Monday, September 18th
Phillips and Lowell West will hold picture day.
Families may sign up online or use the brochure sent home.
Phillips Pictures will be taken in the morning.
Lowell West Pictures will be take in the afternoon.
We are taking classroom pictures instead we will use the composite pictures to compose a classroom group picture
Greeting Families,
We had an excellent first full week of school! I'm amazed at how well our students adjusted to their schedules and classroom expectations.
Bussing has been our greatest challenge. Each day we worked to improve our process. We've had a little difficulty pinpointing what needs tweaking because ridership has increased daily, and we will add service to the Boys and Girls Club Monday. As enrollment increases, we continue to see variability in timing along the route. I understand the frustration it brings when you don't know exactly when the bus will arrive at your child's stop. Please allow a little time on both sides of your assigned pick-up or drop-off time. I think the predictability will become more reliable by the end of next week.
Another tip, if your child goes to Lowell West and you're looking for information concerning their bus. Please call 1-781-899-3701.
A few other updates, we completed our first round of fire drills this week and received positive feedback from the Watertown and Waltham's Fire Department for quick and orderly evacuations!
Picture Day is Monday, September 18th. Parents are invited to order pictures online or you can use the Coffee Pond Ordering form sent home yesterday.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will take place on October 3rd at 4:00 pm. After a brief ceremony we invite the Watertown Community to walk through our amazing renovated school.
Open House for Lowell will take place on October 18th from 6-8 p.m.
We hope you will join us for Open House on Wednesday, October 18th! This year we will be structuring the evening differently to make it a more family-friendly event. Instead of classroom presentations, students will act a tour guide for their families showcasing their new classroom and school.
Beginning of the Year Assessments have begun
Over the next two weeks all students in grades k-5 will take the DIBELS assessment. "DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. DIBELS is a series of short, quick assessments that some schools use to determine if students may be struggling with reading and need additional help. Teachers use DIBELS to inform their reading instruction. In other words, DIBELS tells teachers if students are at risk in reading and the type of help they may need." (Amplify Website) Please note that we are no longer using Fountas & Pinnell (F&P) and students will no longer have reading level "score" from A-Z.
Students in Grades 1-5 are also in the process of taking the iReady Diagnostic in Reading and Math. i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s needs, personalize his or her learning, and monitor progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child exactly where he or she is and provides data for us to increase your child’s learning gains. This information informs instruction, especially for our WIN (What I Need) blocks in reading and math. Student performance on iReady has also consistently aligned with performance on state assessments (MCAS).
