The Lion Letter

Dear Parents and Community,

Thank you to so many of you who attended conferences on Monday last week. I look forward to seeing even more of you for conferences in the Spring. Every grade (except Seniors) will be having student-led conferences then.

Don't forget that Remediation Day is Thursday, October 22nd. There will be reminder emails and texts sent. If you have a student who is eligible to be absent, please fill out the excused form linked to the email (and below) after Wednesday at noon.

At conferences, many of you saw your students' Fastbridge scores. With more testing coming up next week, I thought it might be a good idea to showcase what tests we give and what they test for. Tests can be daunting for students, but they give us important data as to how we are doing as a school and how we can better teach individual students. Feel free to discuss with your students how they feel about their Fastbridge tests or how they can best prepare for the upcoming test day on the 28th of October. Freshmen will be taking the PreACT, Sophomores will be going to the Career Fair in Hutchinson, Juniors will be taking the WorkKeys and Seniors will go on either a college visit , job shadow or complete community service requirements.

A huge thank you goes out to Kevin Williams, the most AMAZING Assistant Principal. He not only tackles his principal duties, he organizes and helps administer many of our tests. This includes state assessments, Fastbridge, PreACT, ACT, and Work Keys. See his bio below.

Thanks for the support you show for our school,

Beth Janssen

Principal, BJSHS

This Thursday, October 22th, is Remediation Day at Bluestem Junior/Senior High School.

Remediation Day provides students the opportunity to reassess and master standards. Students may be exempt from attending Remediation with parent permission if they meet one of the following criteria:

Have an A in the course, OR

Have 3 or fewer absences so far this year. Absences due to student activities do not count towards this total.

Grades as of 12:00 pm on Wednesday will determine Remediation eligibility.

If a student is eligible to be excused that day or part of the day, a parent must either call the office or complete the linked form below in order to do so. Please wait until after noon on Wednesday to allow for updates to grades. Parents may choose to excuse their child for part or all of the day, depending on their exemption qualifications.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like assistance reviewing your student’s grades or attendance record. See the attached policy from the student handbook regarding remediation.

Thank you for your continued support in helping our students reach mastery and success!

Link here for the form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe60Mx3yiPzVL3dr88sHCJaaW7xdhpPaE4azL7yDfo4A-ORHA/viewform?usp=header

FastBridge is a set of reading and math assessments that teachers use to measure student learning. FastBridge scores help teachers to know what kind of teaching each student needs to help them grow, both individually and as part of the whole class. FastBridge includes a dyslexia screener, which is required by the state to give three times per school year. For more information on how to understand your students' scores, see below.

https://renaissance.widen.net/view/pdf/ekwtwqqs11/FastBridge_Understanding-the-Family-Report_English.pdf?t.download=true&u=zceria

All JUNIORS will take the ACT WorkKeys Test on Wednesday, October 28th. This WorkKeys tests foundational job skills in applied reading, writing, mathematics and essential skills that are required for success in the workplace. Scores are based on job profiles that help employers select, hire, train, develop and retain a high-performance workforce.

A student will receive a score in either the Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum levels. If a student scores a Silver or above, they will receive a Postsecondary Asset. Students need two such assets to graduate. Scoring in a high level can give students something to put on a resume as an indicator of employability.

Students can prepare by taking practice tests here.

https://workkeyspracticetest.com/

https://www.jobtestprep.com/workkeys-practice-test#wk-graphic-litearcy

https://www.test-guide.com/free-workkeys-practice-tests.html

PreACT® assessments offer students an early experience with ACT test items, provides a predicted ACT test score, and offers a wealth of information to help students get the start they need to be college ready.

State Assessments are given in February or March. They test student progress in Math, ELA, Science and Social Studies. More information will be sent to students and parents closer to the time of testing.