December Update

Wow how this semester has flown! With one week left of school, we are trying to have one last push for academics before the holiday break. The Holiday Hop was great and we survived with only a couple of backpacks being switch. You simply have great kids who act like great kids (if that makes sense.) I would like to commend the PTO volunteers for helping the kids. They have been super active this year and they have helped in areas of paying for some of the Watch Dog materials, Living History Farm field trip and just ok’d helping with the 5^th Grade Science Center field trip.

Speaking of Watch Dogs……if you want to sign up, please simply call the office and we will send you a volunteer screening. You just set a date and volunteer. It has been great to have that program in place for the kids. They absolutely love it!

I met with the teams last week and we analyzed data from the reading tests. I tell them that my job is to make them better and their job is to make the students better. I’m fortunate to work with a staff that loves constructive feedback and they really are harder on themselves than I am with them! The data looks good and the scores are improving. One of my goals is to push them in the technology area. Teachers are starting to blog, use Twitter, use the e instruction clickers, Moodle, Skype and other tools. I’m showing my age, but I remember when we saved up money for our first computer!

I wanted to share some important dates with you:

Monday, December 13 Deadline for Project Santa

Wednesday, December 15 Early Out 12:00 PM

Friday, December 17 Secret Santa Shopping 7:30 AM – 8:10 AM

December 20 & 21 Make-up days for any snow days prior to 12/17/10

Dec. 20 – Jan. 2 Winter Break – NO SCHOOL (unless snow day)

Monday, January 3 Classes Resume

Monday, January 17 No School – Professional Day

Wednesday, January 19 12:00 Early Out

Let’s cross our fingers and hope that the snowstorm predicted doesn’t hold true!

Have a great holiday season and enjoy your families!

Another Great Week

We had another great week and it is awesome that the weather is so mild. We have been starting to test DIBELS, which will test the fluency of the reading for students. Both elementaries have an aggressive building goal in that nine out of ten kids will be able to read fluently after the spring. Our teachers are working hard at doing Fresh Reads and other activities to help your child become a better reader who is fluent. A team of teachers did "Learning Walks" today and I was very pleased with the quality of instruction in the classrooms. All of the teachers got trained on Monday on how to administer the DIBELS. We will be working at teams to get the tests taken and try not to lose too much instructional time.



Remember that on Friday, the Norwalk Warriors will be playing Newton at Bill Buxton Stadium in Indianola . That warms my heart to have my son play there because Bill Buxton was my best high school friend's grandfather. If you decide to take your child to the game, either have them sit in the far north bleachers or by you, the parent.



The third graders are going to the zoo tomorrow and it looks as if the weather is going to be great. One of the teachers took a class there this spring and in return got a field trip for the entire class. I am so happy with the transition of both the 3rd grade teachers and students. I have expected alot from both and they have both performed!



Brett Collins (Counselor) and Dave Oleson (Dean) will be going from class to class to talk about the policies regarding harassment and bullying. The kids need to understand how serious it is to make a threat toward another student!



Important Dates:

October 20th- Early Out

DARE will start for the 5th Grade students



October 26th- Pick up for the fundraiser 3:00 to 6:00



Have a wonderful weekend!



Jill

This next week at Lakewood

Happy Friday,



It is great to "Be a Warrior" this Friday! My house is buzzing because of the football game this Friday against Carlisle. My husband and I have two senior boys (yes they are twins) and one of them plays football and one runs cross country. If you don't know, the boys' football team is playing for the district championship against Carlisle tonight and I think with the weather, it will be packed there. I've never seen kids more excited about football and I've been in Norwalk over twenty years! They will make playoffs and I think they will probably play that game at the Simpson field. I think that if you are planning to take your kids to the game, Pizza Ranch is going to work a deal for Norwalk families. I will give you more information next week.



We had another great week at Lakewood and it is nice that the kids can get outside. I really dread when they have to stay inside because of the weather. We are partnering with the Norwalk Parks and Recreation Department and they will be running an intramural program during recess for all of the grade levels. It is great that I can make a call to the City Office and they work with us to program for the kids. I'm looking forward to working with Jeff, Nancy and Dan again this year. Just a reminder to have your kids bring coats to wear outside. Another reminder is to take a peak at the Lost and Found table right inside the door. It is really starting to pile up with clothes.



This month is National Bullying Month. We will be doing a a PowerPoint presentation for the kids and be reminding them about expectations regarding how to treat people correctly. We are working hard through PBIS to engrain the appropriate skills for the kids.

