Dear Eastern Families,

As we close the HEROES projects for the second year, I want to take a moment to thank Jen Dutmers, her team of volunteers and our teachers for the enormous task they undertook to make these projects into special learning opportunities for our students.

Service learning is the bridge of student learning from classroom to the real world. In HEROES, classes select areas of interest they want to know more about and then experience learning about the issues and needs of that particular cause. The culminating events ultimately benefit the cause, but also teach the children they can make a difference in our community. Through partnership with our PTO, classrooms and community agencies, Jen and the parent volunteers have been able to teach the students at all grade levels how to be productive members of the community. This has been exciting work!

We would like HEROES to be an annual event, but are in need of people to join the team of volunteers to help make a difference. As we celebrate the end of this year’s projects, please think about how you could help next year. This type of work changes our community and our school and creates experiences that will be remembered throughout the lives of our students.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to ALL who helped make the projects a success for the second year.

Regards,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Families,

We have a wonderful opportunity to not only support our 4th and 5th grade students but also to help raise money for their classrooms. As part of the Heroes Project, the students of Ms. McDougall and Mrs. Nelson created Public Service Announcements that centered around three themes: Building Character, Celebrating Diversity, and Promoting Healthy Lifestyles.

The students did a remarkable job on these videos and have submitted them to the Meijer Great Choices Student Film Festival. The winners of this film festival are selected by online, popular vote. We are encouraging the Eastern community to rally behind our filmmakers and vote to help make their videos winners!

Voting begins today – April 6 – and runs through April 27. You may only vote one time per day, but you can vote every day of the voting period. Just go to www.meijergreatchoices.com to view the videos and vote. And make sure to share this link with your family and friends. Let’s help our Eastern Stars shine by supporting this wonderful project!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Families,

The Second Trimester officially ended on March 1. Report cards are being sent home with students on March 9. Please take a moment to review the progress report with your child. Praise their strengths and ask about the work they put into each area reported. Areas noted for improvement are great places to set goals for the final trimester of the school year. Your child’s teacher may have discussed goal areas for your child’s focus with you at your recent Parent Teacher Conference. If the progress report raises new questions, feel free to contact your child’s teacher or me.

Do you know a new or former family who would be interested in sending their children to Eastern? We are accepting enrollment for the 2012-13 year in all grades. If you know a family who may be interested in having their children attend Eastern, help them contact the school or share their information with me and I will reach out to them. We would love to add more Eastern Stars to our galaxy of learners!

PTO will be gearing up for soon for annual officer elections to the PTO Board. If you would like to nominate another parent, or add your leadership talents to our PTO, we would love to know about it! Please contact the office and we will connect you with the election committee.

As always, I thank you for the continued support you provide to the students and teachers. We are fortunate to work with such a caring community!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Parents

As of this communication you should have received confirmation of the upcoming scheduled progress conference with your child’s teacher. Parent Conferences are scheduled for February 7, 8, and 16 (all sessions 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM). Please contact your child’s teacher if you are unable to attend your scheduled conference so that you can reschedule. I am happy to say that we met our goal of holding conferences for 100% of our students in the fall. The communication between teachers and parents is critical for the academic success of all students. Your involvement and help is always appreciated!

Eastern will be holding a Kindergarten Parent Information Meeting on 2/21/12 (6:30 PM - 7:30 PM) in the Eastern Library. This meeting is for parents of children turning 5 by Dec. 1, 2012. Attendees will gain information about the enrollment process, Eastern Kindergarten classrooms, and will schedule a Kindergarten Round-Up appointment. Please help spread the word to families you know!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Parents,

• “I will miss Mrs. Miles reading. She is one of the best readers I knew.” (Logan R.)
• “I will miss Mrs. Miles because she was one of the best librarians I’ve ever had in my life. I love the Eastern Choice Awards.” (Sam S.)
•  “She is so nice and happy all of the time.” (Nathan)
•  “Mrs. Miles, You are an awesome librarian. You make school cool!”

Dear Eastern Parents,

With the first trimester over and the holidays quickly approaching, I want to thank you for the many helpful ways that you support the students and staff at Eastern Elementary. Whether through PTO, volunteering in the library or classrooms, coaching, supplying materials for projects, or answering the call from the office to come and help with a project, it is great to know that there are parents ready to support our efforts in providing your children with a well-rounded school experience. Thank you!

The Heroes Project is set to launch for this year. The work has begun to gear up for the 2nd year of service-learning projects at all grade levels. Please call the office if you would like to help. Thank you to Jen Dutmers, the PTO, and our teachers for helping to bring closure to last year’s projects and for helping to kick off the new projects this year. More information will be shared over the coming months. Parent help is needed and appreciated. If you would like to volunteer to help with a project, please call the office at 933-1660.

Have a very Happy Holiday Season!

