Monday, July 31, 2017

The school year is right around the corner.

Dear Parents,

The upcoming school year is approaching quickly and we are excited to get all staff and students back into the building! I have two data points and one update that I would like to share with you.

We are now in year five of our teacher collaboration initiative. For the past five years school has started late every Wednesday to allow time for teachers to collaborate. This time is used to unpack standards, develop our own assessments, data analysis, and to create action plans for students who are performing below or above the standard. We are happy to see that the fruits of our labor are beginning to pay off. In the chart below you can see the past two years we have seen an increase in our overall ACT Composite Score. All juniors are required to take the ACT in North Dakota during the spring semester.



The chart below shows the percentage of the senior class that has qualified for the North Dakota Academic and Career Tech Scholarship. To qualify you need a minimum composite score of a 24 or three fives on the ACT WorkKeys Assessment. Students also need a high GPA and qualifying coursework.



As part of our teacher collaboration efforts we are continuing our gradual implementation of standards-based grading and reporting. You can expect that students in grades K-4 will receive a more detailed report card based on the standards in English and Language Arts. This method of reporting allows us to identify breakdowns in learning faster and provides more information to parents. We will continue implementation into future grades and subject areas in upcoming school years.

Please stop by the school to pick up your school registration packet. You will find information regarding our NEW school app. You can follow me on Twitter at @mdmcneff and visit my blog at http://mikemcneff.blogspot.com/ for current school related articles or news.

I am looking forward to an excellent year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Michael McNeff, Superintendent

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