S T. MARY S CHOOL

DATE: SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 TO: PARENTS/GUARDIANS

FROM: MS. LEPORE

RE: WEEKLY MEMO

Attached to this memo is a flyer to explain how to create access to our Parents Web, a flyer for our Grandparents Breakfast, information regarding our annual Trunk or Treat and the sign up for our October Ceramics Project, a letter about Star Testing (this was sent out in a previous memo but I thought you might like to see it again).

We are using RenWeb as a Student Information system. There is a portal for parents to login in and see certain information (right now it’s attendance, progress reports (Grades 3-8) and report cards but we will be adding more to this in the near future. It is also the way to receive our Parent Alert either via email, text or phone call. If you created an account last year you don’t need to create a new one. Please let us know if you have difficulty creating an account. By the end of next week, I will send out an email letting you know that I am sending a ‘test” alert to make sure emails, texts and phone messages are working.

I am looking forward to seeing you all at the hot dog roast on Saturday! Don’t forget this is a picnic style event on the front lawn, bring your chairs or blankets to spread out on the grass. Along with the hot dogs there will be activities and games for the kids, Balloon animals and an ice cream truck will be coming by!!!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Saturday, September 24th – Hot Dog Roast 4:00-5:30

Wednesday, September 28th – School Picture Day (ALL students must be in full dress uniform)

Monday, October 3rd – Grandparents Breakfast 9:00-10:00 (Please use the Parish Center entrance)

Wednesday, October 5th 2:30-5:00 Flu Clinic (more info to follow)

Star Testing will begin next week for grades 3-8. We will test Math next week and Reading the following week. Each test is about 45 minutes long and will be done on our new chromebooks!

All Lunch Menus for the month of October are due tomorrow! If your order is not in for hot lunch your child will be able to purchase ala carte items only! Please send money in daily if your child is buying ala carte.

Please return the Email forms, Emergency Care Cards, Photo Consent forms and the Technology Consent forms.

I am still interviewing for the school nurse position. I hope to have someone in place soon!

We have been sending hard copies of forms home but please note that as of October 1st all forms will only be available on the school website and via the weekly memo emailed to you.

Our Annual Christmas Boutique is Sunday, December 4. If you are interested in renting a table, please call the office.

If you would like to volunteer at school for anything you must fill out the Disclaimer form (this needs to be notarized and sent in with a copy of your license – both front and back ). We can only submit these on a monthly basis which will be done at the end of each month. The firs t batch that will be sent need to be in the office by Friday, September 30. Any disclaimers that come in after that will have to wait until the October date.

The Parent/Student Handbook will be available for you to view on our website by the end of tomorrow. If your child is out sick, please call the office between 7:15 – 7:45 to let us know. We also need a note stating the reason for the absence when your child returns to school. If your child is absent for 3 or more consecutive days you must get a doctor’s note for your child to return to school. (This is a state law.) Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held again in December this year on Wednesday, December 7 from 2:30 – 3:30, Thursday, December 8 from 1:30 – 6:00 and Friday, December 9 from 8:00 – 12:00. You must make an appointment to pick up your child’s report card for the 1st trimester - the y will not be sent home. For ‘No School” Announcements we follow the Cranston public schools. If there is no school in Cranston, there is no school at St. Mary’s. You can sign up at www.turntoten.com - go to Weather – Closings – School Alerts and you can sign up to receive calls or text messages when school is canceled or delayed.

I have spoken to the students – it looks like we have several students interested in playing basketball so now we are in need of coaches! Please let me know if you would be interested in coaching or helping to coach.

Looking ahead - We are also looking for someone to coordinate the concession stand at school during the basketball and volleyball season. We need someone to take care of ordering snacks and drinks and coordinating parent coverage as the season goes on. The money collected helps to defray the cost of the season and ultimately what it costs for your child to play. If you can coordinate this, please see me – even if we have 2 people share the responsibility.

This year all parents must commit to a scheduled time to cover the concession area. If we all contribute a few hours we can handle the season with little trouble!

Please continue to collect Box Tops and send them in to school.

Have a wonderful weekend!

St. Mary’s School lives the Gospel Values of Faith, Hope and Love through our kind thoughts and deeds.

