the standards for their specific grade level. Students who do not achieve academic proficiency levels on district assessments are qualified for an Academic Improvement Plan (AIP).
The classroom teacher, together with the student’s parent(s), develops the initial AIP, at the fall parent-teacher conference. This written AIP must include:
· The specific academic deficiencies to be addressed through remediation
· The specific, research-based remediation strategies/ interventions to be applied
· Timelines
· Measurements (short cycle assessments) to be used to determine if the student is overcoming the deficiencies
· The academic expectations (performance criteria) to define what proficiency will look like
The classroom teacher is responsible for implementing the AIP and documenting student progress. Students will take the same assessments in the winter (January) and spring (April). If the student fails to make adequate yearly progress on these assessments, the Student Assistance Team (SAT) will meet with the classroom teacher and the parent to discuss student progress and other interventions, including summer school and retention.
If you would like further information regarding the assessments, please speak to your child’s teacher or call the office.
Happy Fall!
Debbie Garrison
Principal
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ALBUQUERQUE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Winston Brooks
FOOD and NUTRITON
SERVICES
SUPERINTENDENT
Expect Great Things!
Mary L. Swift, RD, LD, SNS
DIRECTOR
Dear APS Parents;
The APS school board has approved a new charging policy for students. Starting January 5th, there will be a change in the number of meals students may charge at all of Albuquerque Public Schools Cafeterias. Students may charge up to ten meals at elementary schools, five meals at Middle Schools and two meals at High Schools. Once the charging limit is met students will be offered an alternate meal consisting of a cheese sandwich and a beverage.
Parents who do not qualify for subsidized meals are responsible for providing either a meal or the money to pay for a meal for their student. Parents who qualify for reduced meals are responsible for providing money to pay for their portion of the reduced priced meal.
Parents are responsible for meal charges up to ten days from the time the application for free or reduced meals is received by Food and Nutrition Services.
If you have any questions regarding the number of meals your student has charged please call your schools cafeteria manager.
If you would like to read the entire policy and procedure they can be located at http://www.apsfacilities.org/nutrition/downloads.php. Thank you for your cooperation.
720 Rankin Road NE, Albuquerque, NM 87107 505.345.5661
CELEBRATE THE 8 ESSENTIAL GOALS
TOWARD BETTER EDUCATION FOR THE ALBUQUERQUE COMMUNITY
Top Educational Goals for Albuquerque Public Schools
Presented by APS Superintendent Winston Brooks and APS Board of Education members: President Mary Lee Martin, Vice President Berna Facio, Secretary Dolores Griego, Jon Barela, Martin Esquivel, Robert Lucero and Paula Maes.
Goal 1: Develop and implement a 3-year academic plan (2008/2009 – 2010/2011).
Goal 2: Develop and implement a plan to change the perception and build confidence of Albuquerque Public Schools.
Goal 3: Develop and implement a comprehensive internal and external communication plan with an evaluation component that involves the community.
Goal 4: Provide facilitated training by nationally known experts for the Board of Education to focus on the role and responsibilities of effective school boards and superintendents. The training will assist and focus the Board of Education and district staff on raising student achievement and creating a more “student focused” organization.
Goal 5: Review, evaluate, enhance and publicize plans to upgrade and maintain facilities to support and enhance student achievement.
Goal 6: Review, modify and maintain a transparent, sound and effective financial stewardship with clearly defined, consistent and well documented processes throughout the district.
Goal 7: Study, modify and recommend a plan to transition APS from a site-based management to district-based management for equitable distribution of resources.
Goal 8: Review, evaluate, modify and enhance the school and district crisis plans, to include safety and prevention plans.
Why We Have Professional Development and In-service Days
The reality of teaching children is that it takes a lot of work! The business of education is effective learning … not only for children but for teachers as well. When teaching methods and techniques remain static and current research is not addressed, teaching and learning become less effective. Educators need more time than just a few minutes a day to address issues about their work and discuss researched-based teaching and learning practices. Teachers need time to learn about new methods and apply those methods, so that student learning is improved.
The NM Public Education Department requires all elementary students be in school for 995.5 hours a year. Currently Mitchell students spend more than 995.5 hours a year in school. The staff here at Mitchell prides itself in that, alone with significant parent help and a lot of student work, our school prepares students very well. Our staff development and in-service days are important in order to continue the work we do with students. We are aware of the fact that families sometime have to scramble for child care and it may seem that kids are out of school when they should be in school. You can be assured that the time we spend in collaboration (Wednesday afternoons) and professional development (in-service days) works to improve our educational practices.
As we are in the second year of our math adoption, Everyday Math, one in-service day will focus on math. We are also preparing for reading adoption next year, so the others will focus on literacy and strategies for teaching reading.
Our in-service dates for the school year will be:
Friday, October 17th – Eldorado Cluster In-service
Tuesday, January 13th – Eldorado Cluster In-service
Thursday, April 24th – District wide in-service
TARDIES
Please work to get your child to school on time. Did you know that every day more than 20 kids are late to class? Did you know that last year more than 2% of our students were habitually late? Let’s work together to improve that statistic. Make sure your child arrives on campus with enough time to get to class by 8:58 a.m. Thanks!