Heritage Happenings

September 3, 2023

Weekly Update

Principal's Update

We have had another great week of school! We are thankful for the wonderful volunteers that have been stopping by to support in the mornings at breakfast and at lunch! Your support is appreciated!

Dates to Remember

September 4 - No School - Labor Day Weekend

September 6 - 5/6 Robotics Practice - 3:45 - 5:30

September 13 - 5/6 Robotics Practice - 3:45 - 5:30

September 15 - PTO Fundraiser Ends

September 20 - 1/2 Day for Students & PD for Staff

September 27 - 5/6 Robotics Practice - 3:45 - 5:30

September 29 - Popcorn Friday

Beyond Basics

Dear SCS Panther Parents,

We are really excited to share more about our partnership with Beyond Basics to help our children become better readers. We know that our children’s reading abilities help them in every aspect of their school experiences, and lives after they leave our PK-12 system. Beyond Basics is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping children become better readers by providing them with one-on-one reading tutoring. The Stockbridge Community Schools was awarded a grant to receive reading tutoring services from Beyond Basics for up to 1000 children over the next three years. We are happy to share that 7 tutors have been hired and trained to start helping our students as soon as next week. There will be 4 tutors at the high school and 3 tutors at Heritage, and three online tutors to support our student in the PASS program.

While we know that many of our children would benefit from the program to advance their skills, we are focusing our efforts on supporting our students who are in most need of the reading tutoring first. We used our current district and state reading assessments to identify students who aren’t proficient in reading yet. From this group of students we ask Beyond Basics to start their process that includes an independent reading assessment that drives the prescription for reading intervention. They share this information with us. Students then engage in an individualized reading program that lasts anywhere from six (6) weeks to 18 weeks until they are reading proficiently. Once the students have finished the program, Beyond Basics gives the students the same assessment that they gave before they started the program and we will all celebrate their success together.

Beyond Basics is in the process of hiring additional tutors so we may provide this opportunity to more students and transform their lives trajectories. Please, be patient with the speed of implementation. That being said, we couldn’t be more excited about this tremendous opportunity to grow our students’ reading skills. Thank you for your continued support of our school district.

Sincerely,

Stephen J. Keskes, Ed.S.

Director of Grants and Academic Innovation

Stockbridge Community Schools

Spring Math

Fall 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians of a Panther Student,

We are so excited to share that our district will be using a program called SpringMath, in addition to our Go Math! curriculum. SpringMath is an evidence-based tool designed to promote growth in math for ALL students. We started using it this past summer in our Summer School program and saw significant growth in our students' mastery of fundamental math skills in just that short time, so we can't wait to see the impact this will have over time as our students continue to improve and grow in their math proficiency!

For students to demonstrate mastery in any skill, research is clear that students need to understand how to do the skill well enough to not just do it, but also to do it quickly (to have fluency). This resonates for students when we compare it to mastery in a video game or on the sports field or even in how we talk about reading. To implement Spring Math and help our students reach mastery on math subskills (examples: subtraction 0-9, simplifying fractions, etc.) in our classrooms, the teachers give brief, timed assessments to their students that are tailored for each grade level. Teachers then put the students' scores into the SpringMath system and our students' own data is used to create customized class wide and/or individual instructional packets for students to boost mastery of math concepts.

Most students find the brief assessments fun and enjoy trying to beat their scores each day. The teachers and students also quickly realize the benefit of mastering these skills as they progress through the Go Math! curriculum throughout the year. SpringMath scores are not related to any math scores that are graded or put into Power School, but instead, are used to ensure our teachers and math interventionists select the math intervention that will ensure students are growing right where they need it most.

If it turns out that your child needs more individualized support, the data the classroom teachers are collecting will indicate this and your student may be recommended for a deeper dive math assessment by a math interventionist. The math interventionist will then be able to determine exactly which areas need more practice and will also have the tools to provide the extra math support needed to get your student back on track. Your student will also continue to benefit from the class wide intervention throughout the school year, even if individual intervention is also recommended.

SpringMath usually begins with easier, below-grade-level skills to verify mastery and then rapidly accelerates as children demonstrate mastery of skills. Teachers will be able to share reports with you from time-to-time that will show your child's progress. Classes that are working to master skills move on to the next skill when the class reaches mastery, which may mean a student who is proficient practices a skill more after reaching individual mastery. This extra practice still benefits advanced students and allows everyone to move through the skills efficiently.

