Message from Principal Collins
Greetings Evergreen Families,
As we move into March we are preparing our scholars for the state test Smarter Balance Assessment (SBA). Smarter Balanced has three components that all public schools in Washington can access: A Tools for Teachers site with instructional and professional learning resources, interim assessments for use throughout the year, and an end-of-year summative assessment. This assessment will be taken in April. Look for more information as we get closer to April.
We continue to work hard to strengthen the quality and breadth of our instructional programming every day at our school. We realize the importance of our collective work to prepare our students to graduate and be ready to meet the challenges ahead in their postsecondary future. However, to fully benefit from the learning and growth in school, students must be engaged and present every day.
Please make every effort to ensure that your child is present in school every day. This week marks the midpoint in the school year. We have vacation weeks in February and April, which are strategically placed. Instruction moves on every day and it is crucial that your children are present every day to engage in learning with their peers. When students are absent, especially for multiple days, they are missing learning experiences that are unable to be made up. Please help us reinforce the importance of regular attendance, set routines, and provide encouragement. If your child exhibits challenges in attending school regularly, please do not hesitate to reach out to us so that we can partner. These conversations often provide valuable insights into your child's needs and challenges, allowing for more tailored support. Our school community is only complete when every child is present.
Outside Food and Drink -We ask our scholars to not bring any outside food or drink into the school. They can not order food and have it delivered to the school. It causes a disruption in instruction time and routines in our building.
How to turn off/limit your child’s phone during the day-Cell phones and Social Media can be a very good resource or can cause some issues for our scholars. Many parents have asked me to help them manage their child’s technology. While I am not the most adept tech person, I do appreciate this desire to have a little more control over kids’ access to technology during the day and/or night. Here is some quick and easy information but I would also reach out to your parent friends/acquaintances to see how they manage their kids’ technology and social media. It helps greatly for parents to have oversight and control as kids greatly struggle with their addiction to their devices and social media is simply just tough for kids, particularly in middle school.
Turn off iPhones- You can cut your kid off by enabling Downtime in the OS. Located in the Screen Time settings, Downtime makes an iPhone more like a regular phone: Kids can still call, text, FaceTime, and use any apps you allow, such as a music-streaming app. But you can also turn off everything but the calling feature if you wish. You can enable Screen Time on your kid’s phone and protect the settings with a passcode, or you can remotely manage your kid’s phone by setting everyone up on Family Sharing.
- Go to Settings on your kid’s phone.
- Tap Screen Time.
- Tap Use Screen Time Passcode and enter a passcode (this locks the setting so kids can’t change it back).
- Tap on Downtime, toggle it on, and set a Start and End Time.
- If you want to turn off messaging and FaceTime during Downtime, go to Screen Time/Always Allowed/Allowed Apps and remove them.
- If you want to manage your kid’s phone using your phone, first set up Family Sharing and then enable Screen Time settings.
Turn off Android phones
Google’s Family Link app allows you to schedule a time for the phone to be off, such as bedtime. But you can also completely lock the device so kids can’t even get into it. Family Link requires two downloads, one for your phone and one for your kid’s.
- Download the Family Link for Parents app on your phone (available for iOS or Android).
- Download the Family Link for Children & Teens on your kid’s phone (available for Android only).
- On your phone, create a family manager account.
- Once your kid’s profile is set up, select Bedtime and set the time your kid can’t use their phone.
- If you want to completely shut down your kid’s device, go to their profile and tap “lock.”
Also having conversations with your children regarding being responsible with using their phones and social media would go a long way.
Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teachers, counselors or myself if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support of our collective work!
Thank you for being a part of the Grizzly family.
Your Partner in Education,
Mrs. Collins
253 945 5100
Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night
Please mark your calendars and join us for
Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night
on March 5th from 5 pm to 6 pm.
Doors open @ 4:45pm
Presentation will begin promptly at 5pm.
Agenda will include:
Intro of 6th grade teachers and specialists
School Programs
Electives for 6th graders
“Tid Bits”
Question and Answer session
Look forward to seeing you and your families!
Noche para padres entrantes de sexto grado
Por favor marque sus calendarios y únase a nosotros para
Noche para padres entrantes de sexto grado
el 5 de marzo de 17 a 18 horas.
puertas se abren a las 4:45 p.m.
La presentación comenzará puntualmente a las 5 p.m.
La agenda incluirá:
Introducción de profesores y especialistas de 6to grado. Programas escolares
Electivas para estudiantes de 6to grado
“Pedacitos de actualidad”
Sesión de preguntas y respuestas
¡Esperamos verlos a ustedes y a sus familias!
The Science of Learning
Parents sometimes assume that most of the teaching their child receives is “based on” or “informed by” research. In some cases, it is. At the moment, there is a movement spreading across the globe – from the UK, to Australia, to pockets of the United States - around what is called the “science of learning.” Science of learning practitioners are taking back the profession by looking past the buzz words and fads to focus on what research has shown to be effective.
But not everyone is aware of the science of learning movement, and not everyone cares. Some would rather just keep doing what they’re doing, which largely equates to Googling resources and making things up on the fly. It’s believed that every teacher is a “professional” who should make all of their own decisions without screening these decisions against what research has shown to be effective. Others may think they already teach with research-based methods.
This weekend I met with over 350 teachers to talk about the science of learning. My presentation included advice on how to sustain attention, manage cognitive load, and facilitate effortful practice. In the coming weeks, I am going to be working to bring this information – scientific knowledge that is in high demand among a small contingent of schools – to our staff in every way I know possible. Our students deserve an education that is aligned with the science of learning.
Zach Groshell, Ph.D.
Instructional Coach
Evergreen Middle School
