Park Terrace Elementary
Greetings Park Terrace Families,
We had a fun homecoming week at Park Terrace! Students and staff dressed up and the Panther spirit was evident! Many students shared that they went to the Spring Lake Park High School homecoming football game and, despite the loss, the students had a blast.
This is a short week for students. Please remember there is no school for students tomorrow, Thursday, October 3 or Friday, October 4. Our staff will be engaging in professional learning, learning design and conference preparation. School is back in session for students on Monday, October 7.
We appreciated hearing from so many of you last week in our first pulse check of the year. Of those responding, 96% are happy or mostly happy with Park Terrace. Here are a few themes of what we heard:
- Praise for teachers and their overall positivity
- Praise for the teachers' care for students
- Requests for more teacher communication including graded work and curriculum information
- Questions about extracurricular activities and sports
We’ll be working through all of the feedback and sharing all of the great shout outs with staff. Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts. Please know we take every comment to heart.
Conferences are upon us! We will have conferences on October 16 in the daytime and on October 24 and 29 in the evening. Look for an email to come from your child’s teacher with information on how to sign up.
At conferences, we’ll share a literacy and CARES goal aligned to our career and life compentencies. Because you are your child’s first teacher and a crucial partner in learning, staff will also ask you the questions listed below to learn about the goals you have for your child this year. We look forward to listening to and learning from you in these conversations and sharing next steps in learning. Here are the questions to expect:
- Tell me about your child's experiences in school so far (previously and this current year).
- What is a hope and a dream that you have for your child this school year?
- What are your hopes and dreams for your child's future?
- What do I need to do to help your child learn more effectively?
I hope you take a couple of minutes to check out the feature in today’s newsletter that includes real examples of competency-based learning filmed late last spring in third grade. These clips help make competencies more concrete – whatever grade your child is in. Expect to hear more from your child's teachers about the competencies students are working on throughout the year.
We’ll look forward to seeing students back at school next Monday! Have a great long weekend!
Take care,
Lindsay Johnson
Principal
Park Terrace Elementary
A day in 3rd grade: Competency-based learning in action
Third graders enthusiastically welcomed a video crew into their classrooms to follow along in their learning for one day last May. As we start a new school year, short video stories from that day provide tangible examples of competency-based learning in action. From collaboration to math to science to digital literacy, a series of brief videos provide a peek into student learning across a day.
As a reminder, Spring Lake Park Schools has defined academic and career and life competencies. Academic competencies are aligned to different subject areas (Math, English Language Arts, etc.) and to Minnesota state standards for those areas. Career and life competencies are skills and mindsets needed for success in school and beyond. Last year was the first year elementary learning was entirely competency based. So, what does it look and sound like during a day in third grade? Take a look (and listen) to a day in third grade.
Catch the "After Hours Big Band" Show Tonight!
Tonight is the night to catch the live performance of "After Hours Big Band" at the Fine Arts Center, 7 p.m. Student tickets are only $5! This is a great way to introduce your children to a live musical performance, right here in our Panther community.
"After Hours Big Band" is led by one of our SLP dads! Our audience loved their holiday show last year and now we welcome them back to kick off season three. You will be sure to recognize favorites from Disney, The Beatles and more. Once again, Reed Grimm of American Idol and Shoeless Revolution will be joining the band. Get your tickets here and avoid the long lines at the box office.
