Evergreen Middle School

Hello Evergreen Friends and Families,

Welcome back from spring break. The return from break means that we are beginning the 4th and final quarter of the school year. Our time together is going very quickly. Before long, we will be saying goodbye to our 8th graders and their families. Our final sports season for this year has begun and is in full swing. We are in our first week of practices. Those student athletes who are participating in a Spring sport, keep on practicing. Best wishes to all of our teams for a successful season. We know the will make us proud in their collective sports. The games will begin soon, come out and support our athletes.

Daily conversations sharpen higher-order thinking skills. What kind of thinker is your middle schooler? Can your child tackle a tricky assignment in a clever way? Does your child weigh all sides of an issue before picking a position? Will your child give a reasoned opinion about something when asked? If the answers are no, no and no, don’t worry! Like other skills, your child’s thinking skills can be sharpened over time. To foster deeper thinking: • Engage in conversation. Don’t gloss over the issues of the day when sitting down to dinner. Really discuss them. Ask questions about the things your child has seen online or heard on the news. It may prompt your child to consider those topics more deeply. • Ask open-ended questions. When possible, avoid asking your child questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Instead, ask questions that are more likely to lead to a thoughtful response. “What has your science teacher said about the climate?” may result in a more detailed answer than, “Did you talk about anything interesting in science class today?” • Read a news article to your child or watch the news together. Ten, ask for your child’s opinion about specific topics in it. • Avoid quizzing. Boosting your middle schooler’s analytical thinking skills shouldn’t seem like school. Keep your exchanges casual and friendly.

Our testing window began April 9th and will run through June 7th. During this testing window our scholars will be testing on iReady reading, math and the state test (SBA). i-Ready is an online program for reading and mathematics that will help your student’s teacher(s) determine student’s needs, personalize their learning, and monitor progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows our teacher(s) to meet your student exactly where they are and provides data to increase your student’s learning gains. They will be tested on their reading and math skills. The Smarter Balance Assessment (SBA) utilizes computer-based tests and performance tasks that allow students to show what they know and are able to do in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics. It is based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA and mathematics and has three components designed to support teaching and learning throughout the year: the summative assessments, the interim assessments, and the Tools for Teachers formative assessment resources. Your child's teacher will share the specific test schedule for their class. Since these tests are not timed, some students will spend a large part of the day testing, so please plan around those dates for appointments. Please note that we will be giving students frequent breaks throughout each test session. It is our goal that students have the optimal conditions for taking all assessments.

We are excited to announce the launch of our inaugural Attendance Cup competition, April 8th – May 31st.

​

Our theme is “Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow!”

​

In alignment to our Strategic Plan Goal 2: Whole Child, we are launching a campaign to engage our scholars and families for attendance; collective effort aimed at increasing and celebrating school attendance. As we all know, regular attendance is crucial for academic success and personal growth. This campaign is designed to make attendance not only a priority but also an enjoyable and rewarding experience for our scholars. The primary goal of the Attendance Cup Campaign is to improve overall school attendance rates by fostering a sense of community, engagement, and excitement around attending school regularly.

​

As always, I appreciate you and truly believe that we will finish this school year Grizzly Strong with your unwavering support. Thank you for being a part of the Grizzly family.

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Collins

lcollins@fwps.org

253 945 5100

As fewer families walk, bike or bus, and more drive their children to school, arrival and departure procedures have become a common safety concern for schools. Too many people want to be in the same place at the same time. High traffic volumes at schools can have the effect of discouraging people from walking, bringing still more vehicles to your school’s doorstep. A chaotic environment immediately before and after school is an educational climate issue as well as a safety hazard. Sometimes called “parent pick-up and drop-off rage,” a high-stress environment in front of the school can negatively impact the learning environment. On the other hand, more families on foot can lead to greater chances for positive interactions, community building, and parent involvement in schools.

Arrival and departure is not just about drop-off and pick-up by car. It also encompasses and prioritizes the experience of the students who walk, take the bus, or ride bikes to school. When we make the environment safer for people on foot, we improve safety for everyone, whether they are walking from home or just from the passenger seat of a bus or car.

When dropping off or picking up children from school, please make sure you are safely using the "desired behaviors" listed in the photo below. DO NOT drop off/pick up students in the middle of the road or do U-turns.

