5/29/20
TGIF...Twin Groves it’s Friday and the last day of school!
Good luck to all the 8th graders as they move on to high school!
I can’t wait to meet all of our incoming 6th graders and I can’t wait to see our incoming 7th and 8th graders!
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe summer!
8th Grade Video (repeat information from 5/15)
The Twin Groves Staff created a farewell and good luck video for the 8th graders. This video was shared with the students on Tuesday, May 26th. Please click THIS LINK to view the video.
Student Report Card Access Today
Your student’s report card will be available for you to access online today AFTER 3 PM. If you need assistance, please CLICK HERE for instructions to view your student’s report card, to switch between your children’s report cards, and more.
Grading and Reporting in D96: Trimester 3 Report Cards (This was a repeat message that was originally sent out via email on Friday, May 22nd from the District)
District 96 Families:
During these unprecedented times in education where traditional direct instruction has been altered due to the coronavirus outbreak, our focus is first and foremost on student learning and ensuring our students’ well being. This has required a temporary modification to grading practices and policies to address the innate challenges of remote learning, alleviate the academic pressure on students, and maintain our commitment to deliver instruction so that each child is academically prepared for next school year.
While teachers have continued to provide standards-based scores to students as a way of providing feedback, they are not using these scores in a way that would impact a student’s overall standards-based score. Teacher feedback has been communicated through online meetings or web-based applications, giving students valuable insight into their understanding of concepts, guidance on how to improve, and motivation to learn and grow.
Research supports the impact of nongraded feedback to focus students on learning rather than performance (Butler & Mordecai, 1986), and when the psychological and intellectual "load" on students and their families is so significant, it is important that schools lean on the side of support and learning rather than competition and high-stakes performance.
Trimester 3 Report Cards
Due to the reasons described above as well as the reality that there are factors outside of the control of the school system with learning being shifted off site, we are moving to the following reporting plan for Trimester 3 report cards:
Final Trimester 3 report cards will include typical standards-based scores for Trimester 1 and 2 standards in each content area. For Trimester 3, standards that have previously been assessed on the Trimester 1 and/or Trimester 2 report card will be assigned the score REINFORCED (R). Standards that have not been previously assessed on the Trimester 1 or 2 report card, meaning that they were only assessed in Trimester 3, will be assigned as INTRODUCED (INT).
Teachers will work with students when school resumes to ensure that standards intended to be learned during Trimester 3 are solidly in place for every student by embedding those skills into instruction in the fall. Stevenson High School has been in communication with our middle school teachers and are planning to do the same.
The following descriptors indicate what families will see on the Trimester 3 report card for grades EC-8:
Reinforced (R): (Used for standards that were reported on Trimester 1 and/or 2 report cards)
The standard has been reinforced through remote learning instruction. This standard will be embedded into instruction when school resumes in the fall.
Introduced (INT): (Used for standards that have not been reported on in Trimester 1 and/or 2)
The standard has been introduced and learning is in progress. This standard will be embedded into instruction when school resumes in the fall.
No Grade (NG): (Used for learner characteristics)
No grade has been assigned due to the inability to effectively assess learner characteristics during remote learning.
Learner Characteristics scores will be reported with a score of No Grade (NG).
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please reach out to Jeanne Spiller, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].
District Student Survey for Current 6th and 7th Graders
The current 6th and 7th graders received a survey in their Flex Course in Schoology. Please have students look for the survey. The students have until June 12th to take the survey. Thank you.
Summer Learning Requirements and Options
Plans for Summer 2020 days ahead look different than most of us anticipated, but they do include keeping the learning going for KCSD96 kids in fun and interesting ways.
Reading during the summer is critically important for students’ continued growth and helps counteract “summer slide”–when some of the achievement gains made during the previous school year slip away.
In addition to summer reading, District 96 faculty have been at work developing Summer Enrichment Activities for 11 weeks of summer!
Find weekly required reading as well as optional activities to choose from related to math connections, science, social studies, writing, music, art, PE, or STEM HERE. (Note: For optional activities they choose, students should be able to work independently. There is nothing to submit.)
All students entering kindergarten–grade 5 also have grade-level-specific book ideas to inspire them to discover the pleasure of reading. Links to these lists are found at the foot of the Summer Enrichment Activities webpage.
In addition to optional Summer Enrichment Activities, all students entering grades 6–8 have a Read Outside Yourself Summer Reading Challenge, including a specific assignment.
Which Grade Level?
Grade-level groups at the top of the Summer Enrichment Activities homepage (that is, Grades EC/K–2, Grades 3–5, Grades 6–7) refer to the 2019–20 school year, as this enrichment includes support of some 2019–20 learning targets. Choose the grade level of your student in the just-completed 2019–20 school year. For example, a student who will be in Grade 8 in the 2020–21 school year should select the Grades 6–7 category and complete 7th-grade work.
Summer Reading
All students (including the incoming 6th graders) are expected to complete the following summer reading assignment, which will be due when students return to school in the fall. Please encourage your student to set reading goals this summer to avoid the summer slide!
Incoming 6th graders, current 6th graders, current 7th graders:
Summer reading assignment
Current 8th graders: Stevenson Summer Reading
Information Regarding Canceled PTO Events and Programs
Refunds for canceled PTO events and programs, due to the government mandated school closures, will be processed in the form of an account credit on your Twin Groves Membership Toolkit (MTK) parent account.
Account credits can be used for any future Twin Groves PTO purchase on Twin Groves MTK (dessert day, special lunch, spirit wear, gym clothes, etc) and can be used for any of your continuing or incoming students at Twin Groves but cannot be transferred between schools.
Account credits will be applied on May 15th. To check your account credit balance, please log in to your Twin Groves membership toolkit account here. Once logged in, your credit balance will be shown on your Forms home page.
You can use your Twin Groves account credit in one of three ways:
1. Keep your credit for a future Twin Groves PTO purchase on MTK
2. Request a check refund of your credit balance
3. Donate your credit balance to a special PTO Staff Appreciation Fund
Please click here to make your selection.
All selections must be submitted by June 1st.
If you have any questions, please contact the MTK Manager at Twin Groves: Carrie DeZutter
School Supply Kits
School supply kits for the 2020-2021 school year will be available starting May 1st. Supply kits will now be delivered directly to your address the week of August 9th. Orders can be placed from May 1st - July 10th. If you have any questions please contact Keri Lynch at [email protected].
Click on THIS LINK to order your supply kits. Use the school code 22104.
Don't Wait! Register for the 2020–21 School Year
If you haven't already registered your new or returning District 96 student for the 2020–21 school year, please do so right away. Having an accurate enrollment count is important for anticipating staffing needs appropriately. Please tell new neighbors and friends to contact the public info coordinator [email protected] with registration questions and for info on options to delay/waive registration fees.