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As we move through the fall, our teachers are using classroom learning, student work, and assessment results to celebrate progress and identify next steps for instruction. This month’s Curriculum Connection focuses on understanding your child’s progress and supporting continued growth through strong partnerships between home and school.

Thank you for the encouragement, routines, and conversations that support learning each day. We appreciate the opportunity to work together to help every student grow.

Fall assessments help teachers understand the skills students bring to the classroom and where they may need additional support or challenge. Teachers consider these results alongside daily classwork, discussions, and observations to plan instruction.

This information helps teachers:

• Identify skills to reteach or practice.
• Create small groups for targeted instruction.
• Provide enrichment and additional challenges.
• Monitor progress and adjust support over time.

What does this mean for your child? Assessment results are one part of the picture. Our goal is to use multiple sources of information to understand each student’s needs and help them take the next step in their learning.

If you have questions about your child’s results, ask their teacher: “What is one skill we can work on together, and how can I support it at home?”

New Jersey’s universal literacy screening helps schools identify students who may need additional support with reading. In Florence, we use the i-Ready Inform reading assessment and additional literacy tasks to better understand foundational reading skills. Your child’s literacy screening results are available in Genesis Parent Portal. Please see the letter linked below for more information.

If you have questions about your child’s results or ways to support learning at home, please contact your child’s teacher.

Taking an AP course does not automatically register a student for the AP exam. If your child does not plan to take the exam, please notify Katie Mallon so district records can be updated.

All Grade 4 students completed the CogAT Screener as part of our Gifted & Talented identification process. Letters were emailed to families of students invited to complete the full CogAT assessment.

These students will complete the full assessment, and families will receive final identification results by mid-November. The identification process considers multiple measures to determine eligibility for Gifted & Talented services.

Conversations about learning help children recognize their growth and feel supported when work becomes challenging. As you review assessment results and classroom progress, celebrate a success and choose one manageable goal together.

Try asking:

• What is something you can do now that you couldn’t do at the start of the year?
• What are you working to get better at?
• What helps you when you get stuck?
• How can I support you?

This Month's Term: Structured Literacy

Structured literacy is a clear, step-by-step approach to teaching reading and spelling. Teachers directly explain and model skills, give students guided practice, and regularly review earlier learning as new skills are introduced.

Students learn how sounds connect to letters, how to blend sounds to read words, and how spelling patterns work. Instruction also builds vocabulary and understanding of sentences and texts—helping children both read the words and understand their meaning.

Please keep these upcoming assessment windows in mind:

• November 2–11: High school students will complete their next district mathematics benchmark through LinkIt. Teachers will use the results to review progress and plan instruction.
• By mid-November: Families will receive Grade 4 Gifted & Talented identification results.
• January 4–February 1: Seal of Biliteracy assessment window.
• January 11–22: Winter i-Ready assessments for Grades 1–8 and literacy screening for Grades K–3.
• January 19–27: High school mathematics and CommonLit reading benchmark assessments.

Schools will share specific testing schedules and any additional information families need.

Looking for ways to support learning at home? These trusted resources offer information, activities, and tools for families with students at different stages of their educational journey.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out using the information provided below.