Parkwood Staff Newsletter

Greetings Parkwood Panthers!

I hope this newsletter finds you well! Here's a comprehensive update on our upcoming events and important reminders.

Celebrations from the Week Thank you for a great week last week! I am grateful for how our staff supported one another during our busy days this week!

• Our 5th grade Orchestra Concert was wonderful.
• The 2nd Grade Wax Museum was a big success — students were engaged and proud to present their work.
• We are gearing up for a fantastic Literacy Night and can’t wait to celebrate reading and learning together.

These moments are meaningful — thank you for your continued encouragement and involvement.

Important Announcements: 📅 Upcoming Events

• Monday- In Building Transfer Forms Open. Deadline turn in by March 6th
• Tuesday — FDSF shoe fitting day & Staff Taco/Salsa Day
• Wednesday, 2/25 — Literacy Night, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM.
• Friday, 2/27 — Mid‑Winter Break: No School. Enjoy the long weekend with your family!
• Wednesday, 3/4 — Kindergarten Orientation. Please avoid the Gym/K hallway between 9:30–10:30 AM to keep the area clear for our visitors.
• Thursday, 3/5 — Support Parkwood Students at the Board Meeting, 6:50–7:10 PM. If you can attend, your presence is appreciated.

Additional Information: ⭐ Important Reminders

Conference Sign‑Up Links

• It’s time to create your Spring conference sign‑up links. Please create your sign‑up calendar this week (using Calendly or Google Calendar). Then open the Spring Conference Document, highlight the “sign up link” under your name, and use the hyperlink button to attach your calendar link.
• If you need tech help, please contact Allie Demitz (our FIT member). Our goal is to send conference sign‑up information to families by next week.

Instructional & Administrative Reminders

• Please ensure gradebooks are up to date for our upcoming records day in March.
• Complete required Illuminate assessments — I will be double checking these this week.
• Maintain Bell‑to‑Bell instruction and consistent classroom routines.
• Continue posting student work with a strong academic focus (math, reading, writing, Science/Social Studies). For Black History Month and Literacy Night, consider highlighting student work that connects to these themes.
• Continue progress monitoring and PLC collaboration on intervention progress. Make instructional adjustments as needed to support strong academic growth during the second semester.
• Be intentional about Instructional Rounds and School Improvement Goals:
  • Use higher‑level thinking questions.
  • Move students from high compliance to taking more cognitive responsibility.
  • Use sentence stems and provide multiple opportunities for students to respond beyond yes/no answers.
  • Follow the gradual release model (I do, We do, You do).
• Begin incorporating M‑STEP practice, academic vocabulary practice, and test‑taking strategy discussions in upcoming lessons.

If you need support implementing any of these items, please reach out — we’re here to help each other succeed.

Closing Note Thank you all for your continued dedication and hard work. I am grateful for your partnership and the many ways you support our school community. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly. I look forward to working together in the weeks ahead.

Best regards,

Jessica Rosecrans

🌟 Second Grade Wax Museum

Thank you to our Second Grade Team for putting together another amazing Wax Museum! Special thanks to Stacy Erway, Denise Jordan, and Rylee Guillen for all your hard work and dedication. You go above and beyond to create a memorable learning experience that helps students learn about influential Black leaders, build public speaking confidence, and connect writing, reading, social studies, and more. We appreciate everything you do!

🏆 Leadership Spotlight

Shout out to Anne Tuka and Allie Demitz! Anne continues to lead our Instructional Rounds with excellence, and Allie has taken on the FIT technology leader role. They both lead the way supporting our Multi-Language Learners as they complete WIDA testing. Your leadership shines — our students and staff are better because of you!

🎉 Welcome, New Staff

Congratulations to Emma Parsons and Chuck Crowly on officially joining the Parkwood team! At the 60‑day mark your strong starts are already making an impact. We’re grateful to have you as Parkwood Panthers and appreciate all of your hard work.

Keep up the amazing work, Parkwood team! Your dedication to our students and commitment to excellence make our school community truly special.

"Together we learn, together we grow, together we succeed!"

Excerpt from the Article, Teaching Students How to Have an Academic Discussion:

Students’ ability to clearly communicate with others in conversation is a critical literacy skill. While goals for speaking are a part of elementary school standards, beginning in kindergarten, teaching talk can feel tricky; it’s often hard for students to know where to begin or the next best place to go when responding to someone. A “Progression of Talk” chart can be very helpful in this work—defining starting and ending points for students, as well as all the points in between, when engaging in conversation.

The “Progression of Talk,” by Cynthia Satterlee, begins with a student saying anything at all and grows to a student saying something relevant, adding on to what was previously said or disagreeing, clarifying, improving, revising their thinking, provoking more thought, or extending and elaborating—all necessary skills for any form of discourse.

Feb 23rd-27th KVCC Students join us

Feb 24th Staff Taco & Salsa Bar & Spring First Day Shoe Fund Distribution

Feb 25th Literacy Night & 3rd Grade Performance

Feb 27th Mid Winter Break

Mar 4th Kindergarten/PEEP Orientation

Mar 5th Parkwood Students recognized at Board Meeting 6:45-7:00

Mar 9th KEA staff meeting 4:00-5:00

Mar 10th KSO Field Trip 3rd-5th grade

Mar 11th Kinder Oral Health Assessment Visits

Mar 12th- Staff Underground Spirit Day- Welcome to the Jungle

Mar 13th Popcorn Friday & Talent Show

Mar 16th- We are Lucky to Learn Attendance Spirit Day

Mar 17th Instructional Rounds & Building MTSS/SIT Meeting

Mar 19th No School PD Day @ Building

Mar 20th No School Records Day

Mar 23rd 1st and 2nd Grade Musical & Conferences 4:00-8:00

Mar 24th Spring Conferences 4:00-8:00

Mar 26th Spring Conferences 12:00-4:00

Apr 17th Last Popcorn Friday & Staff Underground Spirit Day- Born to Run, Attendance Spirit Day We are EGGcellent

Apr 20th 4th & 5th Grade Performance

May 15th Attendance Spirit Day Attendance Scores Points

May 21st Orchestra & Drum Choir Performance