Hello Wolverine parents and fans! It has been a great November here at EMS and I hope all of you got your fill of turkey, potatoes and gravy for Thanksgiving! I know that I enjoyed the break immensely and may have overeaten just a “little bit” myself. It is great to be back with your students though, and I am very proud of the efforts they are making to improve themselves every day and in every class.
Teachers here at EMS are working very hard to be the best that they can possibly be. One of the things our teachers are doing is working together with their cohorts at DMS in order to ensure that the lessons, skills and assessments administered in their subject matter/grade level match one another. What we call this in “educator” jargon is a guaranteed curriculum. The part that is guaranteed is that the material learned in one educators classroom will match that of any other teacher who teaches the same subject/grade level across the district. Now, don’t let this confuse you...we do not expect teachers to teach the exact same way, they will still have the ability to be themselves. What is expected is that the expectations for and material covered taught and assessed will be the same. You might ask, “Do they have to read the same novels?” or “is the review for the assessment going to be exactly the same?” and the answer is NO! We are all individuals, but we owe it to our children to teach what is expected they learn, in each and every classroom teaching the same subject and grade level material.
Another great thing going on at EMS is that we have challenged our students and staff to read 1,000,000 pages over the course of the school year. We began the challenge near the end of September, yet to date, we have read over 300,000 pages of text!!! Students can take the credit for most of those pages, but we staff members are doing our best to catch up :). Who knows, if and when they meet the reading goal, I may have to show the students my appreciation by overcoming a challenge they come up with like shaving my beard off, spending the night on the roof, or rewarding the entire student body with some lavish prize. I guess we will see when the time comes? I am excited for their success.
For the second year now, students also have the opportunity to attend a 30 minute class called enrichment. During this time, students are able to do a variety of activities including reading a book as a grade level, work on problems they are struggling with in ELA and math and practicing problems similar to those they will encounter on the end of year statewide assessment called the WY-TOPP. Students benefit from these activities in that they get to see material previously discussed, practice their skills and as a result increase their proficiency or ability to master the content they are taught over the course of the year. We are continually trying to improve the process, but every little bit of information we can provide our students during enrichment will benefit them.
For your information, we are still offering study tables weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3-4 pm. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer transportation for those students who participate? However, we are offering your students help in whatever subject matter they may need help in. A certified teacher is present and will be more than willing to help your students understand and catch up on their assignments. Please encourage your students to participate, as there is no reason that any of them should not be earning good grades or getting their homework done. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about how your students are doing in school. Don’t forget to keep track of your student’s grades on PowerSchool either. If you need help, call the EMS office at 789-5499. Have a great December, enjoy your kid’s concerts and activities and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mr. Christenot
