Middle & High School Updates

"I want every little girl who's told that she's bossy to be told instead that she has leadership skills." - Sheryl Sandberg

Hello,

I hope you and your family had a great and enjoyable February break. These breaks are a necessity for everyone as we need time to step away to recharge, reflect, and prepare for the last several months.

The weeks from now until April break are extremely busy and crucial, as we have state assessments, develop support for our students, have our ISV/RIDE visit, and design our School Improvement Plan. After April we will then focus our efforts on moving students to a strong end-of-year finish, celebrations activities, and our preparation work for next year.

Third Quarter Progress reports will be finalized during the second week of March and the last day of the 3rd Quarter is April 1st. While students still have time to improve their academic status and make sure they are on track to earn credit, the fourth quarter and end of the year will be here before we know it. This is vital for high school students to ensure they earn the necessary credits and for middle school students so they are not retained and move on to the next grade.

If your child is not currently on track for passing, I strongly suggest reaching out to their teachers to understand why, what they need to do, and available support. Please continue to have discussions with your child about their grades, and check Skyward to review grades. You can also visit Google Classroom for news and current assignments from your child’s classes.

While we are no longer identified as a CSIP school the ISV/RIDE team will be in on March 19th and 20th to conduct their follow-up visit. During the first day of the CSIP visit RIDE will hold focus groups for students, staff, leadership and families as well as conduct classroom walk-throughs and review school documents.

At the beginning of March, I will send out information through Dojo on how families can sign up to be part of the virtual focus group. Participation in the focus group will allow the opportunity for you to share your thoughts and ideas about the school's effectiveness in achieving our goals, our instructional practices, and school leadership. The focus groups should go for approximately 30 minutes. Last year we had incredible family participation.

We are also looking for families to assist with our Root Cause Analysis for our School Improvement Plan goals centered around our graduation and suspension rates. Once again we cannot operate without your voice and support. In the middle of March, an informational survey will go out to families in preparation for our March SIT meeting where we will further discuss these topics.

While we're removing at a fast pace we can only reach our destination and goals if we travel together with support and collaboration. Thank you for continuous support and solution based mindset.

As always please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. We are grateful and privileged to have you and your children here as part of the Highlander family

Best,

Mr. Wil Pabst

• 3/05 RICAS Training Date

• 3/10 Progress Report Grades Due

• 3/12 P/SAT Training Date

• 3/13 RICAS Infrastructure Practice Test Day

• 3/26 P/SAT Infrastructure Practice Test Day

• March SIT meeting TBD (mid March)

• April 1st 3rd Quarter Ends

• 4/2-3 RICAS ELA test (makeups to follow immediately the day after)

• 4/8 P/SAT (makeups to follow immediately the day after)

February Celebrations

• Oliver Kuyon has been awarded one of the RISLA Knowledge for College Scholarships!!! He will receive $2000 to use toward the institution he attends in the fall.

• Congratulations to Billie Senecal and Lisabeth Torres whom have been selected for the National Education Equity Lab Honor Society! They are among the top scholars in the nation in their Ed Equity Lab college credit-bearing course. This honor not only recognizes our students but also your high school and extraordinary teacher leadership.

• Stu​​dents are encouraged to bring reusable water bottles daily. Please ensure names are written on them.

• Healthy snacks are encouraged at lunch time. Please keep in mind we are a peanut-free school. Soda is not permitted. NO large or family size bags of chips, crackers, or other snacks or food.

• Students are assigned homework daily, and are expected to complete these assignments in a timely manner.

• Uniforms are required Monday through Thursday. Please visit the school website for our uniform policy and purchasing information. We are aware of delays with some orders. If this is the case or you have other concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Click here for full calendar: https://www.highlandercharter.org/for-families/events/calendar/

Hello!

March is here, bringing the joy of Spring, my favorite season! Along with the blooming flowers, we also have March Madness, not just for basketball fans but for our school community as we work towards important milestones.

This month, we celebrate Women's History Month, which is a wonderful opportunity to recognize the contributions of women throughout history. We also have Survey Works and a strong Attendance Matters campaign happening. Additionally, it marks the beginning of our testing season, so it’s an important time for our students.

I appreciate your support in encouraging your child to stay focused and engaged during this busy month. If you have any questions or need more information, let’s talk!

Survey Works

Every year the Rhode Island Department of Education conducts this survey to gather important information including School Safety, School Belonging and more. This information is then shared with school administration to be used to create our School Improvement Plans. We are asking all families to take a few minutes and share their honest feedback. As an incentive, families that complete the survey can share a screenshot of the "submit screen" with me to be entered into a raffle. You can access the survey by going to: http://bit.ly/ridefamily Survey closes March 31st.

Read to Succeed

We are excited to invite families and students from grades 2nd - 7th grade to join us on March 11 at 5:00pm to Kick off this exciting program.

Read to Succeed is a FREE Summer Reading Program for Incoming 3rd - 8th graders (current 2nd-7th grade). Upon successful completion of the program students earn $1,000 on a College Bound Fund account.
At the kick off event families and students will have the opportunity to learn more about the program, preview and select the free books.
As an extra bonus we will have Pizza. Please RSVP by Thursday, March 6th. https://forms.gle/1bLiDtfarMRYaiTb9

#AttendanceMatters

Attendance is a key factor in predicting student success. It's crucial that students are in school every day they are healthy.

As a parent, I understand the many challenges we face regarding attendance. From those tempting, inexpensive tickets for family vacations during the school year to the occasional struggles our kids have getting up for school, it can be tough.

I encourage you to reach out if your child is facing any barriers to attending school. I believe that together we can create a plan that ensures every student is in school every day.

State Assessments Resources

State Assessments are those required by and reported to the Rhode Island Department of Education. The results of those assessments typically arrive in the fall of the following school year. The majority of the testing windows for these assessments are in the spring, between April and May of every year.

Rhode Island Department of Education Page: Resources for Families

This page answers the following questions:

• What standardized assessments are given in Rhode Island’s public schools?

• What types of questions will my child be asked on the statewide assessments?

• How long are the statewide assessments and when do they happen during the school year?

• What can you and your child do to prepare for statewide assessments?

• Where can you go to learn more about Rhode Island’s Statewide Assessment Program and how to understand your student’s results?

• What are Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) and why are they important?

Community and Family Resources

Make sure to check the Community Resources Section and the new Immigration Resources for Families Section on our school website.

As always please reach out if you need help.

With love,
Ms. Tatiana

Have a shoutout for a staff, a student or group of students? Please use the following link to share: https://forms.gle/mKG7d5aU2iLoq7Yx5

Email: wpabst@hc.school

Location: 360 Market St., Warren RI 02885

Phone: (401) 247-3585