Happy New Year

Welcome Back from the Winter Break and a Very Warm and Welcome Happy New Year!

Hopefully, you all got a chance to relax and recharge.  To get us back into the groove and rhythms of our days, here are some announcements and reminders

• Winter DRP Administration in Humanities Classes this week
  Nicia will have already shared with the High School humanities teachers the details on how and when to administer the Winter DRP.  We use the DRP (Degrees of Reading Power) to chart reading growth.  During the DRP meetings in Advisory, a lot of teachers reported that students did not take this seriously at the beginning of the year.  Please stress to them now that these measures are used to help them succeed.  Trying their hardest and approaching the exam with seriousness and intent is what needs to happen so that we can get data to best help them.  Please announce in advisory and reiterate in your classes that the DRPs are important exams to help us understand what each of our girls need.
  
• PD this Month 
  During PD Tuesdays this month, we will be reviewing the data on the CBMs (Curriculum Based Measures) and discussing the use of this data in your classes and how to target and structure intervention centers.  To get a head start, go ahead and take a look at the data already on the site for our girls in the lowest third.  We will train you on how to interpret this information, but it will be much easier for you to follow along if you first experiment on your own with the data and what you see.  You'll also be able to start forming questions about what you see to make the session that much more informative and useful for you.  Please visit www.easycbm.com and log in using ksoares with a password of 283adams.
  
• January Regents List
  Nicia and I are finalizing the Regents list.  Students who have previously failed a required regent (Algebra I, Living Environment, English, Global, or US History) will automatically be signed up to re-take the exam.  Students who have previously passed, but have not yet earned the college ready marks of 80 for the Integrated Algebra and 75 for the English, will be signed up to retake the exam.  Please touch base with Nicia with your final list for all other exams not mentioned above.
  
• Regents Review After School Session
  Once we finalize the Regents List, we'll be able to finalize the After School Regents Prep schedule.  So far, the following people have responded with interest for the per session posting:
   - US History:  Brodie & Doris
   - Global:  Colleen, Darby, and Natasha
   - English:  Heather
   - Math:  Mike, Noam, and Hassan
   - Living Environment:  Damon
  Students will recieve test prep schedules on Friday
  
  
• Final Exams, Regents Week, and End of Term SLCs
  Final Exams will be on the 17th & 18th.  Nicia and I are still finalizing the schedule, and should have it out to folks by the end of the week.  Additionally, Nicia is working on the Regents Proctoring schedule and we'll review that with everyone during Tuesday's PD.   As you know, grading is off-site from here on out.  For this month, only the English and Algebra I exams are being graded off-site during the day.  All other exams are being graded through per session.

Welcome back everyone!

-k