Principal's Message

Greetings Star Lake Families,

October has been a busy and productive month here at Star Lake!  We are digging into core ELA and math instruction and our K-2 teachers are excited about unpacking our brand new ELA curriculum call Wonders. It has great reading passages, interactive student books, and intentional writing prompts that blend so well with our Fundations phonics instruction to provide students with the strategies they need to grow as readers.

Our teachers are using the initial assessment information gathered in September through iReady, IRLA, and a new tool Lexia Core 5, to determine skill based intervention and extension groups during our ELA intervention time. This is a great opportunity for students to get a little extra help with their teacher, to practice some skills on their own (Lexia is a computer-based program that the students say is very fun) or to do an extension project or act as a tutor to other students in class.

READ, READ, READ!  Now that our 3rd-5th grade students have been leveled in IRLA they each should be bringing home books to read EVERY DAY.  Our K-2 teachers are working on book buddies to send home reading books as well. Students who read 30 minutes a day will encounter 13.8 million words by graduation!   And all those words lead to higher comprehension of new text because students are exposed to a huge variety of topics and vocabulary. Please help your child find a good place to read at home, and someone to read to…it can be a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, even a stuffed animal! I am excited to see the growth our students make as readers this year!

Here are some important details and events coming up:

1. Student led conferences are next week November 8th and 9th.  Teachers need to meet with EVERY family, and are excited to talk about your child’s progress with you.  If you have not yet signed up please go to your ParentVue app to schedule. (The directions are posted in my ParentSquare message and on remind. Or go to fwps.org/SLC to see video directions. ) We are highly encouraging families to come to face to face conferences, so your child can share their work, their classroom and their goals with you in person. If you are unable to come to the school, we are also offering zoom conferences. Please reach out to your child’s teacher with questions.  And, don’t forget on conference days to go visit Mr. Garcia, Mr. Mullins, and Mrs. Groshell to check out music, pe and library. 
2. We have our yearly Panorama parent survey coming out soon. Please watch for information from Mrs. Hildebrand about prizes your students can earn when families complete the survey. This is your opportunity to provide feedback for our school, and the more families who participate, the more information we get!

 I wish your family a healthy and happy November!

Kris Rennie, principal
krennie@fwps.org
253-945-4007