Dear K8 Team,

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make our Parent-Teacher Conferences such a success! It was truly wonderful to see so many meaningful conversations about teaching, learning, and student growth. Your dedication to building strong partnerships with families does not go unnoticed, and I deeply appreciate the care and commitment you bring to our school community.

As we head into our final week before Spring Break, let’s make the most of our time with students—keeping the momentum strong, reinforcing positive habits, and finishing on a high note. And what better way to celebrate than with our Math BINGO Night on Thursday? Let’s rally together to make it a fun and memorable event for our students and families.

Thank you for all you do—let’s finish the week strong!

Brett

Character Strong

April’s character trait is Courage—a perfect theme as we continue important conversations about our Levy with families and our community. Thank you for your willingness to engage in these discussions and encourage individuals to vote. Ballots will be mailed out this week, so let’s keep spreading the word!

Additionally, this week is a excellent time to pull in some fun Character Strong classroom activities!  Check out the library of short exercises that can serve as openers, closers, community builders, icebreakers, and more.

Points of Interest

Math Bingo Night – Action Needed

Please encourage your student to attend Thursday’s BINGO night.  This fun and festive event will have free pizza, prizes and more.  We want to fill out kgym.  Please signup to help.  Here is an image for your weekly newsletter.  

Book Fair – Action Needed

Ms. Gearhart is leading another exciting initiative—a Scholastic Book Fair! Our carts and books arrive today, and we’ll be sending home backpack flyers and a digital newsletter to families. The book fair will be set up in Mrs. D’s resource room. Please sign up to bring your class through and help build excitement for reading! Here is the community memo that will be sent out later today. 

Spring Break Encouragement

 As we approach Spring Break, let’s remind students to keep learning! Encourage them to read, practice MobyMax, and engage with IM Math. A little time spent on learning can go a long way in keeping their skills sharp!

SBAC – Quick & Effective Strategies

 Use Smarter Balanced release items as entry tasks to assess student understanding.

• Find questions by grade, subject, and type here.

• Use them to start lessons and check prior knowledge.

These quick checks provide valuable insights to guide instruction—let’s keep driving student growth with data-informed practices!

Essential Standards Report – Action Needed by TUESDAY @ 9AM

As you track progress using the K-8 Essential Standards Document and Data Analysis Tool , please complete the Essential Standards Report to record the percentage of students meeting each standard based on pre- and post-assessments.

Your careful monitoring helps us target support and celebrate growth—thank you for your dedication!

Thank you for all you do to inspire and support our students!

MTSS News

Thank you everyone that shared the MTSS parent referral forms with the parents of your students of concern during conferences. I’ll be making phone calls this week and getting them on the RoundTable schedule.

Have a great week everyone! 

Calendar

2024-25 K8 Calendar

Monday, 3.31

• End of 3rd Quarter

• Observation Pre-Conference Meetings, 7:45

• K8 Core Leadership Meeting 10 AM

• Formal Observation Meeting, 10:15 AM

• Office Meeting, 1 PM

• K8 Departments, 1:30 PM

• Post-Conference Meeting, 3:30 PM

• Pickleball, 6PM

Tuesday - 4.1

• PLC: Unit Planning, 7:15-8:00 AM

• MS PLC: Conferences and Unity, 7:15 AM

• OSSI Meeting w/ Data Review, 9 AM 

• Pre-Conference Meeting, 9:50 AM

• Student Support Team- K8 Conference Room, 10 AM

• Brett’s Behavior Academy Group, 11 AM

• Formal Observation, 12:45 PM

• Formal Observation, 1:30 PM

• Post Conference Meeting: 3:30 PM

Wednesday - 4.2

• Admin Meeting: 9:30 AM

• Formal Observation, 12:45 PM

• K8 Core Leadership Check in, 12:30 PM

• IEP Meeting, 2:45 PM

• Pickleball, 6 PM

Thursday - 4.3

• Timesheet Due

• Gradient Learning Meeting, 10:30 AM

• Math BINGO Night, 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Friday - 4.4

• Student Access Day

• Booster Club Event at Springdale Grange – 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

• Pickleball, 6PM

Up and Coming Events:

• Grade Due, Sunday, April 5 @ 11:59 PM

• Spring Break, Apri; 07th - 11th

• MWHS FFA School/Community Carnival, 4/17 –  4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Helpful Links

• PLC @ Work Documents

• Essential Standards Report

• K8 Daily Schedule

• SWIS Referral 

• K8 Meeting Agenda

• K8 PBIS

• MTSS Process

• K8 Staff Dashboard

• 
  

 Good Monday Morning K8 Team,

I hope everyone had a refreshing first weekend of spring! While the weather may not have fully cooperated, we know these spring showers will soon bring green landscapes and beautiful blooms to our area.

Last Friday’s Learning and Enrichment Day was a great success! I am so grateful for the unity and collaboration we share here in the Mary Walker School District. A special thank you goes out to:

• The Middle School Team for providing a delicious breakfast.

• Mark for opening his room and giving us a thoughtful instructional overview.

• Darci for sharing effective new math fluency strategies.

• Our Para Teams for joining the fun, providing lunch, and engaging in their own PLC time.

• Matt Gines for organizing an engaging and fun Bunko team-building activity.

• Krystin, Darci, and Keturah for coordinating the Para LID sessions.

• Deb Kowalkowski for offering encouragement and motivation to implement Illustrative Mathematics with integrity and focus.
  
  

Our team is strong and united, and I am grateful for each of you. The work we do isn’t easy, but your commitment to our students and community is making a real difference.

