March 18, 2015  

Dear St. Katharine of Siena School Families,

                The teachers handed out report cards for the 2nd trimester yesterday.  I hope you have had the chance to see and review your child's with them.  Please sign the envelope and have the envelope only returned to your child's teacher.  The 2nd trimester is sometimes a tough one for students with a "stop and go"  calendar of holidays and some snow days mixed in.  Praise your child 's effort and attitude, encourage them to do their best, and set a goal for a possible area of improvement. 
                This Thursday, we begin the In View testing for grades 3-8 as we get ready to take the Terra Nova Standardized Test every morning next week. The In View Test is like an IQ test - it is a test of cognitive ability that predicts how well a student may do on the TN test that is taken. Next week, we will run a special schedule, test in the morning, and have regular classes afterwards. Academically, there is nothing special you should do to prepare your child for the test - there is no studying the night before. Our teachers have spent some time in the past four weeks reviewing some types of questions that your child can expect to see.
                As a school, we believe that standardized testing has its place in education. We feel we have a good perspective on its value, as it can help us as a school and as individual students to evaluate what we are doing well, and where we may need to grow.  
                I have told students and parents that I am far more concerned with how a student performs in a classroom for three months (a report card) than I am in one week of morning tests.  Every time a student takes a test there  are "X"  factors involved:  John was too tired because didn't sleep the night before. Mary felt sick.  Jimmy was a nervous wreck.  Joanne quite frankly was not interested in taking the test all too seriously.  I have seen students take the test one year and do amazingly well in it, and the following year do very poorly with no rhyme or reason to it . After many years I have come to the conclusion that the only really consistency about students taking this test is their inconsistency.  Parents and students often fret about results, so do teachers and principals. As students get older the results are part of the picture for Honors Math selection and admission to private schools.  The bottom line is we ask them to put forth their best effort.   Overall, our school performs very well in these tests and our scores over the last several years have consistently been among the top scores in the archdiocese.  So as a parent what is your role and how can you help your child?

              Here's how you can assist your child:


1.  Encourage and support a PMA (positive mental attitude).  Their attitude towards the test is important. An "I think I can " attitude is far better than any negative self talk . You may get from them "I hate these tests" or "I'm terrible at this, I never do well " or  "I can't take these tests."    Repeat: Encourage and support a PMA.  Reassure them that they only need to put forth their best effort. This is a good chance to see what you know.

2. Get a good night's sleep!  Eat a healthy breakfast! We don't allow our students to bring candy to school for this test. They can bring a water bottle and a healthy snack if they wish. Cancel any appointments this week so they have a regular routine and you do not have to pull them out of school.

3. Explain to them (as I do)  that there are things they will know on the test. However, they will encounter questions that they will  not know the answer to and that is okay. Review important test taking tip #1: Use the process of elimination and when if you get stuck, take the best educated  guess you can, and do not leave a blank.

4. Remember to move at a good pace without rushing. Do not spend a large chunk of time on one problem - move on from it, as there are 10 more questions you will know.

5. Grades 5 to 8 will be allowed to use calculators in one part of the math TN test for next week.  However it must be a calculator and NOT a calculator on a mobile device. Any mobile device during the test is not permitted. I explained this to the students already.  

6. . A prayer to the Holy Spirit or their favorite saint is always a great idea. I was a poor test taker so I always prayed to St. Jude - not kidding!



We had some  exciting and engaging activities going on last week and this week  in and out of school. I love the things we do here at SKS.  I am proud of our students and our teachers.  Here are some pictures of our school in action from last week and this week:

The 6th Grade in Mrs. Grimley's class  demonstrated the laws of friction to the 1st grade in some creative ways.

In  Ms. DeFino's ELA for vocabulary, the 6th grade created their own puppet shows using all twenty new vocabulary words from their lesson in the right context.

In 7th grade, the students in religion class created and acted out  puppet shows on iPads  teaching the 3rd grade a lesson on "miracles." 

The 8th grade sent Mr. Heacock off on paternity leave for the next few weeks with a baby shower. We are awaiting some happy news soon!

  

Kevin Gavin, brother of Mike Gavin, played his Irish tunes at recess on his accordion on St. 

Paddy's Day for the younger grades.  

OMG, otherwise known as Oliver Michael Gavin, made an appearance on St. Paddy's Day with his mom, Vicky, Uncle Kevin , his Dad , Mike (of course), and grand mom, Judy Gavin. 

                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                       

The 1st grade made Leprechaun Traps  to catch those little guys. There was some masterful engineering work done here by students with likely help from Mom and Dad - good collaboration!  Emory Delss and Meritt Wiley are waiting to catch one!

    

Our Irish Dancers performed on this past Sunday at the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown. On Tuesday, the KG dancers , along with our four boy Irish dancers,  entertained our Senior Citizens at their monthly luncheon. 

The Respect Life Club  is always busy doing something good - this week's  bake sale was for Mother's Home in Upper Darby, a place  that support young mothers and their babies.