September 2007 The The Monthly Newsletter of Eisenhower School WELCOME BACK! On Wednesday, August 29th, the Eisenhower staff welcomed back our students for the start of another exciting school year. Included in the 492 students, we welcomed 80 new kindergartners and 36 new students who moved into the Eisenhower community. Each year brings new challenges to our staff. We also recognize on-going challenges such as continuing to provide timely and focused instruction to all students. In order to do this we must be cognizant of where our students are as learners on a daily basis and plan and schedule Eisenhower staff in a way that helps us meet student needs efficiently and effectively. Date e h T Save ✎September 10 - Elem. String Info. Mtg. @ H.S. (7PM) Finally. one other important aspect of every start to a new school-year is the number of new parents and PTA volunteers who get set to make a positive difference in the lives of children. I welcome Carole King, our new PTA President, the PTA Executive Board, and all of the parents who I look forward to working with to benefit our students. ✎September 14 What’s New: Naming a Few ✎September 18 ๏ Schedules: We have made some changes to the “norm” in scheduling. The biggest change to our day occurs at the beginning. In school-years past, every grade level in the building started with D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read)/Eisenhower Power time. This year each grade has their D.E.A.R./ Eisenhower Power Time scheduled at a different time of the day. In addition to that change, some students will experience their recess in the morning as opposed to the traditional after lunch time frame. One reason for both changes allows us to break up the school day so children aren’t asked to sit for long periods of instructional time. These and other changes will allow us to meet the many different needs of all of our students. ๏ SWEP I: The new SWEP I/Regional Environmental Education Center (REEC) partnership will begin this school year with site visits to the center by all elementary students from each of the three elementary schools in the district. The REEC is located in Upper St. Clair. This initiative will promote the development of a spiraled K - 4 environmental education experience enriching your child's science and social studies curriculum. Program goals include: 1. Foster an understanding of community ties, as per the Regional Environmental Education Center mission statement; 2. Assist in meeting USC science and social studies curriculum standards; 3. Assist in meeting PA state standards in science and social studies; 4. Introduce a voluntary community service project; and 5. Provide an opportunity to continue the USC/REEC relationship yearly. What Proudly Stays the Same - PTA Meeting (9:30AM) - Open House (7PM)(12:45 Early Dis.) ✎September 18-20 - Book Fair ✎September 25 - 4th Level Breakfast (7:30AM) ✎October 3 - Picture Day ✎October 12 - PTA Meeting (9:30AM) EISENHOWER EDITION The Eisenhower Edition is written and edited by Principal Mark Miller with contributions from Eisenhower staff, PTA President Carole King, and other PTA members. ๏ Supports For All Children: We are extremely proud of how individualized, timely, and focused supports have become over the last several years. Through classroom and resource teacher collaboration and the use of sound and proven educational strategies during instruction, we are able to clearly and quickly identify concepts children are or are not grasping and understanding. Our focus has become very geared toward assessing and addressing student learning on a daily basis. No If you have any comments or longer do we wait until after the unit or chapter test to see if a child acquired a concept. Every day, suggestions please direct them to during every lesson, Eisenhower teachers are assessing children and organizing supports based on mmiller@uscsd.k12.pa.us. this data. Because we know our students’ learning needs better than ever, it is only natural for the next step in the process to be to use the detailed knowledge of each child to provide more individualized challenges or supports to help them continue their growth as successful learners. The key is to provide these timely supports so children do not experience any gaps in their learning. The bottom line is EVERY child is getting a very individualized education because of these exceptional practices. EVERY child is receiving some type of individualized instruction or support. Academic supports come in many different sizes and shapes. We understand and do our best to avoid making a child feel singled out. No longer is the school day one where a child comes in the morning, goes to their homeroom, only sees one [Continued on back] Eisenhower Edition can also be found online at www.uscsd.k12.pa.us on the Eisenhower page. September 2007 (Welcome Back continued) teacher the entire day, and returns home. Your child may see three or four different teachers during their school day. Throughout the day homeroom teachers team with other classroom teachers and resource teachers to provide the most individualized instruction possible to benefit your child. Kids are in and out of the classroom all day. Most of the time it is in the form of small groups going here or there. There should be NO perception of the slow group, high group, this group, that group, only our excitement of thoroughly understanding and being