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Star Families,

Dear Eastern Parents,

Thank you in advance for keeping your scheduled Parent Teacher Conference appointment so we can achieve our goal of holding conferences for 100% of our students. As we prepare for the conferences, I wanted to share with you some changes that have taken place in TCAPS with regard to how we are assessing student reading levels. You may be familiar with the district-wide assessment tool that we used to called the DRA-2. We are continuing to use that tool for assessing reading, but with a greater sense of fidelity to the program and with higher expectations for student learning. We are assessing students for their ‘independent level’ or that point where they can confidently read and comprehend a text without adult assistance. Students will be assessed up to one grade level beyond their current grade, with rare exceptions. We have learned that the reading assessments can lose credibility if students are assessed several levels beyond their current grade level. Our revised use of the reading assessment will focus on teaching more genres and complex comprehension strategies at grade level, with the primary goal being greater comprehension and connection to the text.

What will this mean for your child? Greater emphasis on building and assessing comprehension and retelling strategies (details), with higher standards for achieving leveled scores in each of the three areas: accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. As we adjust our expectations and criteria for higher performance, you may think that what is reported to you indicates a slower rate of growth for your child in terms of achieving numbered levels. Let me assure you that your children will still be challenged to improve their personal reading performance. We are striving for developing readers with a broader base of strategies for deeper understanding, rather than accelerating children into levels without the necessary foundation for independence. The teachers and I are excited to help children develop to be more fluent readers, who have greater comprehension with the ability to relate to the text and the skills to communicate the experiences to others.

Your child’s teacher will be speaking with you about your child’s progress in all subjects at your scheduled Parent Teacher Conference, and I hope this advance explanation helps prepare you for the conversation regarding reading progress.

Best Regards,

Angela Sides-McKay

Wow! What a terrific start to the year we have had. It’s hard to believe that September is half over. I have enjoyed getting to know your children and meeting so many of you. Our Open House was widely attended and this is evidence of the supportive and caring parent community that is involved at Eastern.

Have you seen the new SMARTboards in the 2-5 grade classes? These amazing teaching tools were purchased by P.T.O to support and facilitate instruction in the classrooms. It has been exciting to see how these have been used already this year, and we are only at the beginning! I encourage you to continue to support the fundraising efforts of P.T.O so we can continue to enhance instruction for the children we serve.

Change of plans? Please send in a note with your child if you are planning a change to the daily routine. This is helpful and eliminates confusion at the end of the day. Thank you for your help with this!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Families,

As we close the HEROES projects for the second year, I want to take a moment to thank Jen Dutmers, her team of volunteers and our teachers for the enormous task they undertook to make these projects into special learning opportunities for our students.

Service learning is the bridge of student learning from classroom to the real world. In HEROES, classes select areas of interest they want to know more about and then experience learning about the issues and needs of that particular cause. The culminating events ultimately benefit the cause, but also teach the children they can make a difference in our community. Through partnership with our PTO, classrooms and community agencies, Jen and the parent volunteers have been able to teach the students at all grade levels how to be productive members of the community. This has been exciting work!

We would like HEROES to be an annual event, but are in need of people to join the team of volunteers to help make a difference. As we celebrate the end of this year’s projects, please think about how you could help next year. This type of work changes our community and our school and creates experiences that will be remembered throughout the lives of our students.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to ALL who helped make the projects a success for the second year.

Regards,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Families,

We have a wonderful opportunity to not only support our 4th and 5th grade students but also to help raise money for their classrooms. As part of the Heroes Project, the students of Ms. McDougall and Mrs. Nelson created Public Service Announcements that centered around three themes: Building Character, Celebrating Diversity, and Promoting Healthy Lifestyles.

The students did a remarkable job on these videos and have submitted them to the Meijer Great Choices Student Film Festival. The winners of this film festival are selected by online, popular vote. We are encouraging the Eastern community to rally behind our filmmakers and vote to help make their videos winners!

Voting begins today – April 6 – and runs through April 27. You may only vote one time per day, but you can vote every day of the voting period. Just go to www.meijergreatchoices.com to view the videos and vote. And make sure to share this link with your family and friends. Let’s help our Eastern Stars shine by supporting this wonderful project!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Families,

The Second Trimester officially ended on March 1. Report cards are being sent home with students on March 9. Please take a moment to review the progress report with your child. Praise their strengths and ask about the work they put into each area reported. Areas noted for improvement are great places to set goals for the final trimester of the school year. Your child’s teacher may have discussed goal areas for your child’s focus with you at your recent Parent Teacher Conference. If the progress report raises new questions, feel free to contact your child’s teacher or me.

Do you know a new or former family who would be interested in sending their children to Eastern? We are accepting enrollment for the 2012-13 year in all grades. If you know a family who may be interested in having their children attend Eastern, help them contact the school or share their information with me and I will reach out to them. We would love to add more Eastern Stars to our galaxy of learners!

