Our ELA team is working on more consistent use of the 6 +1 writing rubric as a tool for common, schoolwide writing assessments.  This is part of our overall effort to develop more systematic school wide assessment procedures in Spanish, English and Math.

We’ve completed screening for Talented and Gifted identification and will do follow up assessments for the students who qualify.

We are working with teachers and families to address behavior concerns, particularly in middle school. 

Staff members led two excellent trainings on conflict resolution and equity during our November In-service day.  In January, we will continue the equity work and we’ll also offer subject specific training different employee groups.

Michelle and Chris had positive meeting with BSD to discuss possible pathways for middle school dual language options for Arco Students. Communication will go out to our 5th grade families.  It sounds like there may be spots available, but we do not have formal confirmation on this.  It is important to create these pathways regardless of the decision about the continuation of our middle school program.

Chris shared his observations on our middle school program, and the challenges we face in providing middle school students with all of the opportunities a comprehensive middle school can offer.

I’d like to start attaching costs to potential future expenditures like raises for teachers, increasing our PD budget, curriculum adoption, and K-5 vs. K-8 staffing models. We will use up our ESSER funding by the end of the next school year. The finance committee helped generate a list of spending initiatives/costs to analyze and Tonya will work with me to gather financial data before our January meeting.