CST Update

Throughout the school year our classroom teachers and service providers meet with building administrators to discuss the progress of all students through various data points. For the past number of years we have been administering the NWEA to our students in January as a follow up to the fall administration. The data in the winter would also be uploaded to eSpark to help reset students' individual pathways. ESpark has recently made enhancements to their platform that allows the program to adjust quickly based on student performance. In an effort to reduce the amount of assessments that are administered, we are suspending the winter administration of NWEA. We will continue to administer winter Fountas and Pinnell running record assessments for updated reading levels and use the data provided from eSpark to monitor students' individual areas of growth in ELA and Math, as well as classroom assessments.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's progress, please do not hesitate to reach out to their teacher. I also encourage all of our families to take advantage of our virtual homework support offered daily, Monday-Thursday. See the link below for the schedule and Google Meet access codes.

Virtual Homework Support-

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HnqymnYEjeorSyORbNux8MRgXZLb10Ka7TjB4nsCziY/edit?usp=sharing

As apart of the federal governments requirements for individual state funding, each state must have a student accountability measure in place. New York state has had annual testing in place for ELA and Math at the elementary level to fulfill this requirement. This year our students will be taking the ELA assessment on April 19 and 20 and the math assessment on May 2 and 3. Here are a couple of facts about these assessments:

• Both assessments are untimed. Students have if needed until the end of the school day to complete each day of the assessment. They are provided a break for lunch and can break for the bathroom as needed.
• These assessments are not tied to teacher performance ratings.
• The scores from these assessments do not impact student grade advancement. Data from these assessments is typically shared at the end of the summer. This is one measure that our school teams review when determining supports needed for students. This data is also used to analyze trends across grades, schools and the district.
• If we do not have 95% of our students participating in these assessments it prevents us from being eligible for certain grants and awards, such as the Blue Ribbon school status.

Changes in the 2023-24 school year

Next year will be the first year of computer based testing. Students in grade 5 in 2023-24 will be administered their ELA, Math and the new science assessment digitally. Mr. Onorato has been developing sample digital tasks to provide students opportunities to practice using certain digital tools. The state has also provided a digital sample for these assessments that can be found on their website: https://ny.nextera.questarai.com/tds/#practice

If you have any questions about the NYS assessments feel free to contact myself or your child's principal.

The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) https://opwdd.ny.gov/get-started helps families with coordinating home services through various agencies if you have a child with a developmental disability, including autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, down syndrome and other neurological impairments. Their mission is to provide equity of access and have people with disabilities fully participate in their communities.

The first step is to go through the "Eligibility Review Process" to see if your child is eligible for these supports and services. Here is there link https://opwdd.ny.gov/eligibility

It is highly recommended to start this process when your child is in elementary school so that you will have continued access in the secondary level as well as after they finish school. This does take some time and effort but it is worthwhile support (i.e., respite services, job coaching, crisis services, home nursing to just name a few) to have for your child.

Attached is a detailed Resource Guide to learn more about the wide variety of OPWDD services they can offer your family outside of school.

The Front Door Office for Long Island that serves Nassau and Suffolk counties is 631-434-6000. The Regional OPWDD Office for General Information is 631-434-6100.

How can we help you?

1. The school psychologist at your school can help walk you through the process if you run into any roadblocks or just have questions.
2. The school psychologist can also supply you a suggested referral list if you are looking for a developmental pediatrician or neurologist.
3. The Special Services Office can provide evaluations and records that you may be asked to provide as part of OPWDD's eligibility process. Please also work with your child's doctors if a medical diagnosis is also requested.

Mark your calendar now for March 21, 2023 to be part of our Annual District-wide Taste of Service Parent Fair. We are happy to announce this will be an in-person event! There will be informational booths and interactive family activities to learn more about the district's variety of supports & services available to all students. For example, you would have the opportunity to learn more about the instructional supports (i.e., reading, math), counseling, enrichment, STEAM, speech, and special education. More specifics to follow in February's newsletter and on Parent Square.