PTO will be gearing up for soon for annual officer elections to the PTO Board. If you would like to nominate another parent, or add your leadership talents to our PTO, we would love to know about it! Please contact the office and we will connect you with the election committee.

As always, I thank you for the continued support you provide to the students and teachers. We are fortunate to work with such a caring community!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Parents

As of this communication you should have received confirmation of the upcoming scheduled progress conference with your child’s teacher. Parent Conferences are scheduled for February 7, 8, and 16 (all sessions 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM). Please contact your child’s teacher if you are unable to attend your scheduled conference so that you can reschedule. I am happy to say that we met our goal of holding conferences for 100% of our students in the fall. The communication between teachers and parents is critical for the academic success of all students. Your involvement and help is always appreciated!

Eastern will be holding a Kindergarten Parent Information Meeting on 2/21/12 (6:30 PM - 7:30 PM) in the Eastern Library. This meeting is for parents of children turning 5 by Dec. 1, 2012. Attendees will gain information about the enrollment process, Eastern Kindergarten classrooms, and will schedule a Kindergarten Round-Up appointment. Please help spread the word to families you know!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Parents,

• “I will miss Mrs. Miles reading. She is one of the best readers I knew.” (Logan R.)
• “I will miss Mrs. Miles because she was one of the best librarians I’ve ever had in my life. I love the Eastern Choice Awards.” (Sam S.)
•  “She is so nice and happy all of the time.” (Nathan)
•  “Mrs. Miles, You are an awesome librarian. You make school cool!”

Dear Eastern Parents,

With the first trimester over and the holidays quickly approaching, I want to thank you for the many helpful ways that you support the students and staff at Eastern Elementary. Whether through PTO, volunteering in the library or classrooms, coaching, supplying materials for projects, or answering the call from the office to come and help with a project, it is great to know that there are parents ready to support our efforts in providing your children with a well-rounded school experience. Thank you!

The Heroes Project is set to launch for this year. The work has begun to gear up for the 2nd year of service-learning projects at all grade levels. Please call the office if you would like to help. Thank you to Jen Dutmers, the PTO, and our teachers for helping to bring closure to last year’s projects and for helping to kick off the new projects this year. More information will be shared over the coming months. Parent help is needed and appreciated. If you would like to volunteer to help with a project, please call the office at 933-1660.

Have a very Happy Holiday Season!

Angela Sides-McKay

Dear Eastern Star Families,

Dear Eastern Parents,

Thank you in advance for keeping your scheduled Parent Teacher Conference appointment so we can achieve our goal of holding conferences for 100% of our students. As we prepare for the conferences, I wanted to share with you some changes that have taken place in TCAPS with regard to how we are assessing student reading levels. You may be familiar with the district-wide assessment tool that we used to called the DRA-2. We are continuing to use that tool for assessing reading, but with a greater sense of fidelity to the program and with higher expectations for student learning. We are assessing students for their ‘independent level’ or that point where they can confidently read and comprehend a text without adult assistance. Students will be assessed up to one grade level beyond their current grade, with rare exceptions. We have learned that the reading assessments can lose credibility if students are assessed several levels beyond their current grade level. Our revised use of the reading assessment will focus on teaching more genres and complex comprehension strategies at grade level, with the primary goal being greater comprehension and connection to the text.

What will this mean for your child? Greater emphasis on building and assessing comprehension and retelling strategies (details), with higher standards for achieving leveled scores in each of the three areas: accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. As we adjust our expectations and criteria for higher performance, you may think that what is reported to you indicates a slower rate of growth for your child in terms of achieving numbered levels. Let me assure you that your children will still be challenged to improve their personal reading performance. We are striving for developing readers with a broader base of strategies for deeper understanding, rather than accelerating children into levels without the necessary foundation for independence. The teachers and I are excited to help children develop to be more fluent readers, who have greater comprehension with the ability to relate to the text and the skills to communicate the experiences to others.

Your child’s teacher will be speaking with you about your child’s progress in all subjects at your scheduled Parent Teacher Conference, and I hope this advance explanation helps prepare you for the conversation regarding reading progress.

Best Regards,

Angela Sides-McKay

Wow! What a terrific start to the year we have had. It’s hard to believe that September is half over. I have enjoyed getting to know your children and meeting so many of you. Our Open House was widely attended and this is evidence of the supportive and caring parent community that is involved at Eastern.

Have you seen the new SMARTboards in the 2-5 grade classes? These amazing teaching tools were purchased by P.T.O to support and facilitate instruction in the classrooms. It has been exciting to see how these have been used already this year, and we are only at the beginning! I encourage you to continue to support the fundraising efforts of P.T.O so we can continue to enhance instruction for the children we serve.

Change of plans? Please send in a note with your child if you are planning a change to the daily routine. This is helpful and eliminates confusion at the end of the day. Thank you for your help with this!

Sincerely,

Angela Sides-McKay