Here’s a quick highlight of the MWSD success from last week: While I was in Chewelah, I ran into an old friend who spent her career in the Stevens County Court system. She is a lifelong resident of Chewelah and knows our community well. After a warm greeting, she shared—completely unprompted—how impressed she is with the transformational changes happening in MWSD. She spoke of rising academic data, improved graduation rates, and the positive changes in athletics and facilities. It was an encouraging reminder that our work is being noticed, and it matters.

We are doing great things, and I am proud to serve alongside you. Thank you for all you do—let’s keep this momentum going!

Just for Fun…

Wow—what a fun hour with the staff! I had a blast working my way up from the last table—just three more rounds, and I would have made it to the head table! I owe my success to the amazing partners I teamed up with along the way.

I was lucky to pair up with a pro who brought custom-fitted dice-rolling support (Vegas, here we come!), hit my highest round with McCain, and had the most detailed data tallying thanks to Mrs. Ashbrook.

Thank you for setting aside the work, stress, and pressure to come together as a team. Your energy and spirit are what make this place so special—I’m grateful to be part of it!

You all are the best!

Points of Interest

Levy – Your Voice Matters! (Action Needed)

As you connect with families and community members, encourage them to check their voter registration status—it only takes two minutes! Online registration is available until April 14 at Register to Vote – Washington State to receive a ballot by mail. After April 14, registration must be completed in person at the Stevens County Election Department in Colville up until Election Day—April 22.

For Parent Teacher Conferences, you will be provided with some levy talking points and informational flyers to share.  Your conversations can make a difference—let’s work together to ensure every voice is heard!

K-8 Conferences – (Action Needed)

This week is Spring Conference week: March 26th and 27th are half days and conference run from 12:30 to 7PM.  As you prepare for conferences, please be thoughtful academic and social/behvaioral performance and progresson.  Here are some good talking points:

Grade Reports: Bring recent report cards or grade summaries to discuss academic standing. 

Test Scores: Prepare to discuss standardized test results and classroom assessments. 

Work Samples: Select a few pieces of student work that showcase both strengths and areas for improvement. 

Homework and Study Habits: Note any observations about homework completion, study habits, and engagement with learning materials. 

Behavior Observations: Keep records of classroom behavior, including positive interactions and any concerns. 

Social Skills: Note observations about peer relationships, cooperation, and social-emotional development.

SBAC Entry Task Ideas – Engage & Assess!

Looking for a quick, effective way to gauge student understanding? Use Smarter Balanced release items as entry tasks!

1. Visit the Smarter Balanced Sample Items Website

2. Select questions by grade, subject, and item type

3. Use them to kick off lessons and assess prior knowledge

These quick checks provide valuable insight to guide your instruction—let’s continue supporting student growth with intentional, data-driven practices!

Essential Standards Report (Action Needed)

As you use the K-8 Essential Standards Document and Data Analysis Tool to track student progress on essential standards, please use this new form titled, Essential Standards Report,  to record the percentage of students meeting each identified standard based on pre- and post-classroom formative assessment data.

Your careful monitoring helps us understand student growth and identify areas for targeted support. Thank you for your attention to this important work!

March Charger Assembly – This TUESDAY! (Action Needed)

Teachers, please submit your student names to Bailey today. It’s important to notify families as well—take a moment to call or email parents to invite them to celebrate their child’s recognition. Together, let’s make this a memorable event for our students and their families!

Staff Meeting 

In case you missed our staff meeting or need a refresher, here is the link to the agenda. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like more information—I’m happy to help!

MTSS News

I will be printing FastBridge data today for you to share out at conferences. Lots of our students have made incredible growth, so let’s celebrate that with parents! Please reach out to me and let me know which report you would like, the Family Report or Individual Growth Report. If I don’t hear from you by lunch time I will be printing the Family Report for you. :) Have a great week everyone!

Calendar

2024-25 K8 Calendar

Monday, 3.10

• MS Spring Sports Start

• K8 Core Leadership Meeting 10 AM

• Formal Observation Meeting, 11:15 AM

• Office Meeting, 1 PM

• K8 Departments, 1:30 PM

• Pickleball, 6PM

Tuesday - 3.11

• PLC: Unit Planning, 7:15-8:00 AM

• MS PLC: Conferences and Unity, 7:15 AM

• Middle School Assembly at 9 AM (Following MS Assembly Schedule) 

• Student Support Team- K8 Conference Room, 10 AM

• Brett’s Behavior Academy Group, 11 AM

• 
  

Wednesday - 3.12

• 
  

• Brett in Medical Lake S.D. until 11:30 PM, back to Conferences

• K8 Early Release at 12:30 PM

• K8 Core Leadership Check in, 12:30 PM

• Pickleball, 6PM

Thursday - 3.13

• K8 Early Release at 12:30 PM

• Parent Teacher Conferences 12:30 to 7 PM

Friday - 3.14

• Student Access Day

• Pickleball, 6PM

Up and Coming Events:

• March Charger Assembly, 3/25

• Parent Conferences, 3/26-27

• Math BINGO Night, 4/3 (NEW DATE)

• Booster Club Event at Springdale Grange, 4/4 – 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

• Springbreak, 04/07-11

• MWHS FFA School/Community Carnival, 4/17 –  4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Helpful Links

• PLC @ Work Documents

• Essential Standards Report

• K8 Daily Schedule

• SWIS Referral 

• K8 Meeting Agenda

• K8 PBIS

• MTSS Process

• K8 Staff Dashboard

Thank you for reading to the very end...I have one snickers to share with the first to report either in person or text!