SHS Wildcat Roar

September 15, 2024

NEW BUSINESS

Vote for your Wildcats!

Voting starts Monday!

Go to www.MarshallNews.com

Check Out this week's Wildcat Scoop from Mrs. Key's Sports Journalism Class!

SCCC Calendar

SCCC students, remember:

MARSHALL IS NOT IN SESSION ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16.

If you are in good standing and have not missed the bus between August 19-September 13, you do not have to report to Slater HS until 4th hour on Monday.

See 'SCCC Agreement of Attendance' letter below for a refresher/list of dates.

Come Prepared

Students need to bring what you need for school inside the building each day - no more trips to vehicles during school hours.

An email went out to students on September 11.

Where'd You Go?

If you know that you won't be at school on a certain day for an appointment, meeting, etc. - besides telling your teachers (which is great!) - please let Ms. Mindy know.

You can do so by emailing her at mwiseman@slaterschools.net.

Parents can call Ms. Mindy at 660-529-2278, ext. 107.

NWEA Information Station

What is the NWEA?

We will take our NWEA Fall Benchmark tests this coming week. Here's some information about NWEA:

NWEA stands for NW Evaluation Association.

The District has used NWEA since 2016.
NWEA is a formative assessment, whereas MAP/EOC is a summative assessment

Formative assessments take place during a course and usually carry no grade. Low stakes. Used to make real time adjustments to instruction.
The goal of a summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit or course by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

We test K - 12 grades in the areas of

Reading
Language
Science
Math

NWEA is administered three times a year -

September
December
March

NWEA Data is used

As a predictor of MAP and EOC performance

Each content area is broken down into subcategories that mirror EOC subcategories for Algebra 1, Biology, English 2, English 1

As a predictor of ACT performance
To inform classroom instruction
To identify student mastery of standards
To track student achievement related to District Peers, but also nationally
To track student growth over time

NWEA uses RIT Scores to quantify student performance

Stands for Rasch UnIT scale
Scale measures levels in academic difficulty
The RIT scale extends equally across all grades, making it possible to compare a student's score at various points throughout their education.

Fall NWEA

Establishes a baseline for the Academic Year

Achievement vs. Growth

Achievement is important, but HS focuses on Growth

Are kids learning as a result of our Instruction?

Growth is slower at HS level generally

Terminal end of information

It is important that each student does his or her best so we can determine what our students know and what our instructional focus in the classroom should be. Once our Fall window is complete, HS students will meet with J Clem to hear the interpretation of results.

When Do We Test?

Our testing schedule is:

Tuesday, September 17

3/4 Hours: Science *

6/7 Hours: Math

Thursday, September 19

1/2 Hours: Language *

5/6 Hours: Reading

*SCCC students, we will pull you for make up testing if there's a session you miss or need to complete.

Where Do I test?

2025

Mr. Eric Brayman: Isaac Adams - Kenna Keller

Ms. Teffany Sample: Jalen Knox - Skylar Wolfe

2026

Mrs. Rachel Bayne: Nick Abney - Bryson Keith

Mrs. Hannah Key: Arthur Mayeres - Tytan Wiseman

2027

Mr. Zach Crews: Valentina Aguayo - Brayden Martens

Mrs. Rita Shaw: Keenin McClellan - Malachi Wright-Fowler

2028

Mr. Geoff Butler: Karlee Bellamy - Jonathan Lea

Mr. John Roberts: Anna Legardo - Payton Zdybel

Students should bring a pencil and scratch paper to their testing rooms. You'll use the calculator in the NWEA test platform. (It's on the computer - you don't need to bring one.) You may also bring a book to read or an assignment to work on (quietly) when you're done.

What's In It for Me?

A team of teachers plans an event/activity for HS students who meet the incentive criteria. Stay tuned for details! (You can send me ideas.)

10-12 graders have to meet 3 out of 4 criteria - 9th graders won't have a previous HS RIT score, so they have to meet 2 out of 4 criteria:

Be in attendance on the day of the test
No outbursts or disruptions
No rapid guessing alerts
RIT score growth (or no loss from previous test)

Your testing room supervisor determines if you've met the incentive criteria. I will notify students who will NOT participate in the incentive after we get the details settled.

