Wildcat Weekly Updates Vol. 5

We envision a school committed to building a joyful, meaningful environment where we hold one another accountable and everyone has a voice.

Our mission is to develop a community of learners focused on safety, academic success, rigor, and college and career readiness while promoting accountability, positivity, research based strategies, advocacy, consistency, and fairness.

Vision

• Joyful Learning Environment - An emotionally safe environment where strong positive emotions are tied to the retention of learning
• Meaningful Learning Environment - An environment focused on attaining clearly stated goals
• Voice - Perspectives tied directly to the achievement of clearly stated goals

Mission

• Safety - Protection from physical or emotional trauma
• Academic Success - Attainment of individualized goals
• College and Career Readiness - Performance in relation state mandated goals
• Rigor - Intellectually challenging lessons characterized by meticulous planning and delivery
• Accountability - Acceptance of the responsibility for the attainment of clearly stated goals
• Positivity - Thinking and acting in an optimistic, solutions oriented way always expecting the achievement of clearly stated goals
• Research Based Strategies - Our criteria for strategy implementation. Positive evidence of success must precede enactment
• Advocacy - Public support for strategies and initiatives designed to achieve clearly stated goals
• Consistency - Steadfast adherence to strategies and initiatives designed to achieve clearly stated goals
• Fairness - impartial and just treatment without favoritism or discrimination

-Move off the state identified list for Targeted Support and Improvement via TVAAS 5 Growth

-Increase overall ranking among SCS Middle Schools with an overall success rate of 24%

• 24% Ontrack/Mastery all core areas
• 52% Approaching all core areas
• 24% Basic all core areas

-Reduce Chronic Absenteeism to 10.5% (approx 85 students)

-Increase ELPA Growth (ESL Students) to 60 %

The current gap between instructional level and grade level.

• Reducing measurement error
• Increasing assessment reliability
• Student Placement and Scheduling

At this point, 447 families have completed the survey.

Option 1: In-Person Learning

• 68 Students

Option 2: At-Home Virtual Instruction

• 379 Students

If parents are ready to make their choice but are having trouble with the technology, we will be hosting Drive Through Support on campus here at Hickory Ridge Middle School. If you are able to volunteer any of your time on tomorrow July 24 from 7:30 - 2:00 it would be greatly appreciated.

This week we are continuing to stress the importance of gaining a deep understanding of Microsoft Teams. Our collective skill level within the platform will impact all of our efforts in relation to safety and student academic growth. We cannot effectively social distance and/or engage students without 100% of our instructional staff able to effectively engage students via Teams.

The District is assisting us in assessing our readiness to deliver virtual instruction on the Microsoft Teams Platform by providing weekly reports on our progress through the available 8 trainings.

It does not matter which curriculum is selected, we will still be tasked with instructional delivery in a virtual format. It is the only way to simultaneously deliver instruction to students in the classroom and at home. We must focus on shoring up our ability to deliver instruction via Microsoft teams. At a minimum, every member of the faculty/staff should be able to do the following within the Microsoft Teams Platform:

• Know how to create classes and assign students
• Share screens to deliver Powerpoint presentations
• Know how to create private channels and assign students
• Understand the importance of teaching students to use the chat box to ask questions and make comments and how to be acknowledged using the raised hand feature
• Know how to create and upload assignments
• Know how to create assessments using the Microsoft Team Forms
• Guide students away from Microsoft Teams and into Mastery Connect for Common Formative Assessments
• Know how to download participant rosters for attendance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC36QPaWQak&feature=youtu.be

https://youtu.be/s41T1XLiMRM

Via PLZ, teachers and administrators can learn how to successfully create, deliver, and evaluate student learning opportunities virtually using the district vetted platform, Microsoft Teams.

New personnel unable to access PLZ can use the following link: https://bit.ly/SCSsummer

Website: https://schools.scsk12.org/hickoryridge-ms
Location: 3290 Ridgeway Road, Memphis, TN 38115
Phone: 9014169337
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hickoryyridgems/?modal=admin_todo_tour