We are confident that this program is going to give our students the foundation needed to be successful as they advance in math, but also to be confident in math as they eventually transition to adulthood. More information about SpringMath can be found at www.springmath.com. We would love for you to see for yourself the amazing data that has been collected from districts across the entire country!

Please call or email your teacher, the building principal or me any time if you have questions about this or anything else related to your child's academic progress.

Excited about the future for our Mathematical Panthers!

Amy Hodgson

Curriculum Director

Stockbridge Community Schools

PTO Hungry Howies Fundraiser

The Panther Cubs PTO is very excited to partner with our local Hungry Howies again for this year's fundraiser. Students will be coming home with fundraiser packets, these packets will contain an order sheet and informational page. Please have them returned to the school by 9/15/2023. The money raised by this fundraiser will help with many things in your students' school such as, field trips, classroom stipends, fall family fun night, march is reading month and so much more. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Reaghan Walz, (Reaghan@gmail.com).

5th & 6th Grade Robotics Team

Mr. Vince is looking for 5th and 6th graders to join the Heritage Robotics Team. They will meet Wednesdays immediately after school in Mr. Vince's classroom (C126) to design, build, and test robots in groups of three to four students. Practices will end at 5:30 and will not happen on school days when students have 1/2 days for staff development.

The team will travel to compete against other schools at least once later in the school year (Dec/Jan). Teams that do exceptionally well will have the opportunity to compete at state finals some time in May.

Check out this VIDEO if you are curious about our competition this year. Each year the game changes which always gives veteran students a new challenge.

Permission slips and applications will be sent home only with students who express interest. Be sure to reach out if you have any questions: vinceb@panthernet.net.

5th & 6th Grade Student Council

This year’s student council will be like no other. We will be FOR the students BY the students. As student council representative, I plan to make sure this year is full of fun events and fundraising that will give back to Heritage and its surrounding community. I want to give our students and community something awesome to remember and hopefully carry on into the following years to come. We are creating a legacy. We are the legacy.

If your student is interested in participating in student council have them listen for announcements.

PowerSchool Access

We encourage all families to login to their PowerSchool Parent Portal. This is a great place for you to keep track of your students attendance and grades as they go through their schooling here in Stockbridge.

Returning Families: You have been given this log in information in the past. If you need your log in credentials, please feel free to contact our office and we can get that information to you.

PowerSchool Parent Portal

Daily Schedule

School Day: 8:50-3:38

Drop off- Begins at 8:35am. We will continue with our same procedure as last year. For safety, please do not let your child out of your car until they are in the designated area (Sidewalk in front of the school) for drop off.

Class begins at 8:50am. Please make sure that your student is here on time to start the day.

Pick up: We will continue with our same procedure as last year. As parents pull up the the sidewalk in front of Heritage, members of the staff will support the process to ensure student are safely supported to their cars.

Please expect some delays during the first few weeks of school as we streamline processes and support our students. This will ensure the safety of all our students.

Tide Me Over

Stockbridge Community Outreach is a local food pantry and crisis center located in Stockbridge at the Stockbridge Activity Center (the old middle school off of Cherry & Elm Streets) just inside Door#20. We are supported by area churches, businesses, individuals, grants, governments, and community groups. We are happy to again offer our Tide Me Over program for Pre-K through High School students who need extra food on the weekends for the 2023–2024 school year.

The “Tide-Me-Over” program will give students in the program a bag of groceries each Friday

starting September 15 and continuing through the rest of the school year. The bag contains items like macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, canned chicken or tuna, cereal, and canned fruit. Here’s how it works at Heritage:

Bags will be placed in student lockers each week or can be picked up at Outreach during open hours on Wednesdays and Fridays or by arrangement.

If you are interested in participating in our “Tide-Me-Over” program, please fill out the form that was sent home and return it as soon as possible to Stockbridge Community Outreach by email, mail, or in person, or you can send it in to your child’s school office where an Outreach volunteer will pick it up.

Sincerely,

Jo Mayer, Outreach Board Chair

School Nurse's Corner

School Nurse's August Newsletter

Student Medication

In order for your student to receive medication throughout the school day, parents must drop off any medication in the office and fill out a permission form. Medication forms can be found in our main office. If it is a prescribed medication, your family physician must fill it out. Please do not send your child to school with medication.