Dear Parents and Students,
So, our bulldogs are back in full swing! As we head into October, here are some of the things that I notice about the culture of our school: We have a school where teachers with many lettered credentials after their name will still take a minute to bend down and tie a loose sneaker lace, a school where everyone from custodians to lunch aides take the time to say good morning to our students, and a school where a parent can still call to ask a question (any question) and know that everyone from the nurse to the Superintendent (and everyone in-between) will take their call and provide thoughtful answers. CPS is a great place to be a learner because as stated in our mission we truly foster curiosity, creativity, and compassion. You may have noticed the Legos that stick directly to the wall in our main office, the 3D Printer constantly churning in our library, the nature trail, or perhaps it was the chatter about the GaGa pit that caught your attention; they are all signs of the incredible possibilities for fun, inventing, and learning tucked into almost every nook of our school.
In terms of curriculum, we are extending the FUNDATIONS phonics program to our 1st grade classes, and our teachers are looking forward to attending a workshop to further their knowledge on this multisensory program on October 10th. Our fifth and sixth grade classrooms are piloting a new series that will help them make connections across various texts and multimedia resources for expository writing. Students are also working on supporting their ideas with quotations from the text in all grade levels. In our elementary classrooms, we are in year two of our Lucy Calkins Writer’s Workshop implementation and teachers are already seeing a difference in terms of our student’s stamina for writing. Go Math continues to inform our mathematics instruction, and we are expanding our use of the on-line interactive resources.
Judging from the enthusiasm and commitment of our teachers and students, the 2016-2017 CPS School Year promises to be the best yet! Go Bulldogs!
