The Southlawn Scoop

Dear Families,

I have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming students, staff and faculty back to the buildings this year! It was great to see so many of you at our Curriculum Night last week. Although it’s just the fourth full week of school, students are already accustomed to classroom routines and learning how to navigate the school day, including the transitions to lunch, recess, and specials. Students are eager to enter school each day and arrive with a smile, which is a great indication that we’re off to a great start! As we head into the month of October, I want to share a couple of reminders for all our families around arrival procedures and use of technology in school.

ARRIVAL PROCEDURES

Across our district, we continue to improve safety and security during morning arrival each year. The purpose is twofold:

• To ensure that each child is welcomed by a staff member as soon as they depart a bus or leave an adult

• To increase efficiency of our arrival procedures

When you drop your child off, please adhere to the guidance of school staff to access drop-off locations. During drop-off, school staff may offer to open your car door to help your child exit the care safely and quickly. Students dropped off by buses will be restricted to the bus drop-off area. If you stop your vehicle for a long period of time to walk your child to the front doors, please pull into an appropriate parking spot or secure street parking.

USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS (i.e., Smart Watches)

Based on feedback from staff, our administrative team has worked to implement a collective push district-wide to ensure building policies on phone/mobile device usage are aligned. This alignment will develop cohesion throughout the district, minimize classroom distractions and create better and more engaged learners with more focused listening habits. We know even the sight of devices can adversely affect focus for some students.

In our K-3 buildings, phones/devices/smartwatches should not be used. They must be stored in lockers for the duration of the school day. If a student needs to call their family and vice-versa, a phone in the main office or their classrooms can be used. Our devices are powerful tools, but they can sometimes be distractions and lead to disruptions. For these reasons, smartwatches and phones must be kept outside the classroom.

I am excited for all the great events that this month will bring, such as our upcoming Trunk or Treat event and Halloween Parade, and for the growth your children will make as they learn to become a kind human, reader, writer and mathematician.

In partnership,

Jake Shirley

• Principal: Jake Shirley| jake_shirley@westiron.monroe.edu
• Secretary: Melissa Vella | melissa_vella@westiron.monroe.edu
• Main office: 585-266-5070 - (Call this number to report an absence)
• Fax: 585-336-3097
• Website: https://southlawn.westirondequoit.org/
• Health Office: 585-336-4714

Transportation: 585-336-2992

District Office: 585-342-5500 | District website: westirondequoit.org

OCTOBER

10/10 - Go Home Early Drill - Students Dismissed at 2:55 p.m.

10/11 - NO SCHOOL - Superintendent Conference Day

10/14 - NO SCHOOL - Indigenous People's/Christopher Columbus Day

10/18 PTSA Family Event - Trunk or Treat 6:00-7:30 p.m.

10/31 - Halloween Parade 2:30 p.m.

NOVEMBER

11/1 - Picture Make-Up Day

11/11 - NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

11/15 - GR 1-3 Report Cards Available on Parent Portal

11/26 - K-12 Parent/Teacher Conference Day - NO SCHOOL

11/27-29 - Thanksgiving Recess - NO SCHOOL

Greetings and happy school year from the Office of Instruction! Hopefully your student has enjoyed the start of the year and is settling in with their new classroom community. Each building has been lively and full of joy as students have embarked on their learning adventure for 2024-25.

We’d like to share our planned transition from the four quarterly Report Cards K-6 students receive to students receiving three Report Cards (Fall, Winter, Spring) starting in the 2025-26 school year.

This decision comes after multiple years of research and evaluation of our current K-6 Report Card. The process began in the 2019-2020 school year when we convened a Report Card Committee (RCC) consisting of teachers and families. In January 2020, we emailed a survey to K-6 families and had more than 360 responses. The major themes that emerged from the feedback was the desire for comments to be more personalized to each student and specific content areas, and to have a better understanding of where students are in relation to standards and expectations. Of course, later in March 2020 we experienced the COVID pandemic and the RCC was put on hold so we could focus on efforts on supporting students.

But the past couple of years we have reignited the K-6 RCC to redesign a more informative and family friendly Report Card. In February 2023, we emailed another survey to families and received more than 280 responses. Major themes included a desire for more clarity on what ES, MS, AS mean on K-4 Report Cards, more consistency with how comments are completed, and again more specific information pertaining to a child’s progress. One parent suggested, “Any areas reported as approaching standards should be accompanied by an explanation or suggestions on how parents can assist. Having the specifics helps us give more support at home.”

