Dear Lakeridge Families,
March is upon us and with it my favorite season, Spring! We are coming off a very busy February that included many wonderful activities. I was especially impressed with the Operetta and would like to thank all who were involved in making the production of "The Wizard of Oz" such an amazing success! Additionally, all month long we have been celebrating "Loving It At Lakeridge Month" here at school. Each week we have been focusing on one of the areas of our Respect Code. The hallways of the schools have been lined with hearts where each student shared something that they love about our school. Overwhelmingly, our amazing teachers came up over and over again. We wrapped things up this week with a special daily prize drawing and student announcements with tips about how we can continue to respect our school. February has been a great month here at Lakeridge!
As we move in to March, our third, forth and fifth graders will be preparing for the upcoming Smarter Balanced Assessments which will be administered at the end of April and into May. This year, the Mercer Island Schools are participating in a field test of these next generation assessments, which will be used to evaluate student progress on the new Common Core Standards. These assessments are all computer based and will be administered in lieu of the traditional MSP's except in the area of 5th Grade Science. In the coming weeks, we will be working with teachers and students to get online and practice taking the tests and learning the assessment interface. As this is a field test, student scores will not reported to parents or the school as is typical with the MSP. You can learn more about the next generation assessments and view practice questions here: http://sbac.portal.airast.org
It is our hope that this experience helps our school better prepare for next year when these assessments count.
This summer, seven Lakeridge classroom teachers have applied to travel with Aimee Batliner-Gillette and me to the Teachers College Summer Writer's Workshop Institute shortly after school recesses for a week long training with the developer's of the "Writer's Workshop" curriculum that we utilize in our classrooms. This training will allow us to further our knowledge about the program and the Common Core Standards upon which it is based. My goal is for each teacher return to school next year and serve as a grade level leader in the area of writing providing support, staff development and sharing what they learned with their colleagues throughout the school year. PTA has graciously provided $10,000.00 toward the cost of this experience and the remaining funds will come from the district and building budgets. This is a great opportunity that will allow us to provide high quality instruction in the classroom for years to come.
The District's annual Educational Effectiveness Survey (EES) is now available online to parents at http://www.research.net/s/mercerislandparent. This survey allows us to gather information from parents, students and staff about our school. Please take a moment to complete the survey, which is available through March 14, 2014.
Finally, I would just like to take a moment to thank our Lakeridge families and Mercer Island Community for their support of the Bond and Levy this month. Both of these will allow our school district to continue to provide high quality educational opportunities for the children of Mercer Island.
Best Wishes,
Mr. La Badie
Upcoming Dates:
March 14: Noon Release - Report Cards
March 17: School in Session - Snow Day Make -Up
March 19: Report Cards Released at 5:00 p.m. in Skyward
March 21: Bingo Night
April 1: Science Fair 5-7p.m. at IMS
April 7-11: Spring Break
