Principal's Message, October 25

Principal’s Message

With the weather clearly turning crisp, fall is in the air.  We hope October has been successful for you and your family.  As we move into what is typically a busier time of year, it is important to keep consistency and routines in place.  We look forward to supporting our students during the coming months.

Fall Conferences

We were excited to see so many parents and students attending our Fall Conferences.  Moving our upper grades to the gym appeared to be successful, as greater than 50% of our families took advantage of this opportunity.  We always appreciate hearing what’s working and understand that families enjoyed having a window of time to attend, as well as all teachers present in a single location.  Always seeking improvement, we will consider further ways to make the Fall Conferences successful for all families next year.  While our CUSD calendar has specific weeks for conferences, you are always always welcome to communicate with teachers as you see fit.

iReady

During Fall Conferences, teachers distributed iReady data.  This is a district assessment that is one measure of a student’s achievement in reading and math.  It should be noted that iReady does not assess a student’s ability to express him or herself nor necessarily the soft skills associated with our district’s Profiles of a Graduate.  These are assessed in other ways, including collaborative group work, presentations, and written performance.  These may be tracked on Power School and discussed with individual teachers.

PLC Activity

During today’s shortened Wednesday, we met as an entire teaching staff to highlight professional development in which nearly two dozen teachers are actively involved.  Aimed at engaging and empowering all students, these include Writing with Design, Universal Design for Learning, School Re-Tooled, and Math & the ELD Student.  Teachers from across nearly all content areas presented to colleagues a summary of what they are currently learning and implementing in their classrooms.  Coupled with the elective team’s focus on the Profiles of a Graduate, our afternoon together was incredibly positive.  Witnessing examples of student work, analyzing lessons, and considering ways to implement what is successful in a neighboring classroom is inspiring.

IXL

Families, we are proud to announce that our PTA recently supported funding the online math program IXL for our 7^th and 8^th graders.  It is most relevant to these grades, as it is at this point where math becomes more theoretical, namely working with expressions and equations and working with linear functions.  Should you have any questions, please contact your child’s 7^th or 8^th grade math teacher.  A follow up email with further details will soon be pushed out to families with 7^th and 8^th graders.

On behalf of teachers and students, I’d like to thank the Rolling Hills PTA and the generosity of our parent community.

Spirit Week

ASB has been busy planning a week of activities that starts on Monday, October 29^th.  Of particular mention are: Breast Cancer Awareness Day, Halloween, Movember, and a 7^th and 8^th grade dance.  ASB has been spreading the word to all classrooms, and a summary of the week will be soon be online.  We are eager to be active participants in what they’ve planned.

Student Safety

There are many students who funnel out of our site within a ten to fifteen window of time.  Local law enforcement continues to monitor traffic and student safety.  Deputies from the Santa Clara County Sheriff Department and officers from Campbell PD have been very visible on Pollard recently.  We appreciate their support and your attention to rules of the road.

The shopping center that is located off Pollard with such business as Safeway and Round Table Pizza continues to be an area of concern.  While businesses have asked us to communicate that the parking lot is meant for their patrons, we and they also understand that reality of the situation.  Please communicate with your child that safety includes crossing streets and walking through parking lots.  To reduce traffic, we encourage carpooling and a rendezvous point potentially a little further from school.

Thank You

We want to thank you for taking the time to be involved in your child’s progress, both academically and socially.  Should you have information to share, please know that staff is here to support.