Dear Walker Families,
We are ready for week four of school!
Parent-teacher conferences will be held virtually on Monday, September 21, and Tuesday, September 22. We are so excited to get to see our Walker families for a virtual meeting during student-involved conferences. During this time, your child and teacher will discuss progress made over the past four weeks. Our Wildcats have been busy working hard, learning new software, and testing. We have important information to go over with each family that will enable us to partner with you for your child's education. Please look at the conference note in your child's Monday folder and return this note to school so we can schedule a time for your conference that is convenient for you. Your child's teacher will then let you know what time your conference will be and will also send you a link to log in for the meeting. You and your child will both need to be present for this conference. Please call the office or send a message to your child's teacher if you are not able to attend your scheduled virtual conference time. We look forward to seeing you!
We are using Lexia and IXL to support our curriculum this year and your child has access to both of these online programs at home. Your child's teacher will be having your child work in these two software programs this year at school and will be asking you to have your child log in and work from home as well. Lexia Core5 Reading was just purchased district-wide this school year. Lexia is a comprehensive technology-based literacy program that extends learning for students who are advanced and accelerates learning for students who are not yet on grade level. Students work independently to develop critical reading and language skills through individualized learning pathways. With IXL, your child will learn math skills at their own pace. IXL provides adaptive questions that automatically adjust to the just-right level of difficulty for your child. A wide variety of question types keeps practice sessions fresh and enables all types of learners to reach their full potential. We are excited to have these two programs provide extra individual supports to our students. If you need help getting your child logged in to these programs at home, please let your child's teacher know. We hope your child is enjoying the additional digital learning resources that we are using to support learning needs in reading and math. If your child says they do not have homework, ask them to log in and show you IXL or Lexia. We know these resources work best when your child is spending time logged into these programs. Also, please ask your child what they are reading and remind them that they are to be reading every night. We would love for you to sit down and watch your child work through our computer programs and listen to your child read each night.
Next week, your child will be taking the MAP® Growth™ test from NWEA® on a computer or tablet. MAP Growth scores help teachers check student performance by measuring achievement and growth. Teachers use results to tailor classroom lessons and set goals for students. MAP Growth tests are unique, and it adapts to your child’s responses to measure your child’s skill level. If your child answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If they answer incorrectly, the next one is easier. These results will provide a more complete picture of what your child knows and is ready to learn—whether it is on, above, or below their grade level. Since MAP Growth tests provide immediate and accurate information about your child’s learning, it’s easy for teachers to identify students with similar scores that are generally ready for instruction in similar skills and topics, and then plan instruction accordingly. Our teachers are experienced in taking MAP data to provide small group and individual instruction to meet your child's learning needs.
The USDA has extended free meals for kids through December 31, 2020. Please see the link below. For more information please reach out to Mrs. Gena Smith, Child Nutrition Director, By phone, (479) 750-8707 ext. 1, By email, gsmith2@sdale.org. This is a great opportunity for all families to take advantage of the two meals being served at Walker each day for free. Breakfast is served every day from 7:15 to 7:45 am. Don't forget that if your child is doing a blended learning plan, you can pre-order and pick up meals on the days your child is working from home at Helen Tyson Middle School from 10:50 to 11:20 Monday - Friday. To order meals for pick up call the Child Nutrition Office at 750-8707 between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm.
This year we did a school supply fee of $30.00 in every grade. If you have not yet paid for your child's supplies, please see the link below. An envelope will be sent home with students who still owe this fee on Monday.
We would like to encourage every family to join the Walker PTA. Our PTA does so much to support our school and we would like to connect all of our families through the PTA. To join, use the QR code shown below.
Thank you for partnering with us for your child's education. We are here for your child each and every day. If there is a question, concern, or even an idea to share, please reach out to your child's teacher or to either one of us. Please read the newsletter below for important updates and changes happening at Walker and in the Springdale School District. We look forward to a great 2020-2021 school year.
Thank you,
Mrs. Lynn Ryan, Principal, lryan@sdale.org
Mrs. Carrie Farris, Assistant Principal, cfarris@sdale.org