**courtesy of seattle.gov

*Desired Behavior

Park and Walk: When a driver finds a legal place to park outside the school load zone and walks to/from there.

Drop-off/pick-up and go: This is usually the desired behavior in an active drop-off and pick-up zone. Drivers are asked to stay with their vehicles and pull forward as far as possible

**Problem Behavior

Does not pull to curb: This can indicate a speedy or careless exchange on the part of the driver. Uses bus zone: School bus zones are restricted to prevent people from walking between buses, and to minimize exposure to traffic for the large numbers of student passengers.

Wrong direction: Drivers do this when they approach the school on the far side of a two-way street and angle across oncoming traffic to get to the school curb. This behavior is dangerous both on the approach to the curb and the departure.

Parks within 20’ of crosswalk: Parking too close to a corner or crosswalk blocks the line of sight between drivers and pedestrians, increasing the risk of collision.

Parks in load zone: This will stop the flow of a drop-off and pick-up zone, defeating its purpose and causing a domino effect of other bad behaviors.

Loads in travel lane: This is when a driver leaves a full travel lane between the curb and the car, or lets a student off next to another car.

Stops in crosswalk: This can force people walking into moving traffic, and makes walking the final stretch to school difficult and less pleasant.

Blocks sidewalk/walkway: When drivers block a sidewalk or walkway by idling in driveways or pulling onto sidewalks where a curb isn’t present, they might force people to walk in the roadway.

***Highest Risk Behavior

Backs up: In school parking lots, load zones, and adjacent streets, backing up is one of the riskiest driving behaviors. The combination of large cars and children make it more likely that a driver will have difficulty seeing people.

U-turn: U-turns are only legal when they can be done without impeding the travel of another vehicle or person. In busy school zones, this is rarely the case. When combined with midblock crossings, large cars and short students, this is the riskiest behavior in a school zone.

**courtesy of seattle.gov

At this point in my career, I have been to many education conferences. Most of them are the same: you sign in, get your badge, and you face the problem of choosing between dozens of sessions. It’s often said that the best part about these conferences are the times in between sessions, when you get to network with other teachers and eat buffet food. The worst part of these conferences is that the sessions are typically of low quality. It is rare to find yourself in a room where the presenter even bothers to talk about teaching, and even rarer to see the presenter support their arguments with research.

This weekend I had a different experience. For the past several years I have been following an organization called researchED, which produces conferences that aim to link teachers to education research. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars to watch inspirational speakers and career-climbers lead ice-breakers, researchED conferences are cheap (usually around 60 bucks) and no-frills. Each of the sessions are laser-focused on how the latest research can be applied to classroom settings.

In the middle of the day, I hosted a panel consisting of three of my heroes in education: Patrice Bain, Tom Sherrington, and Pedro De Bruyckere. After that, I presented on one of my favorite topics: explanations. The room was packed full of researchers, policy makers, and teachers on the cutting edge of their craft. At the beginning of the session, I asked participants, “How many of you have ever attended a presentation on how to explain stuff better?” Hardly anybody raised their hand. “Well,” I said, “Welcome to researchED”.

Zach Groshell, Ph.D.

Instructional Coach

Evergreen Middle School

zgroshell@fwps.org

Due to the overwhelming number of repeat cell phone violations, we have implemented a new "cell phone drop" policy. What this means is those students who have been identified as repeat cell phone users in class will have to "phone drop" their cell phones in the office first thing in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day. "Phone drop" means scholars enter the building and drop their phone in an envelope with their name & student ID out of their grade level bin each morning and at dismissal. They will repeat this each day for 1 month. Families can also choose to have their child leave their cell phones at home. We are mindful that students need to communicate with their parents. Students always have the right to request calling home using a classroom or office phone

04/16-04/19 Tue-Fri- iReady Math testing. Students, be at school on time!

04/17 Wed- Popcorn Wednesdays! $1 a bag

04/19 Fri- Early Release Friday's, out at 1:15pm

04/24 Wed- WCAS testing- 8th grade ONLY. Students, be at school on time!

04/24 Wed- Popcorn Wednesdays! $1 a bag

04/26 Fri- Early Release Friday's, out at 1:15pm