YMS NEWS

It has been a fantastic start to the new school year. We have a group of adults at YMS dedicated to helping your student(s) succeed. I am continually blown away by our staff's commitment and dedication to their students. This is a great school district and I believe we have the best middle school in the state!

Students have been very busy this first part of the year. In the classroom I see students creating, collaborating, and critically thinking. Many students are involved in activities such as FFA, Teammates, Student Senate, Band, Expressions, Cross Country, Volleyball, and Football just to name a few! Parents, please continue to encourage your child to become active at YMS. Students who are involved in an activity feel a connection to the school and in turn, their learning improves.

Our ICU system at YMS is in full effect and what we are seeing is certainly positive. One of the core foundations of ICU is that we stop focusing so much on grading and homework and focus on learning. You might notice that your child has fewer grades in the grade book, which is intentional. We want to focus our time on teaching and learning. There will be a measurement of your child’s ability to learn the standards and that will be reported in the grade book. At YMS each teacher has a restudy retake policy so if a student feels like they can improve their score on an assessment they can do that. Each teacher might have a slightly different way of handling these situations so if you are ever curious please set up a time to talk with that teacher.

Here are a few guidelines for the ICU philosophy:

• ICU provides extra time and extra help it doesn’t allow students to fail and expects all students to complete all quality assignments.

• ICU develops a culture of learning in which teachers take responsibility for student learning and students returning to active engagement in school.

• ICU teaches students responsibility by not “letting them off the hook” and allowing a zero in the grade book or allow them to not connect with the learning.

Thank you for your support with our ICU process and for helping us partner together to ensure your child(ren) is getting the best education possible.

A reminder that our Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Oct 2nd & Oct 9th from 4:30-8:30. Then Oct 11 from 8:00-Noon and 1 pm to 3 pm. These conferences are scheduled. Parents, be looking for a message and a link to sign up for your time to talk to your child(s) teachers. Please only sign up for one time spot. We do not have enough time spots for you to meet with all teachers of the core teachers.

Thank you for working with your student to make sure they are not only getting their schoolwork finished but also enough sleep, food, and love so that together we can make the 6th, 7th, and 8-grade years some of the best years of their life. Go, Dukes!

Kenny Loosvelt

YMS Principal

The Nebraska Student Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) English Language Arts, Math, and Science general summative assessments were administered to Nebraska students in grades 3-8 during the spring of 2024. The NSCAS is Nebraska’s statewide assessment system.

When your student completed the NSCAS assessments, the results were calculated and a score was generated and reported in the form of an Individual Student Report (ISR). You will be receiving your student’s Individual Student Report (ISR) at parent teacher conferences. Individual student results should be interpreted with caution. Any assessment result is limited in its ability to tell the story of learning for an individual student. Schools use assessment results along with many other types of data to monitor student progress.

York Middle School gives the NSCAS Growth Summative assessment in the spring and the MAP Growth assessment in the Fall and Winter. On the ISR, you will only see a spring result. The MAP Growth assessment is not reported on the ISR.

Students’ achievement on the NSCAS Growth assessment is reported as a scale score and achievement level. Scale scores range from 2220-2890 for ELA, 1000-1550 for Math, and 3000-3250 for Science. The scale score is an estimate of student achievement. The estimate is generated based on the questions the student answered correctly and then converted to a standard scale.

The Nebraska State Board of Education has defined three achievement levels for each content area:

• Developing: Developing learners do not yet demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level.

• On Track: On Tracker learners demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level.

• Advanced: Advanced learners demonstrate high levels of proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary at this grade level.

There is an online resource called the “Individual Student Report Interpretive Guide for Parents” that can be accessed by going to https://community.nwea.org/community/nebraska. Scroll halfway down the page and click on the Parents/Students tab. Under the Reports section is a link titled ISR Parent Interpretive Guide for Parents. This guide will help you further understand the ISR report.

If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to me.