Terrific TWs Tidbits

Dear Fire Prairie Families,

October is just around the corner...next week! And October is always a very busy month for schools! For Fire Prairie, we have fall picture day coming up on Thursday, October 3 (see info below). This picture will be used for our annual yearbook that is also available to order now (see info below). October also brings the end of the first quarter and fall parent/teacher/STUDENT conferences. In the next couple of days, your homeroom teacher will be sending you available conference times for Tuesday, October 22, Wednesday, October 23, or Thursday, October 24. This is a very important conference for you attend to be engaged in your student's educational journey at FP. I urge you to make an appointment to do this conference with your student and his/her teacher.

Thank you for being an engaged adult in your student's educational journey! We appreciate all you are doing to help your student be success ready for school and life!

Have an incredible weekend!

Respectfully,

Dr. Baker

Suzanne Baker, Ed.D., Principal

Tuesday, October 1 from 5:00-8:00 PM

Thursday, October 3!

PBS (Positive Behaviors & Supports) Bites

Fire Prairie is a PBS school that has been repeatedly recognized by the state of MO as a Gold Level School in providing positive structures, expectations, and supports for our students! For the next few weeks I will highlight our "PAWS-itive" structures for students to experience, participate in and earn!

FORT Way

F - Focus on learning

O - Own our behavior

R - Respect others

T - Think Safety

PBS “FORT Way” Language

• “What did you do to earn that PAWSitive ticket?”

• “Thank you for walking on the right side of the hallway.”

• “Thank you for using the “F” in FORT Way by being an active participant with your ears and eyes.”

• “I like the way you are being respectful with your “1” voice level. That is a wonderful example of using the “R” in the FORT Way.

PAWSitive Tickets (PAWSitive Pop Up Store)

• Earned when students use the FORT Way.

• Can be earned in all settings of the school environment.

• “You earned this ticket by…” (Specific Positive Feedback)

• Students will be responsible for keeping their own tickets in a baggie (Provided)

• PAWSitive tickets will be used to purchase individual incentives

• Coupon purchases will occur Tuesday mornings (5th) and Thursday mornings (6th)

FORT Way Incentive

• Each homeroom class has the letters “F-O-R-T W-A-Y”

• When a class receives specific positive feedback (6:1) from someone for using the FORT Way, that class will display one of the FORT Way letters in their classroom. When a homeroom has all the FORT Way letters displayed in their room, that class will enjoy their success with an incentive selected by the students. A PAW will be posted on the progress wall in the trophy case after a homeroom completes the FORT Way in their room.

• Students will earn a FORT Way letter each day by meeting the daily lunch room goal.

• When all classes in a pack have FORT Way, that pack will enjoy their success with an incentive selected by students.

• When all classes in each grade level have FORT Way displayed in their rooms, the 5th and 6th grade will enjoy their success with a school wide incentive.

Leader of the Pack

Teachers will nominate two students per pack for Leader of the Pack for meeting the criteria outlined below. Please refer to Fort Osage’s Profile of a Graduate for additional information for each criteria.

Month

September - introducing and providing lessons on being Self Aware

October - Self Aware - recognizing students for being self-aware

Critical Thinker - introducing and providing lessons on

November/ December - Critical Thinker - recognizing students for being critical thinkers

Collaborator - introducing and providing lessons on

January - Collaborator - recognizing students for being collaborators

Communicator - introducing and providing lessons on

February - Communicator - recognizing students for being effective communicators

Contributing Citizen - introducing and providing lessons on

March - Contributing Citizen - recognizing students for being contributing citizens to our school community

Career Ready - introducing and providing lessons on

April/May - Career Ready - recognizing students for working on skills to be career ready

Respect Others - introducing and providing lessons on

April/May - Respect Others - recognizing students for being respectful to others

Students nominated as leader of the pack will be recognized at monthly grade level assemblies.

FORT Time

• FORT Time will occur during advisory on Mondays.

BIST - Is about teaching skills...is about grace & accountability

• 3 Goals for Life

• I can make good choices even if I am mad.

• I can be okay even if others are not okay.

• I can do something even if I don’t want to. (or if it’s too hard)

• Safe seat = Reset the brain for learning

Fire Prairie Families,

It is incredibly important for students to be at school every day and on time every day. School begins at 8:15 AM and our doors open at 7:55 AM each morning.

