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Spring greetings and warm April wishes to you and your families. For you baseball fans, spring break is equivalent to the seventh inning stretch. With our return to school this week, we enter the final two months of this school year and some of the most important weeks and events of the year. April provides us with the important opportunity to settle back into our schedule before state testing begins later this month.
Collectively, we are focused on finishing strong as we enter this final quarter of the year. We are proud of the multifaceted growth that our STARs have made this year but we have a lot to do to fully realize our collective potential. To continue the sports metaphors, we expect our students to accelerate and sprint across the approaching finish line. As a school, our expectations will continue to rise. This includes the basic expectations of our North Way (safe, responsible, and respectful) and the utmost academic effort needed to mature into each student's next chapter of 7th grade, 8th grade, and high school. Your continued partnership in upholding these expectations is valued and appreciated as we work together in support of our STARs.
Below are important calendar reminders and a variety of updates related to this month and beyond. Thank you in advance to taking time to review this information.
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State Testing Begins in Late April
We are now only a few weeks from the start of this year's state testing. Also referred to as the SBAs (Smarter Balanced Assessments) and/or WCAS (Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science), these assessments occur each spring as part of a statewide effort to gauge grade level proficiency in reading, writing, math, and science.
As a school, our first day of state assessments will be Tuesday, April 30th as part of a two day focus on the English Language Arts, Computer Adaptive Test. We will then focus on one test per week across the following four weeks, with make-up testing occurring on off days for students who were absent. Our schoolwide schedule is as follows.
- 4/30 + 5/1: English Language Arts (ELA) Computer Adaptive Test
- 5/7 + 5/8: English Language Arts (ELA) Performance Task
- 5/14 + 5/15: WCAS/Science Test (8th grade only)
- 5/21 + 5/22: Math Computer Adaptive Test
- 5/28: Math Performance Task
Over the coming weeks, we will begin preparing our students for these tests through tutorials and practice sessions designed to help them become familiar with the online test platform. Please look for additional information in mid-April as we focus-in on our first assessments later this month.
Parent University Information
Founded by our Everett Public Schools, Parent University provides families with a variety of learning, collaboration, and support opportunities including events, community forums, and on-demand videos pertaining to a wide range of topics. This month, Parent University is hosting two events of note, outlined below for your consideration.
Parent Series - Natural Leaders and CTE Collaboration Event: This is a partnership event with Everett Public School’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) where participants will learn about the opportunities for students to explore in-demand career pathways.
- Date: Friday, April 19th
- Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm
- Format: In-Person at the EPS Community Resource Center (CRC)
- Flyer and registration will be forthcoming
Parent Orientation (Rescheduled): This event is for interested and current Natural Leader families to learn about the Natural Leaders program.
- Date: Friday, April 26th
- Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm or 5:30pm to 7:30pm
- Format: In-Person at the EPS Community Resource Center (CRC)
- Registration required:
- English Registration Link: https://bit.ly/NLparents_English
- Spanish Registration Link: https://bit.ly/NLparent_Spanish
- Interpretation services available for both sessions.
- Child services available only for the evening session.
