ABC Countdown!

ABC COUNTDOWN!

May

1^st- A: Arts Day! - Have fun in your classroom exploring the fine arts (music, art, drama, etc)!

2^nd B: Beach Day – Dress up like you’re headed on vacation (school appropriate, of course).

3^rd- C: Country Meadows Day - Rep your CM Pride!  

6^th– D: Dance Day - Your teachers have plans for you to dance today!  

7^th- E: Exercise Day- Wear your sweats, warm ups, and gym shoes. We will be sure to talk about the importance of exercise and being heart healthy.

8^th- F: Favorite book- Bring your favorite enjoyable book to school to share with your classmates.

9^th- G: Game Day- Get ready to play a game in the classroom! 

10^th- H: Hat Day- Wear your favorite hat to school today.

13^th- I: Illinois day- Wear IL sports teams or IL college gear!

14^th- J: Jammies Day- Get comfy at school, no slippers please!  

15^th- K: Kindness Day– We will all engage in random acts of kindness today.

16^th- L: Limbo Day - limbo in and out of school!  

17^th- M: Mustache Day- Come to school with a fake mustache on and/or make one with your teacher in your classroom and wear it for some giggles.

20^th- N: No Homework Day- Take the night off!

21^st - O: Outside day - Enjoy some extra time outside with your class!

22^nd- P: Pirate Day - Talk like a pirate and take part in pirate activities (eye patches optional but absolutely NO WEAPONS)  ...AAARGH!

23^rd- Q: “Quit Doing School Work And Enjoy Music!”

24^th- R: Run Your Socks off Day - CUB CRAWL!

28^th- S: Summer Birthday- Wear your favorite summer gear as we celebrate all the special summer birthdays! Your teacher will give you direction on how we will celebrate.

29^th- T: Thank you day:  While at school, make a thank you card for someone in the building

30^th- U: Unwanted Day- We will begin the cleaning process and send home things from our desks that are unneeded for the rest of the year.

31^st- V: uV Day- It’s Field Day so make sure you wear lots of uV protection!

June

3^rd W: Wacky Day - Inside out, mismatched, and just plain silly clothing and hair day!

4^th- X: X-tra Recess Day- The name says it all!

5^th- Y: Yearbook Day- Get special autographs from your classmates.

6^th- Z: Zero Day- Zero days left of school. Come and say goodbye to a wonderful year at Country Meadows!

MAP testing:  Fall, Winter, and Spring for all!  What exactly does that mean? 

Specific dates and testing times are available through your classroom teacher.  The assessing will begin on April 29th, 2013.  There will be a short make-up window if your child is absent during the assessment.

We are in the midst of using NWEA’s Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) to gauge each student’s current level of performance in the areas of reading and math.  This is a multifaceted, computer-based assessment that pinpoints each child’s ability.  The assessment becomes increasingly more challenging as students respond correctly and simplifies when students respond incorrectly.  The exactness of this assessment gives the educators at Country Meadows valuable information about each student.

We look at each student’s overall RIT score in reading and math to measure progress.  This fall score was a benchmark to which we measure your student’s growth.  The MAP assessment will give us a projected score for each student to achieve by spring.  The goal is for each student to make at least one year’s worth of growth by hitting the projected target that the assessment provides.  Our winter assessment will provide us with valuable information about the academic growth that each student is making so teachers can continue to challenge all students. 

We will meet or exceed each student’s targeted growth by analyzing strengths and weaknesses that are identified by the assessment.  Score reports will detail categories in which students are excelling and need more support, in both reading and math.  

The most exciting part of the assessment is watching students challenge themselves.  Since each student receives a growth target that is unique to his or her academic achievement, each student is working to his or her own goal.  Students are thrilled when they work hard and as a result, see the RIT score soar!  Yet, the assessment will give us comparative information as well.  A national percentile is provided in both reading and math for each child.  This percentile tells us our students’ performance relative to other students in the nation. 

As this assessment is completed and score reports are analyzed, you will be provided with information about your student.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about the assessment, how it is administered, and how the information is used, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

BOX TOP Contest

Round up all those box tops you have been collecting all winter!!  The next BOX TOPS CONTEST will run April 29^th – May 3^rd.  The top 3 classroom winners will win indoor recess games!

LAST CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!  The Ice Cream Social and Spirit Wear committees both need volunteers for next year. If no one steps up, these events will not take place next year. Grab a friend and pitch in to help support the PTO. If interested contact Mike (mpburns@comcast.net) by May 3^rd.

Come to Our Community Celebration on May 9th!

Click on one of these 3 links to get more infomation!  

UPDATED HOME PAGE | FORMS PAGE | FORM

Don’t know what to make for dinner? Don’t want to cook?

Come on out to Buffalo Wild Wings on April 23^rd for our next dinner night fundraiser!

15% of all food sales will be donated to our PTO.  Dine in or carry out – all day!

See the PTO newsletter for more details - Thank you for supporting the PTO!

Click here for this week's PTO Newsletter.

Next Week at a Glance!

Tuesday, April 23rd is Early Release.  Students are dismissed at 2:00pm.

Wednesday, April 24th we are hosting the author, Aaron Reynolds.  A huge thank you to the PTO!

Wednesday, April 24th is the 2nd and 3rd Grade Performance at 6:30pm.

Please register early to help us plan for next year!

We want to make the very best plans for all kids next year.  Help us by registering as soon as possible!  

Registration emails were sent out April 1 for the 2013-14 school year. ALL students who will attend District 96 in the Aug. 2013–June 2014 school year must register.  Click on the link in the registration email you were sent to open the online registration form for your student. The subject line of the email reads: "Register your District 96 Student for 2013–2014 School Year."  Please read carefully to confirm the accuracy of the information that appears. It is very important that we have current contact information for your family to send you communications and to reach you in an emergency. Please update your information as necessary. Registration questions? Please call 847.459.4260, ext. 7722