STAR Testing Dates and Details

STAR testing will be given in the mornings of May 6, May 7, May 13 & May 14 for all grades, and May 8th and 9th for grades 5 & 8.  Parents are asked to please ensure that your student has had a full 8+ hours of sleep prior to testing, has had a nutritious breakfast and is on time to school.  Tardy students will be held in the office until the morning testing period is completed and they must complete make-up testing at another time. Absent students will only have several days to make-up their missed tests so please make all appointments and outings for the afternoons.  
California will continue to mandate the STAR tests this year and next school year.  
Since all students will be tested first thing in the morning, it is not necessary for parents to provide testing snacks. It is more important that a healthy breakfast be provided at home to students, prior to arrival.  For those parents who have made arrangements to provide am recess snacks after testing, we recommend healthy, non-sugar and non-peanut foods.  Fruits and crackers are excellent ideas, whereas cupcakes or donuts are not encouraged.
I am hopeful that we will not have tardy or absent students in the mornings during the STAR testing days. La Entrada traditionally has had near perfect attendance during this important testing window.

Math Placement: On May 9th at 6:00pm, we will hold a Math Information Meeting for all parents who would like information on our math placement process at La Entrada.  The night is designed for parents of incoming 6th graders or parents new to La Entrada in grades 6th -8th.  The math teachers and I will explain the different courses offered in 6th, 7th and 8th grades, describe the assessments, clarify the process for math placement and highlight the supports we have put in place. If there are new parents who are unclear about the math placement for incoming 4th and 5th graders you are welcome to join us on May 9th or you may join my campus tour on May 20th at 10:00am for further clarification. 

Please RSVP for the events by calling the office @ 854-3962 or by emailing Marja Rudge at mrudge@llesd.org.

Sequoia Union High School District Projected Enrollment Growth:  Sequoia Union High School District is faced with projected enrollment growth.  I passed on a letter from the high district to each of you registered on Schoolloop mail on Friday, April 26.  The letter reviews the key projections for each of our high schools and announces that the High School Board will be considering certain boundary changes as part of the plan to address their growing enrollment.  The Sequoia Board recently came up with a set of tenets that would be the basis of looking at potential adjustments in the boundaries.  Prior to proceeding any further, Sequoia High School District wishes to hold a series of community input meetings to go over the enrollment projections and the tenets from which future boundary discussions will be based.  Please see letter sent via loop mail for details or come by our front office for a copy of the letter or visit www.seq.org for more information.   

Library News about Returning Overdue Books
Please encourage your children to return all overdue library books.  In the next few weeks, green slips will go out reminding students what books they have checked out. Very soon, we start making school wide announcements about returning all school library books. We are happy to work with and support any student who has any questions about their library books. (Questions include everything from forgetting they ever checked a book out to shyness about having lost a book!  Please note we do NOT charge fines for over due books, but will ask for payment only if a book is lost or destroyed. Families that need financial help with this are always supported.)  Unfortunately, some students forget to return their library books even after numerous reminders. We have found a great motivator comes through a lunchtime chore, called "Dusting Detention".  This chore starts, of course, with students eating their lunch here in the library and then they work in the library dusting and straightening shelves.  While, some students tell us that they actually enjoy this lunchtime activity, it does boost our book return rate dramatically.  Please email Ms. Myers with any questions you have about this process. 

STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK

A reminder that this week is Staff Appreciation Week!  It's time to celebrate our amazing La Entrada team of teachers and staff. This week, we will show our appreciation with heartfelt letters from the students, special treats, and a delicious luncheon.  We need EVERYONE'S participation please.... we are going to fill the staff mailboxes each day with letters of appreciation from the kids. Please have your child write thank you / appreciation notes to the teachers and staff they know (they should think of their core teachers, specialty classes, bus drivers, office staff, counselors, custodians, etc).  We would like each member of the La Entrada team to have an overflowing mailbox each morning!!    There will be a place for the kids to deposit the letters in front of the school throughout the week.  

Here's a quick peek at what else the staff will have in store for them:

• Monday - Breakfast and Banners
• Tuesday - Luncheon catered by Quadrus (a huge THANK YOU to the Sakrison Family!)
• Wednesday - Doughnuts and Coffee
• Thursday - Popcorn and Sweets Galore for the Stars of La Entrada
• Friday - Wake up with the Coffee Cart 

Thanks for helping make this a great week for our beloved staff!