able to address individual learning needs of children. These groups change throughout the year depending on the particular learning needs of each child. Gone is the “norm” of the teacher in front of the classroom teaching to the entire group of children. Today, the new “norm” entails teachers instructing smaller groups of children based on individual needs. ๏ Eisenhower Power: When your son or daughter comes home from a fantastic day at Eisenhower perhaps you’ll hear about something called Eisenhower Power. This valuable program is a student-named program designed to provide additional support to help students achieve increased success in the classroom. Eisenhower Power allows children to receive specific grade level support in various curricular areas. Program participation is based on on-going, day-to-day teacher assessments, and student progress toward district learning objectives. We are very proud to be able to provide such an effective, timely, and focused program that is truly a great benefit for children. If you have any questions please feel free to contact your child’s teacher. ๏ Teacher Collaboration: Teams of teachers (classroom, resource, and specialized) meet on a weekly basis to discuss individual student progress, grade level goals, and plan timely individualized challenges and supports. ๏ Targets: Keep asking your child(ren) about targets. They should be able to tell you exactly what they’re learning in each subject. We’re excited about continuing our initiative of clearly defining a lesson’s learning goal before, during, and after each lesson to all students. ๏ We Care: Our “We Care” program is geared toward helping children understand many different aspects of how to positively interact with others. We consistently remind students that “Making A Positive Difference” can be helping a new student feel welcomed or simply being considerate while working on something together during class. The point is there are many opportunities in a school day to make a positive difference. First, we are a team, TEAM EISENHOWER. Secondly, as our students grow through childhood to adulthood, being able to make a positive difference will not only help them be more successful individuals, but it will also help make our community a better place! ODYSSEY OF THE MIND The USC Odyssey of the Mind teams are now being formed! All interested students are encouraged to register by Friday, September 21st. To find out about this fun program, attend one of the “What is Odyssey of the Mind” information meetings (for K-12th). They will be held in the Boyce LGI room on Thursday, 9/13 from 1-2pm, and from 7-8pm on Tuesday, Sept 18th AND Thursday, Sept. 20th (just added!). Odyssey is focused on encouraging our young people to think and collaborate creatively. Let’s make sure Eisenhower is well represented again this year! For questions, visit www.uscootm.com or contact Kathleen Himler at khimler@yahoo.com. Contact Us: Eisenhower School 100 Warwick Dr. Upper St. Clair, PA 15241 Phone:(412) 833-1600, Ext. 8000 www.uscsd.k12.pa.us PTA NEWS Carole King, President The start of a busy new year brings many excellent PTA events and great volunteer opportunities. Thank you to everyone for all the time they spend making the school year an excellent experience for the students. Dates to remember Throughout September and October there are many exciting PTA events. The Scholastic Book Fair will be held September 18th , 19th and 20th, with evening hours on the 18th during Open House. Open House will be on September 18th from 7-9pm. The Fourth Level Breakfast will be held on September 25th. As we move into October, School Pictures will be on the third and don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Eisenhowler on October 19th. The Third Level Breakfast will take place on October 23rd. Harvest Parties will be on Wednesday, October 31st. The next PTA meeting will be held on October 12, at 9:30am. positively pta Things paid for by the PTA in September ★ Folders and Planners/Organizers for the students ★ Weekly Reader (Grades 1 & 2) ★ Time for Kids (Grades 3 & 4) THANKS PTA! A GREAT BIG THANKS A special thanks goes out to the many volunteers that have helped with recent PTA functions. Thank you to the chairs and many volunteers that make every PTA event a great experience! Welcome back lunch for the eisenhower staff: Jeanne McNamara and volunteers Welcome PTA Breakfast: Debra Levy and volunteers Flower Beds: Carole Mantel and Jane Taraszewski summer movie night ike Thanks to everyone who was able to make it in July. After a rain out on the original date, we braved some drizzles on the rain date. “Flushed Away” was enjoyed by Eisenhower students and their families. It is always a tough call in terms of should we or shouldn’t we cancel. We do our best in trying to predict the weather, take everything into consideration, and communicate it as quickly as possible. Birthday Book club The Birthday Book Club is a great way to celebrate your child’s birthday with their class. The “birthday books” are celebrated with the birthday child during their library time. Please note the form has changed from last year. Please use the new form with the adjusted prices of $15 for a hard back and $8 for a paperback. Forms are available in the office. Please contact Caroline Seeton with any questions. Eisenhower Edition can also be found online at www.uscsd.k12.pa.us on the Eisenhower page.