The Tiger Times

It's October and we are just about halfway through the first quarter. In fact, grades closed for progress reports today, September 25th and we will be posting progress reports in Alma on September 29th. Please be sure to check your child's grades in Alma as they should be updated weekly. This will give you access to grades beyond progress reports and report cards. If ever you should have questions about grades, please make sure to speak to the teacher before reaching out to either Mr. Bailey or me as the teacher will be more likely able to answer any questions you may have.

It has been wonderful to see your children walking our halls, learning about self awareness through interactions with the staff, over the announcements, and in speaking with each other in advisory. This year I had the distinct honor to work with a student to celebrate our Fresh Picks server Lincoln, whose last day was today. The student came to me last week and wanted to create some sort of celebration to help him know that he was an integral part of our community. As an educator, these are the moments we live for. She rallied the troops and got all of our students to sign up to make small video clips telling him how much they enjoyed his food, what their favorite foods were, and how much he will be missed. Today, we went over to the high school auditorium and honored Lincoln with cards, the video, and a small speech that the student wrote. It was an excellent thing to see, and I can tell you on behalf of the staff that we are so incredibly proud of all of our Tigers for stepping up to show someone in our community how appreciated they are!

This month I started our Tiger Talent section in the newsletter. This section highlights work that students are participating in during the school day. One of the hallmarks of the adolescent student is that parents ask them what is going on at school and they reply, "Nothing." My hope with this section of our newsletter is to show you some of the cool things going on in the school to combat the developmentally appropriate, albeit frustrating, response to this question! You'll find this section below.

We have also restarted our Positive Phone Call Fridays. Throughout the week our staff are on the lookout for students doing wonderful things in the building. If they see someone doing something exciting, they will fill out the positive phone call form. On Friday, all of our students who were nominated for a positive phone call get called up to the front office where our office staff will give them a certificate and call their parents to let them know about nomination. Once this is complete, the student will have their photo taken and placed on our Call Board outside the front office. We like to highlight all of the great things our Tigers are doing inside the school, and this is a great way to make some positive contact with families!

Another fun section in the newsletter is the Tigers Around Town section. I will need your help with this one! It's great to highlight the things that are going on in our building, but sometimes there are some really cool things that happen for our students outside of these walls. Tiger Talent shares the spotlight with those students as well! To share your Tiger's Talent, send me a sentence or two about something cool that your kiddo has done outside of school (maybe they won a dance competition, or entered a poetry contest and were chosen to have their work published) and send a photo. I will then put the information into our newsletter to share the news about our Terrific Tigers!

For those of you who have signed up for OLE, please check your emails to see that we have had to delay the start of the program to make sure that we have enough volunteers.

Starting on Monday, September 28th, students will be taking the fall NWEA assessments. These assessments give us valuable information about each student's academic growth and help guide instruction throughout the year. We encourage families to make sure students are well-rested and ready to do their best. More information about the NWEA and what we do with the results is in the NWEA section below.

Halloween is coming right up! We will allow students to dress up at the middle school this year on Friday, October 30th. I am asking that we please take into account that there are still some younger students in the middle school, and so I ask that we please be sensitive when choosing costumes and try not to go with anything too scary. All costumes must also follow the dress code and cannot have any pieces that would be considered weapons or could be used as weapons (think chains etc.) and may not cover the face. Hats are fine for the day, but all faces must be visible. I look forward to seeing all the creative costumes!

Please remember that we do have a statewide bell to bell personal electronic device law. The Mascoma Valley Regional School District has created procedures based on this law that all schools in the district are following. The law also specifically mentions smartwatches. Please help us enforce this new law by reading the procedures with your child, signing the district procedure form, and reminding your child of proper personal electronic devices. You can find the procedures below.

If you haven't yet filled out the returning student information in Alma, please do so. We use this information to contact you if there is an emergency at school and if our records are not accurate, we will not be able to get in touch with you. Please be sure to update any information necessary including emergency contacts. It is important that we have at least one emergency contact for your child, but if you have more, please enter them. I have left the button that links to Alma's sign in page below.

As always, we are grateful for your continued support and partnership. Together, we can ensure that we Inspire curiosity, Respect every voice, and build Safety together.

Best,

Karin Denholm

Principal, Indian River School

Please help us updated your students information by completing the annual mandatory registration through Alma by clicking the link below. Please reach out to Erica Ball, Administrative Assistant, if you need a password reset ot your username information at EBall@mvrsd.org

October

October 2- Progress Reports posted in Alma

October 6- Pink Out Day! Wear pink in support of breast cancer research

October 9- No School- Teacher Work Day

October 12- No School- Columbus Day

October 21- Early Release Day- Teacher workshops

October 27- Picture Retake Day

October 30- Celebrate Halloween

November

November 2- Grades close quarter 1

November 2 & 3- Roots at IRS with 6th grade

November 11- No School- Veterans Day

November 25-27- No School- Thanksgiving Break

Our students will participate in the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment beginning September 28th- October 8th. Families often wonder what happens after students finish their tests and why these assessments are important.

Educators use NWEA results as a tool to better understand each student's current academic strengths and areas for growth. Unlike state testing, which provides a snapshot of performance at the end of the year, NWEA assessments are designed to measure growth over time. They give us a starting point in the fall and we revisit them later in the year to see how much progress has been made.

Teachers carefully review the results to:

• Identify strengths and needs- Pinpointing what students already know and where they may need extra support or enrichment.
• Guide instruction- Using the data to plan lessons that meet students at their level and move them forward.
• Set goals with students- Encouraging students to take ownership of their learning by discussing their scores and setting achievable growth goals.
• Collaborate as a team- Teachers share data across grade level teams so that all teachers working with a student understand how best to support them.

Most importantly, NWEA results are just one piece of the puzzle. We combine assessment data with classroom work, teacher observations, and other measures to complete the picture of each student's learning. This helps us ensure that every child gets the right balance of challenge and support throughout the year. More information about the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress assessment can be found by clicking the button below.

The fifth grade has been getting into routines, starting curriculum, and playing lots of games to build community! We are excited to start the New Hampshire Kid Governor Program, which teaches kids about our state government, voting, campaigning and more. The program runs for about a month and by the end of it, the whole grade will listen to the speeches of those who choose to run for the Kid Governor Campaign. The runner with the most votes will then, with their class, make a video and submit it to the state in hopes to be elected as our states' Kid Governor. This is a really exciting and hands-on program to teach students about the importance of civic engagement in our own communities.

Welcome to the Tigers Around Town segment where families send me updates of all the cool things that our Tigers are doing outside of school. Last year, I had many families send in updates about their child's out of school sporting accomplishments, music accomplishments etc. along with photos to share. This is really exciting for our students and I hope to see many of you participate this year! If you would like to share something with the Tiger Community, please send me an email with the photo and a short blurb describing the event you are sharing.

This month I heard from Pyper B's mom. Pyper is in 5th grade and has been racing dirt bikes for 3 years now. This is her first year on a bigger bike and she took first place in her age group class at Canaan Lions MX! Way to go Pyper!