If you are not present for a testing session, we'll pull you for make up testing (likely next week).

Counseling Corner

Workin' on Our Fitness

Handbook Highlight

The Handbook Highlight is a recap of a handbook policy or entry that our Students/Adults need to be aware of. If I'm taking the time to include it, it's something to pay attention to - either because I'm seeing that people aren't clear on it, people aren't complying with it, or I'm about to start cracking down on it. This week's highlight is:

2024-2025 Student Handbook

docs.google.com

Cafeteria Menus

What staff member deserves a shout out?

Take a minute to let me know all about it by filling out THIS FORM.

Students, Parents, and Staff can give a shout out to any Slater Schools employee! We'll make sure they receive a copy of it and will look for ways to share them with you throughout the year as well.

Let's get to bragging about all the good people around here!

Old Business

Lunch Count Woes

Students, we're seeing a daily discrepancy between the number of students who say that they are NOT eating lunch at school vs. those who come through the line to get a tray each day. On average, we're serving about 15 more students a day than what we're expecting. With HS lunch being the last shift of the day, we run the risk of not having enough food prepared.

We want you to eat lunch. We also want to know that you're going to eat lunch. And...we can see the morning lunch count for each student. If you're not sure, go ahead and tell us you're going to eat at school.

Menus are further down on this newsletter and on the TV screens in the hallway.

Bon Appetit!

Growing Pains

Our new Student Information System (Teacher Ease) and our texting program (Thrillshare) are not exchanging information properly right now.

This means that new phone numbers (new students, parents) aren't loading into the program for text alerts and some email notifications. We are aware of the issue and working with both companies' customer service.

We are sorry for the inconvenience. Stay tuned for updates!

Revisiting the Sportsmanlike Policy

Please note the policy for Unsportsmanlike Actions at an extra-curricular activity:

Administrator Warning
Minimum of 1 week, up to and including 365 day suspension from all District extracurricular events
365 day suspension from all District extracurricular activities

Who Let the Dogs IN?!?

Due to liability concerns from our insurance company, pets are not permitted on school property, including the Sports Complex.

This excludes service animals and classroom/curricular animals, pre approved by a Building Principal.

Clarification: Attending ballgames

Students learned in the first week of school that they must be in good standing to participate in extracurricular events/activities. (This includes attending those events as a spectator.)

Students must be in attendance at school for four consecutive hours on the day of the event to be able to play in or attend an extracurricular event/activity.

On the Same Page

Our first Eligibility List of the school year will run on Monday morning at 8:00 am. This list determines GOOD STANDING, as defined in the Student Handbook. It reads,

GOOD STANDING
To be considered a student in good standing, a student must not be in violation of the attendance policy, have outstanding discipline referrals OR appear on the current F list.

In order to participate in extracurricular events including (but not limited to): dances, field trips, school-sanctioned sports events; a student must be in good standing.

Students in grades 6-12 that are not in good standing will have closed lunch and be required to sign in daily in the cafeteria.

The handbook also reads,

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
...

High School and Junior High students’ extracurricular eligibility is determined by the current F List. This report is made available to HS and JH teachers and coaches and is computed approximately every two weeks. A student who is on the F list for one class may practice but not compete in any events for the duration of that F list, while students who are failing more than one class on any F list may not practice or compete in any event. Eligibility may only change at the issue of each new F list.

To recap, If a student is not in good standing, he or she is not in good standing until the next Eligibility List runs (September 23). Students who are not in good standing may not:

Leave the cafeteria at lunch (must sign in on South Wall)
Play in extracurricular events (may continue to practice with one failing grade or low attendance)
Attend extracurricular events as a spectator (Members of athletic teams may attend and sit with team at Coach/Administrator discretion.)

If a student is not in good standing, he or she (and their adult(s)) will receive an email notification from Ms. Mindy that includes a letter from me explaining the information above. If a student who is not in good standing fails to sign in for Closed Lunch, the following Handbook policy will be followed:

CLOSED LUNCH
Failing to sign in for Closed Lunch

Grades 9-12

1. Warning

2. 3 hour detention

3. 1 day in the Transition Room for each day not signed in