Monte Sano Elementary School

Motivating Students to Excel and Succeed

Huntsville City Schools is excited to take the next step in Standards-Based reporting during the school year. Grades will join K - 2 in this “best-practice” of 21st century education.

What is Standards-Based Grading? Standards-Based Grading (SBG) is a system of reporting student proficiency in a number of specific learning goals (or standards).

What is the purpose of Standards-Based grading? The purpose of SBG is to improve student achievement by focusing instruction and the alignment of curriculum with the essential standards. Standards-based grading and reporting provides better communication to students, parents, teachers and administrators on what each student knows and is able to do according to the identified standards.

The Reporting Scale Reporting ScaleMastery Level 4Exceeding Standards (working above grade level) 3Meeting Standards (I know the standard and I can explain it) 2Approaching Standards (I almost understand the standard) 1Not Meeting Standards NA/- Not evaluated at this Time

Monte Sano has been selected by HCS for the

What is BRSE Blueprint for Excellence? BRSE is designed to be a positive school improvement process that covers nine major categories of critical performance elements found in excellent schools.

Over 150+ Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools Across the United States & Turkey

Important Dates for MSE  Blue Ribbon Online Assessment opens Tuesday, August 12 th and ends Friday, September 12th.  The community will be informed about the assessment at Open House.  Parents will begin assessments on August 22- September 3 rd.  All Assessments will be completed at MSE in a proctored environment.  Schedules will be sent to parents of specific dates and times.  Blue Ribbon Validation Dates for School- Wide Walkthroughs will take place on Tuesday, September 30 th – Thursday, October 1 st.

Onsite Schedule: Typical Schedule. Please use this as a guide and organize the site visit schedule for your school’s daily schedule. Day 1: 7:15 AM Arrival: BRSE Assessors will arrive 30 Minutes prior to start of school 7: 30 AM Meet & Greet: School may select to organize a meeting between available Teachers and BRSE Assessors - this session is to just to let the teachers know who is in the building and the overall purpose for visiting their classrooms. 7:45 AM Students Arrivals & Teachers Report to Classes 8:00 AM Parent Meeting - organize a group of parents (5-15) to meet with the BRSE Assessors to discuss the school's progress, programs, and policies. 8:30 AM Classroom Site Visits: BRSE Assessors will begin visiting classrooms. 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM Lunch Shifts: BRSE Assessors will conduct walk-throughs during the lunch shift 12: :30 PM BRSE Assessors Lunch

12:45 - 3:00 PM Classroom Site Visits 1:00 - 1:30 PM Student Meeting - organize a group of students from various grade ranges to discuss the school's progress, programs, and policies. (15-20) 3:00 PM - School Dismissal 3:15 - 3:45 PM - After School Program 3:45 PM - Meet with Administrator Day 2: 7:30 AM BRSE Assessors Arrive 8:00 AM Classroom Site Visits Begin 10: :30 AM - BRSE will meet with Reading Coach, Review of Data 11:30 AM - Noon: BRSE Assessors Lunch & Meeting to Finalize Documentation 12: :30 PM: Final Walk-through Observations 1:00 – 2:00 pm Exit Interview Sessions: Reading Coach & Principal

Mountain Makeover New Stage – complete August 4 th, 2014 New Curtains – Thanks to Commissioner Roger Jones Resurfacing the Track – Comm. Roger Jones Murals in the cafeteria- Thanks to R. Bynum Classroom Plaques – Volunteers, parents, Teachers – Dates TBD Stenciling in the Hallways and Bathrooms– Volunteers needed

OR A NOTE IN AN ENVELOPE ADDRESSED TO PTA. If you have a talent or service that you would like to provide, please do not hesitate to contact Monte Sano PTA.

3 rd - 4 th Grade: Students make their own unique products.

3 rd - 4 th Grade: Students use MaKey MaKey & Scratch to build inventions.

Computer Animated Design Graphic Art Special FX Game Analysis Game Theory Exploration Sound FX

What does this mean for MSE? The new teacher for the ETA lab is Ms. Faith Plunkett Each student will have ETA classes each week: * 50 minutes for grades 1-5 * 30 minutes for kindergarten * 30 minutes for pre-k beginning in January Teachers will receive support from Ms. Plunkett to learn more about implementing Web 2.0 Tools and Web 3.0 Tools To learn more about entertainment gaming, visit code.org.

Stephanie Cole, Reading Coach

Accelerated Reader Program Congratulations on a great job! AR Tests are available for students to begin testing Goals will be set next week AR folders are a requirement for students to log the books that are read AR Party AR Mystery Trip

Julia Ansley, School Counselor Counseling Services – Guidance Lessons (All Students) – Small Groups – Individual Counseling 3 Domains: – Academic – Career – Personal/Social

School Wide Programs College & Career Week (Sept. 2-5 th ) Tuesday – Crazy About College Wednesday – Hats off to Education Thursday – Dress for Success Friday – Off to College You Go

No Place for Hate Week

Career Day

Monte Sano P5, STAR Math and Reading 33 Percent of Students at or Above Grade Level Math Reading