Nolan News

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We have been very busy at Nolan since returning from our December break. The students have completed the iReady mid-year progress monitoring assessment and our 4th and 5th grade students have been gearing up for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl competition. Our instructional coaches have hit the ground running working to refine and improve how we work with the scholars at Nolan. Our PBIS committee and groups of dedicated staff members joined forces to enhance the framework of our Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (many of you know this as PBIS). The goal of this group is to lead our charge in improving and maintaining a positive school climate. A few years ago, the teachers at Nolan shifted their focus of discipline toward recognizing positive behavior by celebrating adherence to our SWAG expectations. When students do not behave and proper behavior is not reinforced, we all face a struggle in school, at home, and in the community.

As we enter second semester, we are maintaining many of our approaches as well as adding to our repertoire of methods and strategies we employ to teach both the social and emotional skills necessary to be cooperative and productive in the school setting. We can dramatically affect the way our students face challenges, disappointment, and confusion for themselves as well as gaining in empathy for their peers. Through a strong school climate (a feeling of safety, respect, engagement in learning, a shared vision, and an investment from all parties), attendance rates and academic achievement can improve for everyone.

Let’s finish the year strong!!

Write Score:

All 3rd, 4th & 5th graders will participate in the Write Score Assessment Jan. 18th – 20th. What is Write score? It is a writing assessment where the format includes: Paired passage set; 3 multiple choice questions, 1 constructed response and 1 extended writing response It also: Serves as a benchmark assessment; Measure students’ standard proficiency; Serves as a predictor of future performances on standardized criterion-referenced assessments; and it is NOT used to determine a student’s grade. The genres are: 3rd & 4th grades – Opinion and 5th grade Informational.

This month I will share these affirmation statements that you can use to boost your child’s self-esteem and promote positive self-talk during the Winter Season. Why are positive affirmations important? Positive affirmations are phrases you repeat to yourself to improve how you feel about life. The goal is to take away the negative thinking so that you can achieve at all things.

This month positive affirmations to practice…

• I am in charge of my life and I feel happy

• I am warm inside even if it’s cold outside

• I am safe

• I deserve everything good

• I can choose to feel content

• I am strong no matter the weather

• The season does not define me, I am in control of my thoughts

• I am allowed to rest

• Winter is a time for self-care and relaxation

• There is beauty in winter

Here’s to a wonderful Winter SEASON!

Welcome Back from a well-deserved break!! As we settle back into our routines, please ensure that scholars are prepared for the school day with the necessary tools for success. For our pre-kindergarten scholars, we can prepare them as well with a good night's rest and a review of previously taught skills. As you can see, the role of our parents is a crucial component in the development of young children, especially young children with disabilities. For any program to be successful a partnership between parents and teachers working toward common goals as a team is a must.

The very early years are possibly the most critical period of development in the life of a child with a disability. If you have questions or concerns about the developmental progression of your scholar, he or she can be referred for a comprehensive developmental assessment and consideration for special education eligibility and services. For further information about when it may be appropriate to be referred for an evaluation or for further information regarding the Preschool Diagnostic process, please contact spiveya@fultonschools.org.

Setting Goals in Math as a Family!!

As we embark on a new semester in the new year, take time to reflect on your scholar’s progress. All of the scholars have completed their IReady Diagnostic, which determines their growth in the area of math. It is imperative that you have discussions with your scholar to determine area(s) of growth, set goals, and actively seek to accomplish the goal. Goals are easily attained when we do the following as a family:

· Collaborate with the student on areas of growth

· Set reasonable goals and discuss the steps to success

· Monitor the goal

· Reflect on your progress

Parental involvement will have a significant impact on the student’s progress

Greetings Parents and Happy 2023,

I trust you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season. It’s a brand-new year, let’s spend some reading and set some goals. Reading has multiple benefits:

• Exercise for the brain
• Free entertainment
• Improved concentration and focus
• Reduces stress

In our K-2 classrooms, our focus will be on small group instruction. Receiving instruction in a small group allows the classroom teachers and scholars to be in an interactive learning environment. Teachers can listen to children read, provide corrective and enriching feedback that will support our scholars in becoming strong readers. During this time, instruction will be on phonics and practicing those skill using decodable readers. Most educators believe “this is where the reading magic happens”.

While teachers are working their magic, parents here is a reading challenge for you. I challenge you to read at least 5 books this month (one book each week) to your scholars in K-2 and read along with your 3-5 scholars for 1 hour. As you are reading with your K-2 scholars, make sure they can identify the characters, setting problem and solution of the book you are reading. With your 3-5 scholars, have them to identify the main idea and supporting details of the text, summarize what they have read and have them generate questions they can ask you and you have questions they can answer. Spending time with your child to reach this goal has one other added benefit; you get to spend some quality time with your scholar. As always, if you need books to read at home, please shot me an email at dawsonp1@fultonschools.organd I will send some books home by your scholar.

Location: 2725 Creel Road, Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone: 4702547950