As we return to a new school year, there is always so much to do. One important task is to learn as much as we can about all of our students to understand how they are returning to us. This includes using Benchmark Assessments with everyone. You may hear your kids coming home and talking about how they did on their iReady test, or that they had to read short stories and then answer a bunch of questions, or see how many letters they know. All of these tell give us really important insights of where to begin. It is truly Assessment Season! Below are some dates and names to assessments so that you know what is happening. Additionally, this will allow you to really support them at home by encouraging those routines of sleep and healthy eating to power them up each day.

KIDS Assessment - All Kindergarten Students. This is an ongoing assessment that takes place over a period of time with the teacher collecting observational data to be reported on in October.

iReady - K-5 all students. This is the assessment we take each fall, winter and spring to be able to monitor our students growth in both Reading and Math. It is referred to as our Benchmark Assessment and it will be a point of focus during conferences, as we also build learning pathways for each student. This assessment is currently taking place and will be finished by September 10.

F&P - This is a reading assessment that helps us identify what reading level each student can read at independently. We are utilizing our spring data for many of our returning students to help us hit the ground running with instruction sooner.

These are the some of the bigger assessments that affect most of our students. Should you have any questions about any of these, please reach out to your child's teacher.

To make our Student Pick-Up Procedures safer, we have made some adjustments after observing the first week.

• For Safety, cars may not park in lanes of the turnaround lot until 3:30 PM. This has to remain open in the event of an emergency.
• All student pickups will take place inside our fenced blacktop area, directly outside of the cafeteria. (Please see the map below)
• All Parents/Guardians are required to have the Student DriveLine Pass displayed in their window. If you do not have it, you must contact the office to arrange for a replacement during the school day. All other students will be sent home on the bus.
• Any changes to arrange for a student pick up at the end of the day must notify the office prior to 3:00 PM.
• No cars can be in the front Bus Line after 3:00 PM, as it will block the buses arriving.
• Students will begin being dismissed at 3:40 PM.

Each month, the district has an early release day for our buildings. This means that at Howe, we dismiss 2 hours earlier at 1:45 PM. When our students leave, our teachers receive Professional Development to look at teaching practices and review building data.

During the school day, we change things up completely for our students. We focus on community and team up with Buddy Classrooms where our students can meet new friends and learn with other teachers. We start the day off by having a full-school assembly to review expectations, discuss our progress and celebrate all that is going well in our school. For the rest of the day, they have opportunities to do many activities, which include buddy reading, math games, SEL activities, Team Building, and Specials. They even eat lunch and have recess together. It is a chance for them to do something different and to do it with others.

Sept. 3

• SIP Early Release Day 1:45 PM
• Community Safety Event 5:00 PM @BPMS

Sept. 9

• PTO Fundraiser to begin
• Intervention Groups to begin at Howe

Sept. 26

• PTO Meeting 6:30 PM @ Howe

Sept. 27

• No School - Teacher Institute Day
• Progress Reports posted in Parent Portal

Oct. 1

• SIP Early Release Day 1:45 PM

Oct. 3

• Howe Picture Day

Oct. 15

• Exclusion Day. (All required health documents must be submitted.)

Daily Schedule:

Students enter: 8:55-9:05 AM

School Day begins: 9:05 AM

School Day ends: 3:45 PM

SIP Day Schedule (Early Release; The first Tuesday of every month):

Students enter: 8:55-9:05 AM

School :Day begins 9:05 AM

School Day ends: 1:45 PM

Reminder about making adjustments to your child's transportation.

Parents/Guardians must call the office BEFORE 3:00 PM if you are planning to pick your child up and they normally take the bus. There are a lot of moving parts at the end of the day and this must be arranged ahead of time. If you show up at the end of the day and ask to take your child home, we cannot pull students from the bus because it causes major delays in our end of the day systems which will not be permitted. They will be sent home on the bus. We appreciate your support in helping us get our students home safely.

Our students need to be at school everyday! Please help us in fighting Truancy as a team. We need to teach our students the importance of their education as well as learning the lifelong skill of showing up. School becomes increasingly difficult the more a student is absent, which reduces confidence and brings anxiety. Let's help them succeed by sending them to school everyday.