Taking all of this feedback into mind, throughout the 2023-24 school year, a committee met to review our current K-4 Report Cards and made potential revisions and recommendations that will be put in place for the 2025-26 school year. Those are:

1 – Move from AS, MS, ES on the K-4 Report Cards to 1, 2, 3, 4 rating scale like the picture to the right shows. See Example 1 below.

2 - Provide space for teacher comments after each component of the K-4 Report Card so specific comments can be made regarding student progress in relation to that content area. See Example 2 above.

3 - K-6 Report Cards will be sent out three times per year instead of the current four per year. This is beneficial for a few key reasons:

• More accurate student assessment and feedback: In our case Report Cards would better align to benchmarking schedule. Fewer reports allows more time for teachers to thoroughly assess student progress and provide more meaningful and accurate feedback to students and families regarding their progress.

• Reduced stress for students: A less frequent reporting schedule can relieve pressure on younger students, allowing them to focus more on learning and growth rather than constant evaluations.

• Alignment to curriculum pacing: The earlier part of the school year particularly in K-4 is spent establishing routines and classroom culture with a slightly reduced academic focus. A later first report card gives teacher's time to get into the academic work for a bit longer prior to the first report card.

• Streamlined Parent-Teacher Communication: A later 1st Report Card allows teachers to share information that better aligns to report cards during parent/guardian-teacher conferences.

Again, these changes will not take place until next school year. In the 2025-26 school year, K-4 Report Cards will be freshly revised and will be sent out three times per year. We will keep grades 5-6 Report Cards similar to what they currently look like to help with the transition to Dake, but grade 5-6 Report Cards will also be sent out three times per year in alignment with K-4.

If you have any feedback or questions toward this shift, please complete this form: https://forms.office.com/r/F47NcC5e3J. Our Office of Instruction will follow up with you.

October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month! During the month of October, we encourage students, staff and community to strengthen their healthy habits by trying new strategies. Your family is encouraged to use the Wellness Calendar (see graphic) as a resource to start conversations and increase wellness strategies. Feel free to use the calendar in a way that makes sense for your family! A printable version is available at THIS LINK.

The state-mandated Go Home Early safety drill is for Thursday, Oct. 10th - the start of a four-day weekend. All students will be released 10 minutes earlier than usual. If you pick up your children at school, please arrive 10 minutes early. Expect students who ride buses to arrive 10 minutes early. The K-6 Extension Childcare Program will open early and remain open until 6 PM. Crossing guard schedules also will accommodate.

Note: There is no school on Friday, Oct. 11th (Superintendent’s Conference Day) and Monday, Oct. 14th (Indigenous People’s Day).

• For the District Calendar, click here.
• Find your school calendar (Events Calendar) at this link

Get ready for the entire family to have fun on Saturday, Oct. 5th at Helmer Nature Center’s annual Fall Harvest Festival. A $20 pass is good for everything – including the always popular pony ride, all games and crafts! New this year: Tractor rides and an inflatable obstacle course! Your support helps our district’s “outdoor classroom,” programming year-round! To see HNC’s events schedule, visit them on Facebook: facebook.com/HelmerNatureCenter or their website: bit.ly/HelmerNatureCtr.

Do you:

• Have a new cell phone number or switch carriers recently?

• Have a new email address or new work phone number?

• Need to update your emergency contacts?

• Be sure to keep us informed of any changes to your numbers or emergency contact information. Update it directly on the Infinite Campus Portal, or send in a note with your child.

• TO REACH THE PORTAL, Click here

WHY YOUR MOBILE NUMBER IS CRITICAL?

You must have your mobile number in the MOBILE NUMBER field. Our system does NOT default even if you have just one field filled out (Home/Work/Mobile). If your mobile number is not in the correct field, you will NOT receive text messages from our school/district for emergencies (such as school closings in winter months).

Please remind your children that using a crosswalk is crucial for the safety walking to and from school. By using a crosswalk, accidents are significantly reduced, as drivers are more likely to expect and see pedestrians. The Irondequoit Police Department provides Crossing Guards at strategic locations throughout our district to ensure visibility to motorists. Our District strongly encourages all of our students to use crosswalks to ensure they arrive safely and return home safely as well. Thank you!