6th Grade Basketball Season

The start to the 6^th grade boy’s and girl's basketball season is coming quickly and we wanted to get information out to those interested or may be interested in playing this season.

Even if your son or daughter has not played basketball before, if s/he is interested in playing, we would love to have them join the team. The practice and game model provides opportunity for development of players at varying skill levels with an emphasis on fundamental basketball development and complete team participation. All of our kids play in every game provided they are in good standing with the team rules and are academically eligible.

6^th grade girls:

Coach Monica Sherer

If your daughter is interested in playing, I would appreciate an email to monicasherer@gmail.com with your daughter's first and last name so that I may begin building a roster and paperwork. Feel free to include any additional email addresses for our team email list.

FIRST PRACTICE - Tuesday January 18^th at 630pm in the Grade School Gym.

The girls should be dressed in comfortable workout apparel and gym shoes. I do recommend if possible that they have a designated shoe for basketball that they do not wear on the outdoor surfaces. This ensures they have good traction and surface when they are practicing or playing and makes for safer conditions.

Parent Meeting TBA

Practices will typically be from 630-800, Monday thru Thursday, bumping up to 530 on Wednesdays when the schedule permits. A complete practice and game schedule will be provided in addition to weekly updates via email.

The rest of the details will be covered in the Parent meeting.

6^th grade boys:

Coach Marc Schilling

If your son is interested in playing, I would appreciate an email to marcschilling@gmail.com with your sons first and last name so that I may begin building a roster and paperwork. Feel free to include any additional email addresses for our team email list.

FIRST PRACTICE - Tuesday January 18^th at 630pm in the Grade School Gym.

The boys should be dressed in comfortable workout apparel and gym shoes. I do recommend if possible that the boys have a designated shoe for basketball that they do not wear on the outdoor surfaces. This ensures they have good traction and surface when they are practicing or playing and makes for safer conditions.

At 730pm on Tuesday January 18^th I would like to have a brief parent meeting to introduce myself and give you an overview of the season and what you can expect as well as answer any questions. I will also be handing out practice and game schedules and a few other items.

Practices will typically be from 630-800, Monday thru Thursday, bumping up to 530 on Wednesdays when the schedule permits. A complete practice and game schedule will be provided in addition to weekly updates via email.

The rest of the details will be covered in the Parent meeting.

Principal Newsletter -- January 7, 2011

And then it was 2011... I have several posts this week. I know that's not typical but I wanted to spread things out a bit so that I could devote this space to this important announcement. Here are the other posts, also available by scrolling down:

• 6th Grade Basketball Season
• Changes to Math Assessment (please be sure to read this)
  
• Morning Math Team
• Immunization News

PTC Sponsored Speaker Series: This year our PTC has coordinated efforts to meet established Riverdale academic and social goals, as well as to continue building a vibrant sense of community partnership by utilizing our new space to bring relevant events to our community after school hours. This week... Tear-Free Writing Homework: Author Joanna Rose will speak about "How to Help Your Child with Writing at Home without Taking Over" on Thursday, January 13 from 7-9 pm in the Commons. Recommended for parents of 2nd- through 8th-graders. and, in the near future:

Supporting Our Boys: Howard Hiton, co-author of Bam! Boys Advocacy and Mentoring and Licensed Professional Counselor focusing on boys' issues for over twenty years, will speak on "How to Help your Sons Achieve Academic Success". Thursday, January 20 from 7-8:30 pm in the Commons. Focus will be on 5th- through 8th-grade boys.

Supporting Middle School Girls: Diane Gans, counselor specializing in girls' social issues and instructor at Lewis & Clark's Graduate School of Education and Counseling Psychology Program, will speak on "Empowering Girls to Develop Healthy Relationships". Thursday, February 24 from 7-8:30pm in the Commons.

