This is a summary of last year's Science and Social Studies CMAS assessments. I will also briefly touch on last spring's interim assessment data. Unfortunately we will not receive CMAS/PARCC literacy and math data until November. CDE has stated that CMAS data from the 2015-16 school year will be available in the summer of 2016, similar to the timeline we used to have with our old state test CSAP/TCAP. (We will give these assessments in the spring).

The Science and Social Studies CMAS assessments were similar in format and rigor to the new CMAS/PARCC testing. Student scores fell into four different ranges: Limited Command, moderate Command, Strong Command and Distinguished Command.

Our 4th grade students took the CMAS Social Studies assessment and our 5th graders took the CMAS Science assessment. The table below shows how our students did on each assessment:

These tests were considerably more challenging than content tests our students have taken in the past. We would like to have more students achieve Strong Command in each of these areas. There were positives to these scores. We were in the top 10% of DPS schools in Science and the top 15% of DPS schools in Social Studies. In addition we had significant increases in both student's command and our ranking within DPS from the year before. Students scoring in the Strong Command range or above increased 18 percentage points in Social Studies and 13 percentage points in Science. Our ranking amongst other DPS schools also increased. In the spring of 2014 our Science score was in the top 23% of DPS schools and our Social Studies score was in the top 35%; there is a lot of work today but we are trending in the correct direction.

State test data is one way for a school to self-assess and see if the instructional strategies we put into place were effective. DPS traditionally has a scorecard for each school to break down specific data and help us identify our strengths and challenges. Since we have still not received our CMAS Literacy and Math scores there will not be a district scorecard this year. Since we do not have CMAS literacy and math scores we used last year's spring interim data to drive our improvement plan this year.

A quick review of our interim scores last year; 86% of our students were proficient on the Literacy spring interim assessment and 83% of our students were proficient on the Math spring interim assessment. I will share more details about those assessments next week.

Unfortunately part of the elementary school experience is having your child or a student in your child's class have lice. The good news is this does not harm a student's health or well-being. It does however gross a lot of us out and sometimes results in children missing school. Students can contract lice from a multitude of places; sharing helmets at practice; hugging another child with lice or sharing a hat with a friend. There are things we can do to minimize this. Like most things in life early detection and treatment makes it easier to eradicate and treat. Lice usually start in hair around the neck and ears. Please try and check your child on a regular basis (once a week). If you find any lice, treat immediately and let your teacher know so we can communicate with the classroom teacher so that preventative measures can be taken.

Myrna Jeong has generously donated 3 boxes of Littlebugs Hair Care to Steele. (Thanks Myrna!)This treatment is pesticide free and I've been told is the most effective on the market. If you don't have time to go to the store you can grab a kit from Steele, if you are able to replace it at a later date that would be fantastic. The main reason we are providing this is so lice can be treated immediately and school absences can be curved. Once you've started treatment you can send your child to school. j

It is very important to us that your child attends school as often as possible. Our teachers cover and teach a lot of material in a day and it can be hard to catch up if your child misses school. I also understand that children get sick and that sometimes they have to miss school. If your child is sick there are a variety of ways you can let us know. You can stop by the office and tell Melissa or Paula; you can e-mail both Melissa and Paula (please e-mail both in case one is absent-you might as well include your child's homeroom teacher as well) or you can call the attendance line 720-424-3725. Please contact me with any questions.

I know this is a long one, thanks for reading and thanks for all you do!--cheers

Fair hours are Tuesday the 27th, 3-7pm; Wednesday the 28th, 8am-7pm; and Thursday the 29th, 8am-7pm. You can also make your purchases online beginning October 21st. Check out the wide selection of books, including a new I Survived, Captain Underpants, Puppy Place, Bad Kitty, and Skippy Jon Jones. You can also pre-order the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid and have it delivered to the school when it's released on November 3rd.  

Volunteers are needed! Please give some time and lend Miss Patty a hand at the registers. Log into MySchoolAnywhere with your password or click here to have your personal sign-up link sent to your email.