Springfield SHARK Bites

Home of the Sharks! Oct. 7, 2024

Springfield SHARKS are

S afe

H onest

A ccountable

R espectful

K ind

which leads to a

S ense of belonging

Safety Spotlight

The Springfield Staff is dedicated to ensure a safe learning environment for all. Included in that is regular drills to practice for an emergency. You may be familar with fire drills but we have many others we do as well. These include tornado drills, lockdowns, and evacuation to include a few.

Within the next few weeks, the Springfield students and staff will participate in an evacuation drill. During this drill, we will take a walk to an offsite location to ensure that everyone understands how to do this. If you see us taking a stroll, please know this is just a drill.

If we ever have a true emergency situation, we will notify families as soon as possible.

Thank you for your continued support. Please see the Springfield Safety Family Letter for more information.

ILEARN Checkpoint Pilot

We are excited to announce we are participating in the ILEARN Checkpoint Pilot. This means that we will do three mini-assessments (approximately 45 minutes long) during the school year in both English/Language Arts and Math. These will check for proficiency with specific standards. The data we receive from these will allow us to meet the needs of our students so they are successful on the end of the year ILEARN. Students in grades 3-6 will participate this year. Our first test will be held this week with our third graders for English/Language Arts.

This pilot links directly to our Strategic Plan in Pillar 3: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners. By having checkpoints along the way and providing support we are implementing the intitiative of

"We will implement an integrated, tiered system of supports for students."

Please remember that you can always find more information about the MCAS Strategic Plan by clickin on this link:

MCAS Strategic Plan

Student Led Conferences - October 15!

We are looking forward to meeting with all families a week from Tuesday for Student Led Conferences. This is an early release day for students as they will dismiss at 12:00 that day. There will be no Boys and Girls Club. From 12:30-7:15, please come in with your child so they can lead you in their learning. You will see examples of student work, talk about their goals, and next steps. The students are hard at work preparing for this and we hope everyone will be able to attend! Closer to this date, we will send out more information.

Homecoming Week!

We love to celebrate Michigan City High School Homecoming Week! This week, we will have dress up days finish the celebration by marching in the Homecoming Parade on Friday evening. Please see the flyer below for more information!

Nominations are Being Accepted!

Michigan City Area Schools is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Teacher of the Year and Employee of the Year recognition program.

Each spring, MCAS recognizes employees in the following areas:

Elementary Teacher of the Year

Secondary Teacher of the Year

Support Staff Employee of the Year

Transportation Employee of the Year

Food Service Employee of the Year

Anyone – students, former students, parents, staff, or community members – may nominate a teacher or staff member. There is no limit to the number of employees a person may nominate.

To learn more about eligibility and the selection process, and to nominate a teacher or staff member, visit http://educateMC.net/toy_eoy

(The nomination is very simple… just one question: Why do you believe that this individual should be honored as the 2025 MCAS Teacher or Employee of the Year?)

Paper nomination forms are also available at any MCAS school or facility. Please complete a separate form for each nomination.

Nominations are due by Friday, November 22, 2024.

Many thanks to Comcast and the Michigan City Chamber for their sponsorship of this program.

We can't wait to celebrate our employees!

This week at a glance

Monday, Oct. 7

Pajama Day - School appropriate pajamas and shoes - no slippers or slides

Tuesday, Oct. 8

Hat or Crazy Hair Day

3-4:30 Soccer Practice

6:00 MCHS Elementary Volleyball Player Night - Cheer on our MCHS Wolves at they take on Chesterton at home! Wear your VB shirt and get in free (see the flyer below)

Wednesday, Oct. 9

Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Thursday, Oct. 10

Jersey Day - Wear your favorite sports attire/jersey

3-4:30 Soccer Practice

Friday, Oct. 11

Wolves/Springfield Wear

5:30 Line up for the Parade at Elston

Upcoming Events:

October 15: Student Led Conferences & Early Dismissal Day

October 17 & 18: Fall break - no school

October 25: Trick or Treat Night

Absences & Dismissal Plans

If your child is going to be absent, please call the office by 9:00 AM. If you do not reach someone, please leave a message.

Please remember to call by 1:30 if you have a change in dismissal plans - i.e. riding the bus instead of being picked up. After 1:30, we cannot guarantee that the student and teacher will be able to get the information.