Did you know the State of Missouri holds schools accountable for their student attendance rate? In fact, Missouri requires schools to have at least a 90% attendance rate every year. This means, every student must be at school for at least 90% of the school year.

Surprisingly, a student’s attendance rate can fall below 90% very quickly. The table below explains how quickly your child’s attendance rate can fall below 90% just within the first quarter of the school year. Even if a student arrives after 8:15 AM, they are considered late and those missed instructional minutes quickly add up to a full day absence.

Quarter 1

August 23 - October 20

40 total instructional days

In Quarter 1, if your child has missed: 4 or less days of school 90% or higher

Then, their attendance percentage is: 90% or higher

This means they have been at school for: 36 or more days out of 40 days total

In Quarter 1, if your child has missed: 5 days of school

Then, their attendance percentage is: 87%

This means they have been at school for: 35 or more days out of 40 days total

In Quarter 1, if your child has missed: 6 days of school

Then, their attendance percentage is: 85%

This means they have been at school for: 34 or more days out of 40 days total

In Quarter 1, if your child has missed: more than 6 days of school

Then, their attendance percentage is: Less than 85%%

This means they have been at school for: 35 or more days out of 40 days total

Ultimately, a school’s attendance rate influences the overall accreditation of a school district as it impacts the points earned in the Annual Performance Report. In the Fort Osage School District, and specifically at Fire Prairie Upper Elementary, our attendance rate has not reached 90% for the past couple of years.

We need your help! We need your help in making sure your child is at school every day and on time every day- unless your child is sick or has a situation that would not warrant your child to attend school that day.

If attendance is a concern for your child, please reach out to our social worker (Beth Price), our counselor (Chantay Van Winkle/Gr 5 or Laura Jones/Gr 6), or one of the principals (Suzanne Baker, Caleb Clawson/Gr 5, or Rachel Barzee/Gr 6) to identify ways to ensure your child is at school every day and on time every day.

For all students to graduate success ready, our focus must be on learning! It is why we have schools and students attend each day! We want students to master the priority standards before moving on to the next grade level. We also know that work-life skills are just as important to find success as students work to earn credit in high school and to be successful after graduation.

Preparing ALL Students to Be Success Ready at FP involves both Standards Mastery (mastery of the state expected grade level standards) and Grades. To master the standards relates to students having learned it and demonstrated understanding of the standard. Students earn grades based on meeting deadlines and completing quality work.

Students in grade 5 & 6 earn letter grades in ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Band in addition to their standards mastery achievement scores.

FP Grading Procedures:

• At FP, you should expect to see one grade per CORE class entered each week. Those grades will be entered by Friday of each week. Science and Social Studies will be rotated each week, so both will not receive an entered grade weekly.
• Students will experience in class assignments, exit tickets, and quizzes that will be graded. These are considered to be part of our formative assessments that help us know how students are understanding and performing during the unit.
• There will also be summative-type assessments, such as a unit test or unit project.
• If a student should choose to complete a re-do of a test or project, the student must have no missing assignments that are connected to that unit. The learning and assignments that occurred during the unit must be attempted and completed in order for a re-do to be considered.
• Once a unit is completed, assignments cannot be submitted as late work.

Each student receives a planner and is expected to write assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, etc. into the planner daily during Advisory time in their homeroom class. Teachers provide these items for them to write each day. As adults, many of us use planners or calendars and this is an organizational tool to help students manage time and meet deadlines. Ask your student to see their planner...you should also see the tracking of attendance in their planner.

Parents can support their children by checking Parent Portal weekly to see grades. I encourage you to have reflective conversations with your student about grades they are earning. Please know that students are taught to check their attendance, missing assignments, and grades each morning during Advisory. As an adult, we check and use different technology tools for our bank accounts, bills, planners/calendars, etc., and so we work on appropriate-level tools for our grade 5/6 students to learn and use to help them be informed and organized in their life. You can always ask your student to show you their Infinite Campus grades and/or attendance and their Google classroom assignments and missing assignments.

If you have questions about a posted grade or missing assignment, please reach out to your student's teacher of that class. If you want to learn how to use these tools, please come to our FP Success Ready Night on Thursday, September 12at 5:00 PM and attend the Technology Session!