SJG Weekly Update

September 18, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians:

We are pleased to cordially invite you to attend Stephen J. Gerace’s Virtual Back to School Night on September 24th at 7:00 P.M. Teachers will be conducting two, informational sessions via Zoom to acclimate you to expectations for the 2020-21 school year. Each session will include the same information, therefore you may choose to attend the session that best fits your schedule. The schedule will be as follows:

7:00 - 7:15 P.M., Session 1: K-5 classroom teachers

7:15 - 7:30 P.M., Session 2: Special area teachers, special education, interventionists, related service providers, guidance

7:30 - 7:45 P.M., Session 3: K-5 classroom teachers

7:45 - 8:00 P.M., Session 4: Special area teachers, special education, interventionists, related service providers, guidance

Zoom links will be shared by teachers in advance of the evening and any relevant information will be emailed to you. The school nurse and I will be available for consultation and conversation to answer any questions you may have. Please contact us directly to arrange for a time to virtually meet at Jacqueline.Griffith@pequannock.org or Matthew.Reiner@pequannock.org.

Please remember that Back to School Night is a night for parents to learn more about the overall school experience for students. We kindly ask that children do not participate in the teacher sessions. If you have specific questions regarding your child, please contact the teacher directly to arrange a separate time to discuss any individual concerns you may have.

Your continued support is appreciated and we look forward to a productive school year ahead.

Sincerely,

Matthew Reiner
Principal

The school year is underway and I hope you and your children are all adjusting well to hybrid and/or remote learning.

I am excited to share that our district is implementing a Mathematics diagnostic and instructional tool in grades K-8 called i-Ready. Below, you will find information about the tool and how we will be using it in the classroom.

What is i-Ready?

i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic support to keep your child engaged as they learn.

As a district, we understand the importance of math instruction and meeting the individual needs of our students, especially during these unprecedented times. In order to gain authentic data from our students, we will be administering the diagnostic exam three times this year. The first one, which will provide baseline data, will be administered next week (see schedule below).

Due to the current hybrid environment, the first diagnostic assessment will be administered while our students are in the remote setting. Therefore, it is extremely important that parents, guardians and caregivers are aware of the diagnostic and ways in which you can and should support your student. Before taking this assessment, our staff will be meeting with students to explain its purpose, review expectations, and provide tips to help students do their best. There's also a short video that you can watch here.

This is NOT a test, nor will it count as a grade. Its purpose is to assess the students' mathematical knowledge, highlight areas of strength, and provide guidance on areas where remediation or extra practice is necessary. It is a tool to support our teachers in addressing the individual needs of their students. It is very important that our students take the diagnostic on their own and that you do not help your child. Please do not assist your child with answering assessment questions, as this may lead to the online lessons not being at the right level for your child or may lead to their teacher receiving inaccurate information. I know you may feel tempted to help, especially if you see your child struggling, but we ask that you please let them complete it on their own. Our staff will be addressing these concerns with the students as well so they know we are only asking them to do their best. We want to make every effort to provide the most effective math instruction for our students. We thank you for your continued support.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can also learn more about i-Ready by visiting i-ReadyCentral.com/FamilyCenter.

Diagnostic Schedule*

Kindergarten Diagnostic is three 20 minute sessions

9/23, 9/24/ 9/25 during the 2:00pm block

First Grade Diagnostic is two 20-30 minute sessions

9/22, 9/23 during the 2:00pm block

2nd thru 5th Grade Diagnostic is two 45-50 minute sessions*

9/22, 9/23 (9/24 if additional time is needed) during the 2:00pm block

*Please note that schedules may need to be adjusted based on teacher and student absences.

I am very happy that we were able to take school pictures. I want to thank the SJG HSA for overseeing and running the picture days. It went extremely smooth with student health as a priority. Our students did great and I am sure the pictures will turn out amazing!

Please make sure that if you are borrowing a device that it comes with your child to school (fully charged) if your child is in the blue or gold cohort. We do not have enough chromebooks in the building to have one for each student while home and at school.

If you are in need of technical support, please contact techhelp@pequannock.org. If you need to exchange a malfunctioning device, please send the device back to school with your child.

The HSA is hosting it’s 4th annual cornhole. This is a big fundraiser for SJG and a nice night out for parents. If you are interested, click here!

There will be a SEPAC Meeting on Tuesday, September 29th at 7pm on Zoom.

Please call the office if your child is going to be absent. Informing the teachers via Remind or email does not guarantee that the office knows. Please call the attendance line.

Email: Matthew.reiner@pequannock.org
Website: sjg.pequannock.org
Location: 59 Boulevard, Pequannock Township, NJ, USA
Phone: 973-305-5615
Twitter: @SJGPride