March 2012

~ The Scholastic Book Fair was a BIG success! Over the course of the week, we sold $7764.91 worth of books! I think that is a new record for us. The Title I staff and Mrs. Shamey want to extend a huge thanks to the Acme PTA. The Acme PTA bought every student at Acme one book from the book fair.  We couldn't have reached such a high total without their help, and more importantly, each student left the book fair with a book in his/her hands and a HUGE smile on his/her face! thank you so much PTA!

~ Since the end of the third nine weeks is quickly approaching, the students at Acme are getting ready to take their second STAR assesssment. These assessments will happen over the last three weeks of March and teachers meet in teams at the end of March to analyze the data.

~ Speaking of assessments, we are smack dab in the middle of PSSA testing. The PSSA tests will be given at Acme from Tuesday, March 13 to Tuesday, March 20.  One test will be given each morning, with each third grader taking six tests in all (they alternate math, reading). If your child is in third grade, please be sure he/she gets enough sleep, has a good breakfast, and is at school on time!

January 2012

~ Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break and got to enjoy some time spent with family and relaxing. As the end of January approaches, so do the end of the second quarter of this school year. It is hard to believe that we are already half way through the school year. Warmer weather will be here before you know it!

~ The end of the quarter also means it is time for assessments. At this time, we will be switching from using the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) to assess students to the STAR Early Literacy, STAR Reading Enterprise, and STAR Math Enterprise assessments. These assessments are created by Renaissance Learning (http://www.renlearn.com/sr/default.aspx) and are taken by students on the computer.  Students in kindergarten to grade 2 will take the STAR Early Literacy. Students in grades 1 to 3 will take both the STAR Reading Enterprise and the STAR Math Enterprise. On Friday, February 17, 2012, all Acme teachers will attend a training on these programs from Renaissance Learning trainers.  We are very excited to learn more about the assessments and exactly what the data tells us.  Please be patient with us as we learn about this new assessment.  We will be sharing more information with you in the future.  Be sure to check back here!

~ Title I pullout groupings will start to be looked at and changes will take place during the first few weeks of February.  If your child has been involved in a Title I pullout group (reading or math or both), expect to see a Title I mid-year report coming home in the near future.

~ At this time, we are also working on getting everything ready for the Scholastic Book Fair. The dates of the Book Fair will be Monday, February 27, 2012 to Friday, March 3, 2012. More information and a flier with books will be coming home in the next few weeks.

December 2011

~ At the end of November, grade level teams met with the Reading Specialist to work on Lanugage Arts planning for the next 9 weeks. We are very excited about the interesting topics our students will be exploring as they learn valuable reading and comprehension skills. We also used this time to adjust some of the small title I pull out groups for both reading math.  The DRA data from October/November as well as teacher input was used to make determinations of student placement.

November 2011

~ The first full week back to school in October, the Reading and Math Team began seeing small groups of students during each grade levels' I/E (Intervention and Enrichment) time.  Beginning of the year assessment data was used to determine who should be in the small groups, and what instructional materials would be used.

~ As October ends and November begins, classroom teachers are starting to conduct DRAs (Developmental Reading Assessments) on each studnet in their reading group.  The results of these assessments will be used to guide student instruction in the reading classrooms, and will be reflected on indivudal student report cards (reading above, on, or below grade level).  If you would like more information about your child's DRA, please call your child's reading teacher. 

~We hope each of you has a WONDERUFL Thanksgiving holiday break and gets to enjoy time with your family!

September 2011

~ The Title I Program at Acme and Colfax has undergone some staffing changes for the 2011-2012 school year. Please check out the Acme Reading and Math Team section of this website to see the new staff listing.  Dr. Toni Saul is now working at Springdale High School, still in the capacity of Reading Specialist.

~ Acme is still a Schoolwide Title I school for both reading and math. This means that all students in the school can receive Title I services, if they show a need or an area of weakness in reading or math. The need for individual student service is determined by various forms of assessment and teacher input. Students receiving Title I services may be included in a small pull-out group, an individual pull-out group, or with the presence of a Title I staff member in their classroom. Click on the following to see a printable chart showing the differences between Schoolwide Title I and Targeted Assisted Title I programs. title I differences in chart.docx

~ This year, our reading instruction will look a little different in the classroom.  Teachers will be teaching a cycle of comprehension skills using various texts. The texts will be appropriate to each students' reading level, and will come from various sources.  We will still be using elements and stories from the Harcourt Trophies materials, but in a different way.  Testing will look slightly different.  All students will not have a paper/pencil test at the end of every story like with the Harcourt stories.  We will still be vigelent in assessing whether students know the material being taught.  This changes will help to make reading more authentic and realistic for our students. If you have questions about this change, please feel free to contact your child's reading teacher, or the Reading Specialist.

~ As students start the school year, the Reading Team will be conducting DRAs (Developmental Reading Assessment) on the new students in the building.  In order to check their progress, we will also be assessing some students who recieved Title I services last year