“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming,

we lose the excitement of possibilities.

Dreaming, after all

is a form of planning.”

– Gloria Steinem

We're so close to winning the attendance challenge! There's two days left next week for us to finish strong! Let's hit that 95% goal. This week our average daily attendance was a little bit lower at 92.3%. Last week was 93%. We got this, Falcons!

This week we took a break from CAASPP testing to finish make-ups. Next week our 3rd-5th graders will take the English Language Arts Performance Task and Computer Adaptive Test. These assessments will provide insight into students' abilities to comprehend what they're reading and communicate their thoughts.

On Wednesday, the School Site Council approved the School Plan for Student Achievement. We've made tremendous strides this year in both reading comprehension and math. For example, our Kindergarten and 1st graders started the year reading at an average of six points above grade level. Now they're finishing the year up an average of 17 points! Our 2nd-5th grade students started the year reading 21 points below grade level and are finishing 16 points below grade level. This means we've closed the achievement gap by 29%. Our overall goal is for all students to either be reading at or above grade level by the end of the year, but if they aren't, our goal is for them to make at least 1 1/2 years worth of growth so that they eventually can.

Our strongest headwind slowing students' growth is chronic absenteeism which is defined by missing 10% or more of the school year. Of the students who are reading at grade level, 80% attend school regularly. Of the students who are reading below grade level, 80% of them are chronically absent. This goes to show, if you miss school, you miss out!

Please give a warm welcome to our newest falcon, Lisha Everson. Lisha will be finishing the year with us as our official PE teacher. Lisha's been a PE teacher for nine years with experience at Crawford HS, Hoover HS, and Fulton K-8. Her favorite part of teaching PE is watching students' confidence grow throughout the school year. Growing up, Lisha was a competitive gymnast until age 15, and then ran track at Crawford High. She's a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, which she attributes to her father, even though she's a San Diego native. We are so excited to have Lisha join the team and know our students will love it too.

With the arrival of Ms. Everson, we bid a fond farewell to our beloved Mr. Russ Dunn. Mr. Dunn has been an integral part of the success of Fletcher Elementary School rising from the pandemic. During the school closures, Russ joined Mr. Friedenberg on campus to facilitate a learning lab. What our students in his group got was a fun, loving, stable, and extraordinary human to help them navigate the complexities of online learning. The next two years, Russ was our Gumby, Mr. Flexible, as our Resident Visiting Teacher. No matter the position or assignment, no matter how little heads up in advance he got, Russ went above and beyond to ensure our kids didn’t miss a beat. This year, Mr. Dunn provided one of the best PE experiences our students have ever had here at Fletcher. Whether it was “ice skating” in Rockefeller Center, snowball fights, bubble blasting, or kickball, our students got to experience creativity and physical activity.

A while back, Mr. Dunn left a sticky note in the office with the words, “The universe is conspiring to support us!” There’s no doubt that Mr. Dunn’s service to the students, team, and community of Fletcher Elementary is proof of the sentiments on that sticky note.

Mr. Dunn, on behalf of the whole team and community... Thank you.

This week's Student of the Week is Jasmier in Mrs. Wilsie's 2nd grade class. Jasmier is a hardworking student with an infectious smile that brightens our days. He is a proactive young man who loves to learn! Because of Jasmier's enthusiasm for learning, his reading has taken off this school year. He is friendly, well mannered, generous and giving. We're extremely proud of the growth Jasmier has made this school year! Thank you, Jasmier, for being such an incredible Falcon by exemplifying what it means to be a leader at Fletcher Elementary School!

Click the image to view the video.

May

1 - Minimum Day - Team Meeting

1 - Kinder and 5th Grade Promotion Pictures

6-10 - Team Appreciation Week

8 - Minimum Day - Teacher Prep

15 -School Site Council & Instructional Leadership Team

20 - VAPA Day

22 - Minimum Day - Report Card Prep

23 - OPEN HOUSE (Times TBD)

27 - Memorial Day - No School

29 - Minimum Day - Report Card Prep

June

6 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL (Minimum Day)

14 - Office Closes for Summer Vacation

Click the image above for the slide deck from October 20th's Family Friday Mathematics Presentation.

The School Accountability Report Card for Fletcher Elementary School is online via the above link or available as a hard copy in the front office.

Email: communications@sandi.net
Website: https://fletcher.sandiegounified.org/
Location: 7666 Bobolink Way, San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: (619)605-4600
Facebook: facebook.com/FletcherSDUSD
Twitter: @FletcherSDUSD