Steele Family Newsletter
August 21, 2023
If you have not yet been invited to Steele School on Class Dojo, please click this link to join our school. You can download the free app on your phone so you can stay up to day with information, important dates and announcements. There are a few teachers that do not use this for their own classroom, but having the school story would be beneficial for you to stay informed!
https://home.classdojo.com/#/schoolInvite?s=4eece6aaf64aa62934ed6e5c
Illinois Report Card Summative Designation
On Friday, October 27th, we received our summative designations from the Illinois State Board of Education. The overall growth of our students was the highest in the district. Unfortunately, our school improvement efforts did not produce the results we were hoping for in the prescribed timeline, but we have so much to be proud of. The new designation gives us more funding and learning opportunities and expands our ability to take a more holistic approach. Our school designation is Targeted due to our African-American students which are performing at or below the “all students” group of the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools. This designation is based on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) that third and fourth graders take in the spring. I have provided the following links for additional information regarding the Illinois Report Card.
Multiple Indicators of Student Success
We Need Your Help
If you open the link that lists the indicators of student success, you will notice that we are scored on Chronic Absenteeism. That is why it is extremely important that your student attends school every day. Research has shown that students who attend school regularly are able to learn more, have fewer discipline problems, develop better study habits, and are often more successful than students who do not attend school on a regular basis.
We are also scored on the academic indicators of Math, Science, and English Language Arts proficiency. Our school improvement team met at the end of the school year to create action plans for improvement this year. We have already begun implementing professional practices to address areas of concern. These will be analyzed when students take their diagnostic assessments in December. As mentioned above, regular school attendance has been shown to increase proficiency in these areas. But our students can influence this proficiency in a positive way as well. We need our students to take state tests seriously.
We ask that you promote your student's best effort on the diagnostic assessments in December and the state tests next Spring. We can do this together, a partnership of teachers, school staff, students, and parents all working toward the common goal of improving our school's achievement.
We will be looking for volunteers to serve on an advisory committee. Specifically, we would like members that can help us serve our African-American students in better ways. If you are interested, please contact Mrs. Coate at kcoate@galesburg205.org.
Shine in #205
CUSD #205 is kicking off “Shine in #205” for the 2023-2024 school year. The program is aimed to provide recognition for district employees who go the extra mile for students in #205. Each month there will be two staff members selected from the nominations. Parents, Guardians, Co-Workers, Community members are all welcome to nominate a CUSD
#205 staff member.
Click here to nominate a #205 staff member: https://forms.gle/dKxYFirU2qxCt53H8
Steele Elementary School
Mrs. Grice, Dean of Students
Mrs. Knuth, Nurse
Mrs. Hickey, Family Engagement
Mrs. Mowen, Outreach
Mrs. Fones and Ms. Patch, Front Office Assistants
Email: kcoate@galesburg205.org
Website: https://steele.galesburg205.org/
Location: 1480 West Main Street, Galesburg, IL, USA
Phone: (309)973-2016
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steele205/
Twitter: @wearesteele
