PMSA Weekly Update

September 29, 2023

From the Principal's Office

We are excited to report that today wrapped up STAR Reading and Math testing in all grade levels. This assessment will be given three times this school year: fall, winter and spring. This test has several useful metrics that students, parents, teachers, and administrators can use as one action step in focusing academic growth.

For example, one of the reports available is the Percentile Rank (PR) report. A student's percentile rank will provide a measure of a student's reading and math ability compared to other students in the same grade nationally equal to or lower than the score of a particular student. In other words, a student with a PR of 85 performed as well as or better than 85% of other students nationally in the same grade.

Another useful report is the Scaled Score (SS) report. This is calculated based on the difficulty of questions and the number of correct responses. Because the same range is used for all students, scaled scores can be used to compared student performance across all grade levels.

There are plenty of additional ways for us to drill down into the data to adapt instruction to the needs of our learners, and we plan to use it with fidelity. As such, in our goal for continued partnership with families and stakeholders, we will be sharing the test reports from STAR with each student, and we will be emailing them to their families as well.

On a final note, I'd like to give a big shout-out to the PMSA English and Math teachers, who ensured that we had excellent participation for the STAR Fall Assessment in their respective classes by almost all our students over the past two weeks.

Sincerely,

Cristin Chiganos

cchiganos@pths209.org

Bring your Parent to School Day

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On Thursday September 28, parents/guardians were invited to our Bring Your Parent to School Day.

We were really excited to showcase the fabulous things that our teachers do on a daily basis to enrich the lives of our students, while making the learning process thoughtful, engaging, fun, and rigorous.

Parents/guardians were able to walk through the halls with their students and remember what it was like being a high school student.

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Staff/Student Spotlight

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Mr. Pablo Garcia

Mr. Garcia (Pablo) is in his second year of teaching in the Foreign Language Department. He has taught Adv Spanish 3 Immersion as well as IB Year 1 and Year 2 of Spanish Language A last year. This year he is teaching the same classes with the addition of Spanish 2 Immersion.

Pablo is one of the five soccer coaches for Proviso West Men’s Soccer and will be sponsoring Raza Unidos during the second half of the school year. He would also like to give the Robotics team a shout out for the amazing time that he had with them last year.

Q: What do you love most about teaching here at PMSA?

A: The World Language Department, my new-teacher cohort from last year, and last, but not least, my students!

Q: What has been your most memorable moment while teaching here at PMSA?

A: I would say the most memorable moment was when a parent thanked me for assigning their daughter the final project. My Immersion classes, mostly made up of Hispanic first-generation students, were given the task to interview their parents and write biographies about them. They learned about their family histories and their parent’s lives before they came to the United States. That parent appreciated that this project made their relationship stronger and more open.

Q: What is an interesting fact that many do not know about you?

A: Everybody knows I love Peppa (my five-pound yorkie), but what they do not know is that I originally returned her because I did not think she was cute enough. As I reflect on my actions, I have realized that I do not deserve her unconditional love. Sorry Peppa!

Q: What book (s) are you currently reading?

A: I am currently reading El laberinto de la soledad by Octavio Paz. I like this book because it is written from the perspective of a child that has migrated to Mexico from Los Angeles- the inverse of what we usually hear about with children migrating to the US through the southern border.

Q: Is there anything that you would like to tell the school community about yourself?

A: I am in Room 200 and have an open-door policy, so please stop by if you would like to know anything else.

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Yizel Rodriguez

Yizel Rodriguez is a senior at PMSA.

Q: What is your most memorable moment as a student at PMSA?

A: I loved coming back as a sophomore after the pandemic. It really felt like our sophomore year was our freshman year as a high school student. I remember spirit week being so fun and everyone participating.

Q: What do you love most about PMSA?

A: When I ate lunch in the cafeteria, I loved the nachos.

Q: What are your plans post high school?

A: I want to major in nursing and become a traveling nurse. I have always loved helping people and I would like to make a positive impact.

Q: What is your number 1 college choice?

A: I would like to go to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Q: What is your favorite subject(s)

A: English and Forensics.

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime (I love romance novels).