Clayville Family Newsletter

Welcome back and Happy New Year to all our Clayville Families. During this holiday break, I hope everyone was able to refresh, rest, and be ready to start the new year strong. We are excited to welcome back Mrs. Reynolds in our front office and Mrs. Forgue in 2nd grade.

We are well into the second trimester and approaching the mid-year benchmarking period. During this time, students will complete testing in both math and reading to assess their progress from the beginning of the year. AimsWeb Plus will continue to be used to assess students in grades K-3, while STAR will be used to monitor the progress of our grades 4 and 5 students. As we know, this is only one way teachers assess student progress over the course of the year.

A friendly reminder, conferences will be held from 3:30pm-5:30pm on Tuesday, January 10th and from 5:00-7:00pm on Thursday, January 12th. If you have questions about your conference time or need to schedule an appointment, please contact your child's teacher.

Please reach out with questions or concerns at any time. Happy New Year!

Miranda Carpenter, Principal

Miranda.Carpenter@ScituateSchoolsRI.net

• 01/02: No School- New Year's Day Observed
• 01/03: Back to School in 2023
• 01/05: School Improvement Team Mtg @ 3:30
• 01/05: PTO Meeting Virtual @ 6:30pm
• 01/10 and 01/12: Parent Teacher Conferences
• 01/16: No School- Martin Luther King Day
• 01/25: Asynchronous Day for students/PD for Teachers
• 02/20-24: Winter Recess

The middle of the school year is a great time for families to check in with students on goals. Setting academic and personal goals helps motivate, energize, and focus students, and it is a valuable skill that will benefit learners throughout their lives. Parents can help students set and achieve these goals.

Goal-setting can be tedious, even intimidating, for some students. Parents can support

students in this process by following these steps: pick it, map it, do it, own it, and celebrate

it.

Pick it. Encourage your child to consider his or her dreams and passions and pick goals

that are important and meaningful. Guide your child to think about, “What motivates me? What would inspire me to give my best effort? What would make me feel good while I’m doing it? What achievement would make me feel proud?”

Map it. After your child picks a goal, help map the path from where he or she is now to

where the child wants to be. Offer the following analogy: If we want to drive across the

country from New York to California, we don’t just get in our car and start driving—we get a map, pick a route, and follow it until we get to California. With your child, analyze

different approaches and define clear steps to reach their goal. For instance, if the goal is

to get a higher test grade in a tough subject, each quiz or project is a step on the path to

the higher goal: earning an A.

Do it. Once you and your child have mapped a path to their goal, encourage him or her to take action, focus on the first step and give it his or her best effort. Remind your child that no goal is ever reached without focused action.

Own it. As your child makes progress toward their goal, help him or her take

responsibility for making it happen. Teach the mantra, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” Reflect

with your child. Ask, “How are you doing? What’s working? What’s not working? What can

you or your family change to get to this goal?” From there, analyze the map, and make

changes to the plan if necessary. Help your child keep a positive attitude and own mistakes as well as successes. Remind your child that if something comes along that holds him or her back temporarily, to look at the experience as feedback. Failures, or bumps in the road, can provide us with information we need to succeed. Reinforce the message that we can learn from our mistakes and move on with new, valuable knowledge.

Celebrate it. Acknowledgment and celebration are huge parts of achieving goals.

Acknowledge every effort and celebrate your child’s mini-successes along the way to

achieving a goal. This builds his or her confidence and motivation. Your child will feel good and understand that perseverance will result in another mini-success and finally goal achievement. Try going through the goal-setting process as a family. Pick a family goal (perhaps a charitable activity) and work together to achieve it. After the family experience, have each family member pick a personal goal. Support and acknowledge one another as you move through the above steps. Success is assured when students believe in themselves and in their ability to achieve. Parents are key to helping them believe and succeed.

Report to Parents, written to serve elementary and middle-level principals, may be

reproduced by National Association of Elementary School Principals members without

permission.

*Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on January 10th from 3:30-5:00 and January 12th from 6:00-7:30pm. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you have any questions or need to schedule a meeting time.

Before the Conference:

• Listen. If you hear your child talking about something he or she is doing well in or is struggling with, make a note of it. When it’s time for the conference, you’ll have a list of topics to discuss.

• Ask. Sit down with your child and ask him or her about school. Ask what’s happening in class, at lunchtime, or in special classes such as art or physical education. Does your child enjoy classroom activities? Does your child feel like he or she is falling behind academically? Is he or she bored? Are there any troubling issues with classmates? Try asking your child what he or she thinks their teacher is going to tell you about them.

• Assemble notes and papers. Write down questions you want to address with the teacher. Bring copies of any assignments you have questions about. Think ahead of time on how to bring up concerns.

During the Conference

• Be on time. Schools tightly schedule parent-teacher conferences because there’s only so much time available and dozens of families to see. Show up at least a few minutes early.

• Take notes. Make note of what the teacher tells you about your child. Bring up your concerns, making sure to explore strengths, weaknesses, and social skills.

• Keep emotions out of it. It is always difficult to hear that your child may not be the person you thought he or she was in the classroom. Keep your cool and bear in mind that the teacher is offering constructive criticism.

After the Conference

• Talk to your child. Tell your child what you and the teacher discussed. Emphasize the positive things the teacher said. Remember that it’s important for your child to feel positive about learning, the teacher, and the school.

• Follow up. If there were important issues that need to be dealt with, make sure to follow up in writing with the teacher soon after the conference. Specify what steps will be taken, what your responsibilities and the school’s responsibilities will be, and what the timetable is for action.

• Meet with your principal. If, after conferring with your child’s teacher, you still feel that serious issues weren’t adequately addressed, set up a time to talk to the principal.

• Follow through. Once you know what you can do at home to help your child succeed in school, make sure you follow the necessary steps.

Source: Report to Parents, written to serve elementary and middle-level

principals, may be reproduced by National Association of Elementary School

Principals members without permission.

Check out the January calendar below which focuses on Forgiveness.

Source: https://chooselovemovement.org/schools/

Email: miranda.carpenter@scituateschoolsri.net
Website: https://clayville.scituateschoolsri.net/
Location: 3 George Washington Highway, Clayville, RI, USA
Phone: (401) 647-4115