Accessing ParentsWeb

RenWeb School Management Software gives you, the busy parent, an opportunity to get more involved in your child’s academic progress and future success – all via the Internet! RenWeb’s ParentsWeb is a private and secure parents’ portal that will allow parents to view academic information specific to their children, while protecting their children’s information from others. You may view your child’s, attendance, progress reports (Grades 3-8), report cards, as well as other useful school information. You can also communicate with teachers and other school staff online whenever necessary. All you need is an Internet-capable computer. Here’s how to access our easy-to-use RenWeb ParentsWeb:

x Make sure that the school has your email address in RenWeb.

x In Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari, go to www.renweb.com and click Logins.

x Type the school's District Code SM-RI

x Click Create New ParentsWeb Account.

x Type your email address and click Create Account. An email will be sent which includes a link to create your ParentsWeb login. The link is active for 6 hours.

x Select the Click to Create your ParentsWeb login link.

x A web browser displays your Name and RenWeb Person ID.

x Type a User Name, Password, and Confirm the password.

x Click Save User Name and/or Password. A message displays at the top of the browser, "User Name/Password successfully updated."

x You may now log in to ParentsWeb using your new User Name and Password.

x ParentsWeb allows you to access:

o Student attendance

o Progress reports, reports cards

o School events and lunch calendar

PLEASE JOIN US! Monday October 3rd

9am to 10am School cafeteria

Please use Parish doors on Vallone Street

x This is a PTG Sponsored event!

x An opportunity to purchase professional photos through Tracey Jaques Photography

PLEASE RETURN BY FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH

Student Name(s)________________________Grade(s)__________ # of Grandparents _______________________________________

Friday October 28th

Rain Date Saturday October 29th 6pm-7pm (Trunkers please arrive by 5:30 to set up)

A Trunk or Treat is a Halloween event that families gather and park their cars in the parking lot. They open their trunks, or the backs of their vehicles, and decorate them.

Then they pass out candy from their trunks. The event provides a safe family environment for trick or treaters.

When it comes to decorating your vehicle there are the obvious choices, like decorating

for Halloween, using pumpkins, spider webbing, spiders, brooms, bats, cauldrons, scary stuff...

The best way to plan your trunk is to pick a theme. Think of it like dressing yourself in a

costume. Other ideas: 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s Zoo Keeper Harvest Clown Nursery Rhymes Beach or Luau NASCAR Sports Popular Kid's Themes: Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, Veggie Tales, Backyardigans Animal Movie (Keep the kids in mind though) Western Camping Out Christmas (or other holiday) Gone Fishing Pirate Games

Don't forget about a costume for yourself. The best and most interesting trunks have their owners dressed to match the theme.

Friday October 28th

6pm-7pm

Rain Date Saturday October 29th

RSVP PLEASE RETURN BY MONDAY OCTOBER 24TH

PLEASE CIRLE 0NE OF THE FOLLOWING:

We will be attending Trunk-or-Treat as Treaters, Trunkers, or both.

Family Name______________________

Grade(s)__________________________

#Adults_____________#Kids__________

Friday October 28th

6pm-7pm

We are a Nut Free School

Please read packages carefully. Thank you!

Suggested List or Treats

Nut-Free Candy Rolos Jolly Rancher hard candy, lollipops and gummi candy Hot Tamales Skittles ♦ Hershey (plain) chocolate bars, personal size only (not King size, not Minis) ♦ Hershey (plain) chocolate Kisses (not King Size, not Holiday/Seasonal Bags) Starbursts Now and Laters Tootsie Rolls Peeps Tootsie Roll Pops Dum Dums Blow Pops Laffy Taffy Air Heads Dubble Bubble Swedish Fish Sour Patch Kids Pixie Stix Nerds or Nerds on a Rope Dots Bottle Caps Mike and Ike Sweet Tarts Smarties

Ring Pops Push Pops Pop Rocks Fun Dip York Peppermint Patties Junior Mints Whoppers Lemon Heads Red Hots Milk Duds Lifesavers Gummies Runts Caramel Apple Pops Twizzlers Kraft Marshmellows

Snacks Betty Crocker/Kellogg’s fruit snacks Fruit Roll‐ups Fruit Gushers Sunmaid rasins Oreos: Original, Double Stuf, Mint Crème, Chocolate Crème, Golden Oreos, Golden with Chocolate (not Peanut Butter Crème or Oreo Cakesters) Nilla Wafers Teddy Grahams (chocolate, honey, chocolate chip and cinnamon)

