Stonegate Elementary Weekly News

This week we have found ways to celebrate even through quarantine. We were thankful for the beautiful weather that allowed us to have a SGE Staff Car Parade on Monday. It was so nice to see our families and those smiles that we have been missing so much. 4th graders were able to have a drive-by celebration with their teachers on Thursday and Friday. The teachers loved being able to give air hugs, blow kisses, cheer, and celebrate the students' accomplishments while still distancing from one another. As part of the end of the their SGE years, two videos were created just the 4th graders. The Class of 2028 video showed many of the fun and memorable moments they had this year. The Farewell Fourth Grade video is full of advice, well wishes, congratulations, and cheerful messages from the SGE staff to this great group of soon to be 5th graders. They have made us proud and we will miss them!

Click on the videos below to see the Staff Car Parade, the Class of 2028, and the Farewell to Fourth grade.

Even though the end of the school year wasn't what we normally experience, there are many ways to help your child celebrate. Click on the link below for an article with nineteen great suggestions. https://indywithkids.com/last-day-school-ideas/?fbclid=IwAR1fIiOZSJNAvX6RLeXhEvb5Ic3CXSVdErStoesHGqLkKvkcsf-dWqfge78

Online registration for the 2020-2021 school year is now available! Individual notification emails were sent on 5/14 between 1:00 and 1:35 PM. If you do not see it in your email, it may have gone to your junk folder. Registration information is vital for ensuring that you receive information about the 2020-2021 school year, for maintaining records to ensure student safety, and in compliance reporting required of us on behalf of all enrolled students (for various state and local agencies). Please remember that this notification may have been sent to multiple parent/guardian contacts. Only ONE registration record may be submitted for each student. A parent/guardian who starts a registration for a student becomes the only registrant possible for this student. Please complete this registration by Monday, June 1, 2020.

If you have questions about registration, or if your child(ren) will NOT be returning to ZCS for the 2020-2021 school year, please be sure to contact Registrar/Administrative Assistant Angie Duncan at aduncan@zcs.k12.in.us.

Dear Stonegate Families,

Thank you for taking time to provide feedback regarding your child's learning experience. Your input provides us the opportunity to reflect on our strengths and areas to strengthen. We readily admit that we, as a staff, must always strive to grow in our work and practices.

Should you desire to share input and feedback, please complete the SGE Family Input Survey by Friday, May 29th.

If you would like to order your child's 20-21 school supplies, click here. In order to avoid a $12-15 shipping fee, all of our 1stDay School Supply boxes will be delivered directly to SGE.

Check out our ZCS-GROW Summer 2020 programming! Find Z’Camp information at zcamponline.com and Eagle Recreation and Enrichment information at www.zionsvilleeaglerec.com.

Please join us for our Virtual Parent Café on May 27th from 6-8pm. Parent Cafés are safe spaces where parents and caregivers talk about the challenges and victories of raising a family. Through listening, sharing, learning, and supporting each other participants learn about the Protective Factors and create strategies from their own wisdom and experiences to help strengthen their families.

Now more than ever we can use social connections, and concrete supports. Once you register on the Eventbrite link a virtual meeting link will be emailed to you.

When: Wednesday, May 27th from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Where: Virtual Zoom Meeting

Sign Up Today:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parent-cafe-hope-grows-tickets-104975458422

K-8 Math – Quantile Math at Home – Summer Math Challenge – sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education

Choose Indiana as your state and what grade level content you would like to try. Parents will have to create an account and click on “Summer Math Challenge” to get started:

https://hub.lexile.com/summer-math-challenge

K-12 Reading – Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Library Summer Reading - May 22-July 25

Read books, write book reviews and earn prizes:

https://zionsvillelibrary.beanstack.org/reader365

Board and Card Games – Games are also a way to practice strategy/planning ahead, math, reading and social skills.

The Indiana Department of Education requires school districts to identify gifted students and provide them with appropriately differentiated curriculum and instruction. In ZCS, we reconsider ability and achievement data of all students each spring to identify any who may need further consideration for advanced differentiation in curriculum and instruction the following school year. This spring we will do the same with the data we have collected over the course of the school year. Our team of teachers, licensed in gifted education (representing each elementary building and central office), will look at all data remotely to make sure that we understand the needs of each student.

Our school district is committed to continuous progress for all students, regardless of designation. Accelerated content is common in our classrooms as are heightened expectations, instructional levels and high-achieving peers. Instructional methods regularly group and regroup students with differentiated materials and goals. Whether or not a child is identified as needing advanced curriculum, our teachers are committed to regular assessment of skills and knowledge and matching experiences to challenge each child and help him or her make maximum academic growth. We are proud to be a high-performing school district with high expectations for all students.

For students currently in grades K-3: Programming at the elementary level is based on student need for acceleration and enrichment within a cluster group in a general education classroom and not on labels. All student data is reviewed each year to look for several indicators that a child needs advanced instruction in order to grow academically. Our identification team looks at achievement, ability and teacher observational data. Since these vary from year to year with young students, we re-look at every student each spring. Parents will be notified by June 10 if their child has been recommended for differentiation. If your child was not identified through our extensive process, parents/guardians may appeal the decision. Parents/guardians can complete the appeal process by June 15. Forms are located on the Academics tab of our website under “Advanced Curriculum”: https://4.files.edl.io/039c/01/28/20/182123-3d4a9f45-de63-4549-95a9-0341f67290eb.pdf

For students currently in grade 4: All students are considered and more formally identified for high ability each year throughout middle school where they are placed in a class with high ability curriculum. Our identification team considers either achievement (NWEA) or ability (OLSAT) when making decisions. Parents will be notified by June 10 if their child has been recommended for differentiation based on the need for accelerated instruction or curriculum. If your child was not identified through our extensive process, parents may appeal the decision. Parents can complete the appeal process by June 15. Forms are located on the Academics tab of our website under “Advanced Curriculum”: https://4.files.edl.io/9ed3/07/24/19/163425-9b8daab0-04e6-4efb-acd8-f68c3aec4318.pdf

We would love for you to connect with us! Follow us on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Visit our website.

Website: http://sge.zcs.k12.in.us/
Location: 7312 W Stonegate Dr, Zionsville, IN, United States
Phone: 317-873-8050
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stonegate-Elementary-667262290025971/
Twitter: @ZCSStonegate