Attention Parents and Teachers:

Please consider joining on Memberhub! using this link https://vssepta.memberhub.store/ for $10.00. The Valley Stream SEPTA comprises of VS#30, VS#13, VS#24, and VSHSD. SEPTA provides informative guest speakers, annual Scholarships for our 6th grade special education students, and a great support system of fellow special needs parents. Membership is open to all families. You are not alone! Let's work together!!

Feel free to contact SEPTA President is Mrs. Rachael Aiello, aiellorachael@gmail.com with ay questions.

Attached is an ADHD Strategies Presentation from SEPTA's January meeting

Bring your questions and join me on Monday January 30, 2023

Here is the link: meet.google.com/ddx-nofc-wsv

Focus for Discussion:

Attention Families of students receiving special education services: A CSE Annual Review of your child's progress is in the process of being scheduled (being held this year the months of February thru May) to review progress of IEP goals and make recommendations for next year. If you would like to learn more about the process, please join me on January 30 @ 3:15pm. Also, check out the tips and planning resources I provided last month in the newsletter or feel free to email me at nschimpf@vs30.org if you have a specific question or concerns about your child's services.

We had a total of 27 parents of students in grades pre-K, K, and 1st grade complete the recent survey to get feedback of workshop topics. The majority of parents who completed the survey preferred remote workshops during after school hours. Based on those results, Dr. Lee (district school psychologist) is offering remote workshops at different times. The first workshop topic "Managing the Stress of Parenting" was held on January 17, 2023. Informative strategies was presented by Dr. Lee as well interactive discussions with a group of 12 parents. Attached is a copy of the presentation and dates for future workshops.

If you are interested in any of these workshop offerings, it is not too late so please email Dr. Grace Lee directly glee@vs30.org . If there is a different topic you want more information, please share with Dr. Lee and we will do our best to offer. If you participate in any of these workshops, Dr. Lee welcomes your candid feedback so we can make adjustments to best serve you in the future!

The Family Charter is an agreement we make to act in ways that help us to feel the way we want to feel in our home. Everyone has a voice in creating a Charter and everyone has a responsibility to uphold it.

The Charter is the first piece of the RULER Approach that is introduced in all of our classrooms. Its purpose is to create a positive culture and climate. It represents a collective agreed-upon norms for how everyone would like to be treated. All our students are familiar with the charter and in the month of January each of our classes will be revisiting as part of the New Year! Schools and District Office Charters are also used to foster healthy adult relationships and model for our students true collaboration!

Please join us in reinforcing this important life skill for our students by creating a Family Charter in your home. We would like to showcase your family's charter. If you are interested in sharing, please email to Dr. Schimpf, nschimpf@vs30.org or your school principal and we will showcase on the Valley Stream Thirty Instagram Account.

If you have 5 minutes, check out the attached hand-out - "How to Create a Family Charter"

If you have 30 minutes, watch this webinar from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence: "How we want to feel at home - Creating a Family Charter"

Mrs. Neri has been using the Merge Cube to lead her 3rd grade students through the world of AR within the science classroom this marking period. What is AR you ask? Augmented reality (AR) is a computer-generated graphic on the user's view of the real-world, and it is this "real world" element that differentiates the experience from virtual reality. The children in her science class have used the Merge Cube to investigate fossils collaboratively with their classmates. Students were able to see ancient fossils , such as a megalodon tooth, a saber tooth tiger tooth, and an ammonite come to life right on their desk!

Parents/Guardians now have an opportunity to receive technology support on some of the devices and platforms that the children are using regularly for school. Otis by TEQ is Valley Stream 30’s online training and support platform, and training videos are now available to parents/guardians. OTIS' technology training videos can help you learn a wide variety of skills, troubleshooting methods, and device features that could be of use to you and your children. Please follow the attached instructions to register your account, so you can begin to take advantage of this amazing resource.

Jennifer Lewner, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

jlewner@vs30.org (516) 434-3600 ext.5229

Dr. Nicole Schimpf, Director of Special Services

nschimpf@vs30.org (516) 434-3600 ext.5232

Christopher Onorato, Director of 21st Century Learning and Technology

conorato@vs30.org (516) 434-3600 ext.5001