The RAMbler

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.

Theodore Roosevelt

Education not just preparation for life, but part of life itself – a continuous art.

Henry Ford

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

Alexander Graham Bell

Welcome to April and our very important testing season. We will begin with ELA CAASPP next week, have a break for Track Meet, then continue with Math CAASPP. As much as we can discuss standardized testing, the reality is that schools and communities are judged by these scores. The higher the scores, the more a school is viewed as prestigious. A highly prestigious school, increases the property values being served by that school. We have done amazing work this year here at Pleasant Hill Middle School by using data cycles to monitor students and to inform instruction. We have pushed literacy across all content areas and have targeted specific strategies to challenge and engage students. It is important for all of us to have the brilliance of our students reflected in our CAASPP scores. To support that work please ensure that your child gets plenty of rest, has a good breakfast, and puts their greatest effort into showing what they know. We have the best students and I look forward to seeing our amazing growth when our results are released!

We know that these are challenging tests for students, they require endurance and hard work. To support students trying their best, PTSA has purchased snack bars for each student as they begin a testing session and some sweets to be given out while testing for those working diligently. We also are having our first ever testing kick off Rally this Thursday to build some excitement and energy. Finally, for students that increase their scores, all content areas will be giving an academic incentive and we are planning for a pizza party for various levels of growth and achievement.

All the Grade Level teams are working to ensure that students understand what the CAASPP questions are actually asking by reviewing these key Academic Vocabulary terms. These will appear on every test that your child will take now and in their future so feel free to review.

With our goal of Connectedness, we wanted a way for parents to know what their children were working on in each of their classes. As of today, you can go to our website https://pleasanthillmiddle.mdusd.org/ and right next to where this newsletter is posted you will see "Monthly Curricular Focus" with a link here showing current and upcoming work.

April 24 - Minimum Day for PD - CAASPP Student Rally

April 28 - May 2 - ELA CAASPP

May 7 -May 9 - Track Meet

May 12 -16 - Math CAASPP

May 13 - Triathlon

May 14 - PTSA General Meeting

May 15 - 8th Grade Panoramic Picture

May 21 - Open House and Multi-Cultural Festival

May 26 - Memorial Day Holiday

May 30 - 8th Grade Breakfast

- 8th Grade Promotion Dance

June 2 - 8th Grade Awards

- 8th Grade BBQ and Pool Party

June 3 - Minimum Day Dismissal at 12:28

- 8th Grade Promotion

https://pleasanthillmiddle.mdusd.org/