Longfellow News

In a recent walk-though (like a tour) of the Lake Ridge New Tech Buildings by district leaders and our New Tech coach, it was evident there is so much good stuff going on at Longfellow New Tech Elementary this year and looking through the photos in just this newsletter show it!! Here are a sampling of the comments and reflections from that walk-through.

• I loved seeing pictures of kids displayed “Our Class is a family,” student of the month in some classes. Kids feel like they belong more.
• Elementary students and staff were engaged in circles. Posted rules were written in kid friendly language. Students were actively and appropriately engaged in dialogue on acceptance of differences.
• Teachers had good rapport and could see community and caring in many classes, lots of the phonemic awareness (instruction).
• Students and staff were engaged.
• Each classroom had its own personality and personal feeling to it when you walked into the room.
• Students were a big part of the classroom environment such as having work posted in the room along with student recognition posted inside or outside of classrooms.
• Student language was used throughout the building.
• The students and teachers were engaged in what they were doing.
• Transitions were done smoothly. The students all seemed very comfortable with the transitions between brain breaks and then the lesson.
• Students were addressed in a positive way when they seemed unengaged
• Spaces in the rooms were nice for centers and to address students in small groups.
• Kinder/First grade hallway was alive with learning.
• Students were engaged, active participants in the learning process, and movement was evident.
• Transitions from classroom to specials were smooth and students knew the community agreement for walking through the hallway.
• There was joy in the classroom and it was refreshing to see.
• There were smooth transitions from task to task for students and students knew where to be when they were asked to move to the next activity.
• Evidence of student care was evident.
• There was evidence of collaboration between adults.

January 26th marked our 100th day of school and students celebrated by dressing as 100 year olds, writing 100 words, counting 100 objects, making necklaces with 100 Froot Loops, and so many other fun activities! Check out these oldies but goodies!

The state assessment, IREAD 3 will begin on March 4th for grades 2-4. Legislatively, the State of Indiana is seriously considering retaining 3rd grade students who do not pass this year. We have opted our 2nd grade in to test to give them an extra opportunity to pass before even entering 3rd grade. This also provides us with data to help those students who need extra help BEFORE 3rd grade.

Parents of students in grades 2-4, please do everything in your power to make sure your child is at school every day from March 4 through March 15. Also, help make your child's environment as text rich as possible. Here are some extra resources for parents/students... https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/parent/primary/

RELEASE COMING SOON! Our Black History Month Program recording will be released on Tuesday, February 27th!!!

Thank you to Pastor John Hoffmaster, Dave and Pat Vanderbilt, from Beacon Light Church, Barb Joyner, LF evening custodian, and Debby Gabriel, former Lake Ridge teacher and counselor have volunteered Wednesdays to teach our 4th grade students how to play chess and how to crochet. Pastor Hoffmaster, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt and Mrs. Joyner recently gave certificates to their most recent "graduates"! Thank you to all our volunteers!!

Thank you to the Black Labor Week volunteers who visited several LF classrooms this past week. Students enjoyed hearing about what people do in the labor industry and learned more about the labor trades, trades, programs, apprenticeships, how to join, and steps to take prior to graduation.

1st grade students visited Urban Air in Merrillville on Friday, January 26th. It was the perfect opportunity to work on social and motor skills while it's too cold to play outside...and it was lots of fun!! Thank you to Mrs. Tina Luna for organizing!

Thank you, once again to the ladies of Bethel Church and Ministries for volunteering their Saturday morning, February 24th at Longfellow! These "Women on a mission" spent their time creating teacher resources and organizing library books.

February 13- March 1 - Read-A-Thon

March 1 - Dr. Suess Day

March 4 - IREAD 3 State Assessment Window Opens!

March 22 - eLearning

March 25 - April 1 Spring Break

If you are finding it difficult to get your child to school on time or pick them up before 3:45, Adventure Club may be your answer!! The Adventure Club provides before and after school care for students signed up with TAC. They accept Indiana childcare vouchers. Longfellow students MUST be signed up with The Adventure Club (TAC) prior to attending.

To apply, go to Theadventureclub.com and be sure to pick Longfellow as your site.

Are you getting the Remind texts from Longfellow and your child's teacher? If not, be sure to log into PowerSchool and update (or add) all contacts and phone numbers to Form D (Contact Management). Click here to log into PowerSchool!

Lake Ridge New Tech Schools has partnered with Kelly Educational Staffing (KES) for our substitute teacher and paraprofessional needs. KES will handle all the aspects of our substitute employee program including hiring, training, and scheduling. There are several advantages to this partnership, such as the opportunity for substitute employees to have year-round employment and additional incentives exclusive to employment with KES.

To apply for a substitute teacher position in the Lake Ridge New Tech Schools, please contact the local Kelly Educational Staffing branch office at 219-879-6131 or 2359@kellyservices.com.

Principal, Melissa Rettig

Instructional Coach, Holly Plowman

Dean, Jodi Garcia

4500 Calhoun Street

Gary, IN 46408

219-923-7004