Follow This Link for Attractions Coming Soon

Changes in Math Assessments Coming

Every now and again it's fun sharing information which, while germane to our school, emerges from the broader landscape of schooling in Oregon, nationally, and even world-wide. In this case we are preparing to experience some changes in the way math is assessed in Oregon, and then the way curriculum decisions are made nationally, first with mathematics and then with other subjects in subsequent years. The first changes will affect us this year; the second, more sweeping change, will take effect in the 2011-2012 school year.

1. Changes for 2010-2011

Three years ago Oregon adopted new content standards in math, elevating expectations for students. This is to say that what we were teaching changed, to include more content at earlier grade levels. This year, for the first time, those new content standards will be reflected in the State assessment (OAKS) itself. The result of this is that the tests will be significantly more difficult to pass, and to “exceed.”

Below is a table illustrating the “cut score” shifts:

2. Changes for 2011-2012 & beyond

For the next school year, Oregon’s State Board of Ed. has recently adopted “Common Core” content standards. 44 states have adopted the Common Core in a move toward Federalized standards. A common problem in analyzing student achievement data is that, until now, meaningful comparisons across state lines have been very difficult to achieve. In other words, once students are taught the same curriculum (and, eventually, assessed using the same tool) apples-to-apples comparisons will be far more relevant.

These new content standards (adopted for the next year -- 2011-2012) will reflect yet another “bump up” in terms of level of expectation. They will also simplify and streamline the content standards, in a positive way. Our initial analysis of the change, and the support materials provided, has been very positive. In a few years, the mathematics assessment children will take will be a national test, similar in nature, but assessing progress toward the Common Core standards.

What does this mean for us?

These changes, for us, hold meaning in that they an impetus for our continued development of program, curriculum choices, and academic expectations. I am personally approaching the changes from a standpoint of wanting to leverage this opportunity to once again examine our practices and promote individualized learning opportunities for students at all levels. In other words, this is a grand challenge, presented in stages.

Nothing is more exciting to me than meeting challenges for the sake of our children. While they may present ostensibly as challenges related to passing standardized tests, that is only partially the case -- only in that our assessments will be better and better measures of what we teach. In reality, the challenges are around elevating our expectations and our aspirations, for ourselves, our teachers, and -- most important -- our students.

In the short term, across Oregon, you will notice math scores (or the percentages of students meeting or exceeding the State test) drop significantly. My personal goal is that, looking at our scores at the end of this year, that will not be the case.

Morning Math Team Opportunity for 6-8 Graders!

Nick and Heather wanted to let you know that the Math Team is back, and we are holding sessions again for strong 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Math students. If your student would like to attend morning practice with the Math Team on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 to 8:30, please sign up through the Community School Website. We hope to see your student bright and early on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Here is the calendar of past and future contests.

For more information, please contact Nick Hersman (nhershman@riverdale.k12.or.us).

Important Immunization News

A note from our nurse, Victoria Wilson, RN:

Immunization Exclusion Day is approaching--February 16, 2011. The initial letters were mailed in November; Exclusion letters will be mailed from the State in about three weeks, notifying parents of any outstanding immunizations (or a certificate/record) needed. If you have yet to do this, we encourage you to make an appointment with your child's health care provider as soon as possible to obtain any shot doses. If you have updated your child's immunizations (or chosen a religious exemption) but have yet to inform the school, please do so this week by providing the school with the updated orange-colored Certificate. The deadline for my reporting is January 11th, so unless I receive your updated immunization information by that date, you will receive an Exclusion letter.
We are working hard to update all records and avoid any exclusions this year. I truly regret seeing students miss school due to immunization exclusion; however each school must comply with State law. Please work with us to update your child's records and thereby avoid any exclusions this year. We'd love to report "zero" exclusions to the State this year! We can accomplish this goal!
If you have any questions on the process, or would like confirmation from the school of immunization status, please feel free to call me at school, or at 503-257-1638x2573.
Thank you very much,
Victoria Wilson RN