Chips A‐Hoy (not Mini’s) Nabisco – Barnum Animal Crackers Fig Newtons Rice Krispy Treats (plain only) Nutri Grain bars (e.g., strawberry, apple,blueberry, cherry) Special K bars (strawberry, vanilla and chocolate only)

Salty Snacks

Rold Gold Pretzels Ruffles and Lays Potato Chips (not Mike Sells) Sun Chips Fritos Doritos (not crackers) Tostitos Sunshine Cheez‐Its Pepperidge Farm Goldfish (plain, pretzel or cheddar flavors) Kraft Handi‐Snacks Crackers with Cheese Dip Kids restaurant coupons Burger King,McDonalds, etc

St. Mary School

After School Ceramic spooktacular Project

Arlene from Arlene’s Ceramics will be coming to our school on Monday October 17, 2016 from 2:30-3:30. For $12 your child will paint a

spooktacular project!

REGISTRATION:

This form must be completed for EACH child attending this activity.

Please return this registration and $12 fee, payable by check to: St. Mary School, by Wednesday October 12, 2016.

NO LAST MINUTE ADD-ONS OR EXCEPTIONS

PERMISSION

With my signature I hereby give my child __________________________________________________

Grade____________ permission to particpate in this Ceramic Afterschool Project.

Parent/Guardian signature___________________________________________Date_______________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

Please PRINT the following information which will assist us in providing our best service.

PICK-UP PRIVILEGES

Student Name_________________________________________________________________Grade_________

Parent/ Guardian contact________________________________________________________Phone#________________

Emergency Contact _____________________________________________Phone#________________

Individuals authorized to pick up student:

Thank you for your support and cooperatiopn.

**All Ages Welcome!**

*Registration is on a f irst come first serve basis. Space is Limited!

*All students w ill be dismissed out the front door by a faculty member

Diocese of Providence Catholic School Office

One Cathedral Square, Providence, RI 02903 Tel: 401- 278-4550 • Fax: 278-4596

www.catholicschools.org June 3, 2016 Dear Parents:

Two years ago, when the diocesan contract for the CTB TerraNova was drawing to its end, the Catholic School Office began a process of consultation about whether to continue with the standardized test or move to new one. During that time, the Catholic School Office met with different testing firms and evaluated the benefits of their assessments. Now, based on consultation with the elementary principals and administrators, we have made a decision to discontinue the CTB TerraNova and adopt STAR Assessments by Renaissance Learning.

In the assessment review, we looked at what the Renaissance STAR Assessments are designed to measure, the number of times they could be administered throughout the year, the format as online tests as opposed to paper and pencil assessments, and the instantaneous scoring that allows for an immediate return of student reports. We appreciated the instructional links available to teachers to improve student performance, the teacher professional development provided by Renaissance Learning and the quality, usefulness and simplicity of understanding the parent reports. During the consultation process we were also mindful of the national debates over high-stakes standardized testing in public schools. Like many parents of public school children, we, too, are concerned about curricula being reshaped by the tests and the apparent disconnect between test results, data analysis and instruction.

We think the STAR Assessments will bring positive changes. STAR Assessments will be used regularly throughout the year as formative and interim testing to screen for reading and math achievement levels. They will be used once a year in April as nationally normed summative assessments but taken within the span of half an hour, not over three hours during three to four days, the current practice with TerraNova.

The assessments are computer-adaptive tests, which means depending on the student’s previous answers the assessments adjust the difficulty or ease of the student’s subsequent test questions. This is why, without taking unnecessary test questions, students can complete the STAR Assessments on a computer or tablet in less than a single class period. The teachers’ reports are designed to identify differentiated classroom instructional strategies for individualized student progress. Finally, with a diocesan contract for all the schools, the cost of the STAR Assessments are reasonable and should work well with the schools’ budgets.

If you have questions about the move to Renaissance STAR, contact your principal, the Catholic School Office, or view the Parent’s Guide to STAR Assessments at http://www.renaissance.com/resources/parents .

Sincerely,

Daniel J. Ferris Superintendent