HPS MLD News

January⛄

Hello January👋

Dear HPS Families,

Welcome back and Happy New Year! We hope you all were able to be lazy, take naps, spend time with loved ones, and anything else that brings you peace and joy!

“What Starts Here Can Change the World!” is a line borrowed from Admiral William McRaven’s 2014 University of Texas commencement speech. This is a reminder for how it is the little things in life that matter. The beginning of a new year is the ideal time to recharge—whether it is to set in motion our personal goals, make important decisions, or connect with our innermost feelings.

As we begin a new year, we are so grateful for your constant support and commitment to HPS. We pledge to represent HPS and be a positive light in the community. We are dedicated to working with you to positively influence the lives of every student. Come join us on this journey!

Sincerely,

Afrin F. Alavi/MLD Director

Mirjana Maros/MLD District Facilitator

Amela Kukic/MLD Admin Assistant

Virtual Learning Institute and Online Programs Survey

Please take a few minutes to complete the Virtual Learning Institute and Online Programs Survey (LINK).

News From MLD District Facilitator

During the week of December 16, students participated in the Avant STAMP assessment, a commercially approved evaluation by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). Students who achieve a proficiency score of Intermediate High or higher in a language other than English will be eligible for the prestigious Michigan Seal of Biliteracy Award. Assessment results will be available in the coming weeks. The next round of Avant STAMP testing will take place the week of April 21, and students who wish to retake the assessment may do so at that time.

To help prepare, students can access sample language assessments on the Avant website: https://www.avantassessment.com/sample-tests

In addition to the Seal of Biliteracy assessment, we are also preparing for the WIDA assessment, which will be administered from January 27 to April 4. This state-wide assessment measures the academic language proficiency of multilingual learners (MLs) in Michigan and across other states.

The results from the ACCESS for ELs assessment offer valuable insights into your child’s progress in learning academic English. The test measures language skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and helps teachers assess the support your child may need to succeed academically. It also guides educators in determining the level of English language support required for academic achievement.

We encourage all students to do their best on these assessments, as they are key to understanding their language development. To help ensure the best performance, we recommend that students get plenty of rest the night before the test and enjoy a nutritious breakfast on test day.

Hanover VLI Survey

Please take a few minutes to take the Hanover Survey (LINK) to share experiences and thoughts about Hamtramck's Virtual Learning Institute (VLI).

HPS FAMILY NIGHT

We are super excited to host our Quarter 2 Family Night: Monday, January 27 @ 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. at Tau Beta.

The purpose of the event is to provide our families with instructional resources and information to help their children be successful. This will also be a great opportunity to meet the families that we serve and to build community connections.

We already love how the community will come together to help us make this a HUGE success!

ML Home-to-School Coordinating Specialist

We are excited to announce that Hamtramck Public Schools will be partnering with ACCESS to provide valuable programs for parents. Currently, I am collaborating with Mona Abdallah-Hijazi, Public Health Manager at ACCESS, and her team. In the upcoming year, ACCESS will be presenting and educating us on a variety of important topics, including:

1. Managing stress caused by news. 2. The impact of social media on mental health. 3. Positive parenting practices to help youth make healthy choices. 4. Understanding marijuana 5. Teenagers and mental health. 6. Cyberbullying and online safety. 7. Youth and vaping: what parents need to know. 8. Stress Less (Teen stress). 9. Social media: the harms and finding a balance. 10. Parenting an adolescent.

Additionally, Sunaya Bazzi, Coordinator of the Public Health Active Parenting program, will be offering an evidence-based parent program for children aged 5-12. This program provides new strategies to help families thrive in our ever-changing world, covering topics such as parenting at different stages, step-parenting, divorce, school success, character education, and more.

As the Parent Engagement Team, we are here to support you. Please do not hesitate to reach out with suggestions, feedback, or requests for programs that you would like to see offered. Your input is highly valued. You can contact me via phone or email with your suggestions or feedback.

Afaf Abdo-Nagi Saleh: ML Home-to-School Coordinating Specialist

313-729-9764

aasaleh@hamtramckschools.org

Languages: Arabic and English

Early Childhool Elementary (ECE)

Our little Cubs had a blast during the month of December.

Since our students have worked hard and showed improvement on their I-Ready Assessments, they were surprised by some very important visitors, Santa Claus and his helpers. Everyone was extremely pleased, especially with the gifts and treats they received.

Also, this year our students continued with the Decorating Gingerbread House Tradition and everyone worked diligently to decorate their house the best they could. They showcased their hard work proudly for all of us to see and admire.

All of these memorable events at ECE happened thanks to our great principal, Mrs.Smith, who constantly shows how much she cares and appreciates not only the little Cubs, but the whole Cub Family at ECE.

Dickinson East Elementary (DE)

DE ML Students Immigration Event: Building Bridges Through Stories

Our recent event gave Multilingual (ML) students a powerful platform to share their immigration journeys. They spoke about their reasons for coming, the challenges of adapting to a new culture, language, and environment, and the resilience they’ve shown in the face of these struggles. Students also brought personal artifacts that connect them to their home countries, offering a glimpse into their heritage and fostering a deeper understanding of their unique experiences. This heartfelt sharing not only highlighted the strength and diversity within our community but also cultivated empathy throughout the entire school, reminding us of the importance of embracing and celebrating our differences.

