September 21, 2011
Dear Parents, Students and Community:
A wonderful year at MDP has already begun with 103 Kindergarten students, 113 First Grade students and 80 pre-K! This group of energetic and excited children is already buckling down and reading and learning the skills needed that I believe will prove to be a great learning year for all.
Thus far we have already assessed all our kindergarten and first graders – even our new students to our district and we are well on our way to providing point-in-time interventions for those that need help and planning already for Enrichment hours during the year for those at mastery of skills.
Some of our highlights that are fairly unique to our school and we believe sets us above what other primary schools may have are the following:
We have Brain Arcade which is a math /science intervention room in which all students attend every 7th day. This hour long intervention/Enrichment room is set up with 12+ stations in which students rotate according to their math needs (based upon our assessments. There are challenging stations in which the most advanced children are assigned as well.
All our classes have I-Pads in which students use independently in corners for reinforcement of previously taught skills and these provide interventions for those needing extra practice for a skill not yet mastered.
All our students have 2 - 30 minute computer times per 7 day span in our Computer Lab. During these sessions they access our Computer based curriculum – Success Maker which is Math and Literacy. Our first graders are also this year learning Keyboarding Skills as part of their Computer time. This is a new venue this year and Mrs. Gaines (Computer lab teacher) is seeing great gains in this area.
All children check out books from the library and first graders have already begun taking Accelerated Reading quizzes after reading these books. Our Library is open throughout the day and many students are already checking out books daily. Last year our monthly average of circulation from the library was over 1,200 books per month. AR quizzes were taken on about 95% of these books.
Family Night Library begins on Monday Nights in October. This is a time in which parents can come with their child to check out books, read and take Accelerated Reading Quizzes. We do not give grades on AR but our research shows that those children that attend 5 for more Family Night Library times are at or above proficiency in reading. We also have the Computer lab open for parents at this time and many dads and grandparents find this to be a great time to spend some quality time with their children.
Highly Qualified Staff – All our teachers are fully certified with an abundance of experience in working with Kindergarten and First Grade students. Many of our interventionists have well over 20 years experience. Our younger staff members bring a wealth of energy and technology skills to our staff which keeps us all on the cutting edge for our children.
Reading Recovery - This highly effective intervention is available to our first grade students that have a good start on some pre-reading skills but are struggling. This 20 week, one-on-one, accelerated program helps those that are served reach the reading level of their peers. Parents are informed at the beginning of the program and have communication with the RR teacher throughout the 20 weeks. This is the most costly intervention that we do yet the most beneficial for those that need it. We are fortunate to continue to provide this to our first graders.
Margaret Daniel Primary School Educational Foundation – Our school is fortunate to have a Foundation that supports our school in so many ways. Over $70,000.00 has been awarded to our school in grants to various teachers for supplies and technology since the Foundations Inception in 2005. Technology Items have included Promethian Board, Mongo Drums, Star Student Cultural Décor, Smart Boards, TeacherMates, LCD projectors, Enrichment Camps for 4 summers for our advanced 1st Graders and other materials
Very Active and Motivated PTO – Parents and Teachers that work hard to provide many extra things for our playground and classrooms through their fundraising events. For several years the PTO has funded a big percent of our awards that we give to students for reaching high reading goals. Also their fund raising is helping presently to go toward new playground equipment for our students.
Groovy Grannies – Ours school is unique in that we have a wealth of grandmothers that donate many hours during the year. Grandmothers of Pre-K, Kindergarten and First Grade children sign up at the beginning of year to help out with decorating our school and preparing for guests that may be coming throughout the year. This group has provided meals for teachers and wonderful home baked goodies at Christmas time in addition to helping plant and maintain our flowers and shrubs.. Their cookbook is famous all over the 4 states area.
Watch D.O.G.S. - Each year we recruit Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students) to patrol our school and provide more eyes on our campus. We ask that each Dad donate 1 day sometime during the year. We have a Top D.O.G.S that coordinates the volunteers so that dads have a reminder and calendar of when they are to come.
Good Morning Program – Students that need some help with homework are provided a Good Morning person that greets them when they arrive at school. The volunteer spends about 15 minutes with them and is their cheerleader for the year to encourage and help the student do his/her very best.
All aspects of our school provide the best and challenging programs for our age children. The staff and myself welcome parents and the community to come for tours and throughout the year invite community and parent representatives to help in making decisions to improve our school. We always want to get better at what we do and meeting the needs of our students and community is our goal.
