K8 Staff Memo: Welcome Back!
I hope everyone had a joy-filled and restful Christmas Break. The holidays are such a great time to unplug and relax. I have to admit, my son and I had a little debate over what day it was on Friday. He was disappointed to realize there were only two more full days of the break. But here we are, refreshed and ready to dive into the second half of the school year. Tomorrow, Monday, January 6th, marks our first day back, and I’m excited to see you all!
As we return to school, I encourage you to make the most of your instructional time. A four-day week has many benefits, but with only 154 student days, our focus and drive in teaching and learning are critical. Let’s make every day count for our students.
This month, we’re resetting our ABC data—attendance, behavior, and coursework—and focusing on keeping our students “green.” During Friday’s LID day, we’ll review our data and discuss ways to better support our “red” students. It’s inspiring to see the collaboration and effort from the Student Success Team, MTSS, and support staff to help our struggling students. We’ll also share some fun initiatives to engage and motivate our kids.
The start of a new year is a wonderful opportunity to refocus and set a positive tone for our students and ourselves. Thank you for the dedication, creativity, and care you bring to your classrooms every day. Let’s embrace 2025 with energy and purpose, making it a memorable and impactful year for our Charger family.
Let’s make it a great week!
Mr. Joachim
PLC @ Work (Action Needed)
This week, please use your PLC time to collaborate with your team on:
Unit planning
Data analysis
Intervention planning
As part of this work, I kindly ask that you share your current unit plan with me. I’m excited to see the great things you’re developing and to support your efforts in delivering impactful instruction.
Thank you for your dedication to this important work!
Tooth Savers
Nurse Sherri is excited to welcome Tooth Savers to our school on January 7th. However, we currently have 14 consent forms submitted, and we need a minimum of 20 students to participate for the visit to happen.
Please reach out to families who may benefit from this program and share the link below so they can sign up online:
Website for Parents to Enroll:
https://www.myschooldentist.com/35034_schsrm
If your classroom uses ParentSquare, ClassDojo, or another messaging platform, we’d greatly appreciate it if you could send out a “Dental Visit” announcement with the link. This is a quick and easy way for families to access the online consent form and enroll their students.
Additionally, feel free to share this link via social media, email, or text to help us spread the word and ensure this valuable program can serve our students!
Thank you, Nurse Sherri for your help in making this possible!
Classroom Expectations Poster Updates (Action Needed)
As we step into 2025, let’s take this opportunity to revisit and refresh our classroom expectations! This week, please ensure your Classroom Expectations Poster is updated and prominently displayed.
Reinforcing these expectations is a powerful way to create consistency and align with our school-wide focus:
Be Safe
Be Respectful
Be Responsible
Let’s use this time to reset and strengthen the foundation for a successful year ahead. Below are a couple of helpful resources to guide you: K8 PBIS Link and K8 Expectations Matrix
Building Leadership Team Meetings
The Building Leadership Team will convene on the second Tuesday of each month for the remainder of the school year. These meetings are an essential opportunity to collaborate, strategize, and drive our school’s continued growth and success.
Thank you for your commitment to leadership and for making these meetings a priority on your calendars!
LID Day (Friday, January 10th) (Action Needed)
We have a detailed agenda that will be sent out later this week. This LID will provide some K8 all staff time, as well as, k5 and MS team meetings. Please plan on participating on the bake potato potluck!
Elementary School - Baked Potato Toppings
Middle School - Chips/Dips & Sides
CharacterStrong/Purposeful People
This months character trait is...
I appreciate how everyone is working hard to use CS/PP build your classroom community. Please continue to share the weekly lessons. Sending student recognition certificates home is a great way to remind families that their child is a valued member of the classroom community.
Check out this video to learn more about the impact of Positive Notes Home.
And just like that, we’re back! With it being January, it’s time to do our benchmark testing and see how much our students have improved! The Fastbridge testing window will be open on Wednesday. I will be available to help anyone who needs assistance. Monday and Tuesday groups will be running as usual, after that the MTSS team will be spending our time testing K-3 students. You will be receiving your updated student login cards before Wednesday morning.
Be sure to let your students know about the FastBridge Mid Year Grade Level Growth Challenge! Outside the MTSS Room will be grade level posters for reading and math. Each student that makes the expected growth from Fall to Winter will get a stamp for their grade. The criterion is based on the FastBridge college pathway for expected growth (it is the smallest number for expected growth). For the students that make extended growth (moving from one category to the next), they will receive the first stamp and then a bonus stamp in a different color for the extra growth. An example of this would be moving from the “low risk” category to the “some risk” category. There are parties at stake! A party will be provided for the grade with the most overall growth and a party for the grade with the most extended growth. The grades that win will get to choose the party they want from the menu below.
The goal of this challenge is to get the students to do their very best on FastBridge! We need them to really show what they know to drive our instruction!
Reading Expected Growth
Kindergarten 28 points At Benchmark: 443
First Grade 18 points At Benchmark: 475
Second Grade 11 points At Benchmark: 499
Third Grade 7 points At Benchmark: 512
Fourth Grade 5 points At Benchmark: 522
Fifth Grade 4 points At Benchmark: 532
Sixth Grade 3 points At Benchmark: 537
Seventh Grade 4 points At Benchmark: 547
Eighth Grade 2 points At Benchmark: 553
Math Expected Growth
Kindergarten 7 points At Benchmark: 191
First Grade 5 points At Benchmark: 199
Second Grade 3 points At Benchmark: 206
Third Grade 4 points At Benchmark: 213
Fourth Grade 3 points At Benchmark: 217
Fifth Grade 5 points At Benchmark: 225
Sixth Grade 5 points At Benchmark: 229
Seventh Grade 2 points At Benchmark: 233
Eighth Grade 2 points At Benchmark: 235
Party Menu
Root Beer Floats Ice Cream Sundaes
Build Your Own Pizza Winter Themed Minute to Win it Games
Decorate a Cookie Popcorn and a Short Movie
Monday, 1.6
Behavior Intervention Team, 10:00 AM
MTSS Admin Meeting, 10:30 AM
ABC Data Update, 11 AM
K8 Office Meeting, Brett/Bailey,1 PM
K8 Department Report, 1:30 PM
Tuesday - 1.7
PLC: Unit Planning, 7:15-8:00 AM
Tooth Savers Visit
Student Support Team- K8 Conference Room, 10 AM
Behavior Acadamy: Social Skills Group. 9:30 AM
Wednesday -1.8
FastBridge Testing Opens
WSU School of Med: 8th Grade Session #4 Healthy Relationships #1, 9 AM
MWSD Leadership Meeting @ 9:30 AM
Behavior Intervention Team, 12:30 PM
Thursday - 1.9
Behavior Acadamy: Social Skills Group. 9:30 AM (Final Sesson)
Skyward SMS Student CRDC Training, 12:30-3:30 PM
PBIS Committee with NWPBIS
Friday - 1.10
LID, Agenda Coming
Up and Coming Events:
FastBridge Testing
BLT Meeting: 01.14
Data Team Day
January Character Trait: PERSEVERANCE
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