Dickinson West Elementary (DW)

During the month on December, ML students took their Winter iReady test for Math and Reading. They also took their 2nd assessment of Summit K12 for Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing. Many students showed improvement compared to their Fall tests from the beginning of the year. Great job everyone.
DW held a Penguin Holiday Shop on December 16th. Students had a chance to purchase a gift for a family member or friend at kid-friendly prices.
Other events included:

Spirit week from Dec 16-Dec 20
Schoolwide PBIS movie event was on Dec 18th.

Ms. Ashcraft kindergartners during Tier II instruction time 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Holbrook

Holbrook’s Restorative Practices Coordinator, Ms. Sheila Flowers and the PBIS team for the month of January, the PBIS Leadership team would like to accomplish the following things

with your assistance:

Character Trait: Responsibility October
Character Trait: Honesty November
Character Trait: IIntegrity December
Character Trait: Respect January
Character Trait: Perseverance February
Videos, classroom discussions, & character trait celebration (usually on the third Wednesday)

ML Game Night took place on Wednesday December 18th in Holbrook’s gym/lunch room 3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Our January ML meeting will be on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 in Holbrook’s library.

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WIDA Assembly for kindergarten through eighth grade will take place in the third week of January in the auditorium.

Tau Beta (TB)

January is going to be a very busy month with everyone coming back after the winter break, getting ready for WIDA ACCESS Assessment, and getting together as a district for the Parent Engagement Event on January 27th, at Tau Beta

Fun Learning Experiences in Tau Beta

2nd grade ML students at Tau Beta have been learning producers and consumers in their ML groups by learning language and content. They have been using the language of sequence, present and past tense verbs, realia, visuals and graphic organizers to describe the process of a cotton plant becoming jeans.

Resources

1. Encourage your children in Grades 1-8 to work on Summit K-12 daily. This program is located in Clever and working on it consistently will help your child exit the English Language Learner Program/score proficient on the WIDA ACCESS.

2. WIDA ACCESS Sample Items

https://wida.wisc.edu/assess/access/preparing-students/practice

December Activities and Celebrations

If you attended English language classes for moms held at Tau Beta on Wednesday, December 11th, you might have seen Halia, Rafaa and Azhar joining their moms in their language acquisition class and sharing their learning experience orally and in writing, in English and in Arabic. The girls shared learning about homonyms, fractions and solar power, while moms shared their learning about verbs.

Kosciuszko Middle School (KMS)

KMS ML students have worked very hard and did their best during the 2nd iReady diagnostic! We are very proud of their growth in math and reading!

Next week, we will enjoy participating in Spirit Week, which is the last week before winter break. Spirit Week will begin with students and staff wearing all black on Blackout day on Monday, Tuesday is Hat Day, Wednesday is Teacher & Student Swap Day (where students will dress like their favorite teacher and teachers will dress like students). Thursday we will have Cartoon Character day where we will dress up as our favorite cartoon characters. Friday, we will finish Spirit Week with Cozy Pajama Day.

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!

Hamtramck High School (HHS)

As we approach the end of 2024, we feel so blessed to see our students progressing and moving forward to accomplish their goals and make their dreams come true. We are proud that many of our Multilingual (ML) seniors are on the right track and have already applied to colleges. We wish them all the best!

We are nearing the end of the semester and our ML students are continuing to learn new and exciting things. For example, our ML Developing level students are focusing on character traits—qualities that make up a person’s personality and define their behavior, thoughts, and actions. Students have been able to provide examples of common character traits such as honesty, bravery, kindness, and humor.

On December 17-19, some our ML students took the Seal of Biliteracy Test. This test is very important, as it was created to recognize high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in their 1st language and at least one additional world language through several approved pathways. The Seal of Biliteracy serves as an additional credential for colleges and universities to assess applicants’ language abilities for admission and placement.

From Ms. Binevska, high school ML Teacher: The ML ELA students from Hamtramck High School visited DIA on Thursday, December 19 and enjoyed The Art of Dining: The Food Culture in the Islamic World exhibit.

Horizon

December is a short month, progress reports were sent home so that parents can see their child’s grades. We are working on Summit K12 and students are enjoying it. They are working on developing the four domains: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. We are also working on our new curriculum from National Geographics - Lift Welcome and Intro, which also helps a lot with developing the domains. It’s a new curriculum this year but we are mastering it slowly but steadily.

We also printed a one-page newsletter which we are very proud of. We are hoping to continue doing this for every two months.

We are doing our PBIS meeting and coming up with strategies to engage students.

Nothing interesting is happening at the moment. We are eagerly waiting for the winter break and enjoy the much needed rest.

To all those celebrating Christmas, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. May the joy of the holiday bring everyone peace, love and tranquility.

To everyone I wish a Happy New Year with lots of happiness, peace and health in the new year. May the New Year bring peace to the World.