Have a great weekend and remember NO SCHOOL on Monday!
Jill

Lakewood News

Watch DOGS is off to a fantastic start and I can't thank Brad Miller enough for coordinating this. So far, we have 60 parents and/or grandparents signed up to help at Lakewood. The parents have been invaluable to both the teachers and the students. If you are interested in signing up, feel free to call Janet at the LW office.

Remember that Monday will be a professional development day for the staff. You may ask yourself , "What in the world do teachers do during a full day?" The teachers will be trained on assessment measures. They will also start working with Tony Wagner's book , Global Achievement Gap, Reading that book has really changed my thinking about some of the teaching practices that we choose to do. I hope that it makes your child's teacher think also.

I have a request from you about picking up students on Happy Hollow. The neighbors are complaining that many of the cars are blocking their driveways. Please be careful about this!

A compliment to our kids and parents about being respectful during the National Anthem. I have been to some of the away football games and have noticed how disrespectful they have been during this ceremony. I'm proud to say how respectful our kids have been during this part of the game.

I have been so pleased about the beginning of the year. I feel that both the teachers and the students have transitioned very well both socially and academically. Thanks for your support in allowing this to happen.

Here are some important dates that you need to be aware:
October 11th- NO SCHOOL
October 20th- Early Out

As always, if you have a concern, please feel free to email me a call. If you didn't get the current School Tube for the kids, here it is:




Go Warriors,
Jill

Summer Update

Happy Summer! I thought that I would give you an update on the building. They are moving fast and furious and after July 4th, it seems as if school is right around the corner.

Here are some pictures of the last phase of the project. To the left is the bus entrance to the building. There will be two different paths to the building. For those of you who "survived" the busses and pick ups in the same entry, this will be a welcome change!

Below are two pictures:

Left: The LW kitchen will no longer be a closet!!!! Here are some pictures of the kitchen. There will be a freezer, washing area as well as a preparation area. We will work early to teach the kids the routine in the lunchroom. The ultimate goal will be to get the students through in 10 minutes. Recess will be before lunch this year.

Right: This is the hallway (use to be the gym) to the lunchroom. They blocked the wall to the north in order to create a hallway. Kids will use this hallway to get to both PE and to the lunchroom area.

Speaking of the band room, the doors to the left will be Mr. Hardy's office and a separate practice areas for the kids. The other picture will be the display case as you walk into the building. The goal for this is to serve as a communication area for both the students but also the community.

Remember the library? These pictures represent the colors of the walls in that area. A wall was knocked down to increase the work area for the students.

Below :

They are starting to work on the old "5th Grade wing" and painting the walls. Each section of the building will be a different color for identification purposes.

As you can see, there is a door between each room. Teaming is an essential component of LW philosophy, so this is a great addition for the teachers.

As you can see, I'm becoming very excited to complete the construction and have a "normal" year. Enjoy your families the rest of the summer.

Jill

Construction Update for April

Here is what the cabinets look like in the new wing. The rooms are just about done and the teachers are starting to pack so that they can move their boxes before the end of the year!

You are looking toward the lunchroom from the top floor of the 5th Grade hallway! The bathrooms are to the left side of the hallway. The other picture is on the backside of the building and you can see the lower floor in the new wing.

Here is where the kids will eventually eat in the cafeteria. This will be one of the last areas done during this project. I'm looking so forward for there to be an actual lunchroom for the kids next year.

They are starting to work on the bus drop off area in the front of the building. There will be two separate areas in front of the building. The goal will be to let all of the kids out of the same time and the bus kids will go to one drop off and the walkers/riders will go to the other one. That should really eliminate the line of cars on Beardsley waiting for the busses to leave. The other picture is to show you the sound panels and the paint in the gym. The wood floor will be put in soon.

This is the area before the students will go into the lunchroom. We are planning on have the students have recess before lunch, so before they go into lunchroom, they will be able to wash their hands.

As always, if you have any questions about anything at Lakewood, please give me a call at 981-1850. It will be crazy in May!

Jill

Wow! A Sneak Peek at Construction

Happy Spring! It was great to get the kids outside to take advantage of the fresh air yesterday. They are ready to learn after a great spring break. I love this time of year because of all of the extra activities we do for them. I'm a "sun person," so I find myself in a better mood this time of year:)

I wanted to share some of the updates to the construction process. The teachers are starting to box up school materials and getting organized for the move. After looking at the new construction, I"m so excited for the move! See what you think.