SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE
Yesterday, I received the State Accountability Report or SAR. The SAR is one of the state’s major reports evaluating a school. While it contains other data about the school, most educators only look at two ratings. One of them is the adjectival rating. The SAR reports a school as being “failing,” “low,” “average,” “high,” or “excellent.” This year’s news was particularly good for Edison District’s main schools. Last year our schools were rated as follows: Edison High School was rated “average. ”Edison Middle School was “high.” Edison Elementary was “high.” This year the Edison High School was raised to “high.” Edison Middle School was raised to “excellent.” Edison Elementary was raised to “excellent.” This is the first year since the system was instituted that any Edison District school has received “excellent” ratings! At the Decmber Board meeting, the members were very happy about the ratings. Moreover, Jean Meinzer said that her son Jake, who attends John Brown University, says that his English and math teacher said that his teachers did an exceptional job in preparing him for those subjects. The English professor actually wanted Jake to become an English major. Lori Whittemore said that her daughter, Erica, says that her statistics teacher said the same thing about Erica’s preparation in math. Jean’s comment was that we are headed in the right direction and that good things are happening at Edison. Reading the SAR ratings and hearing the comments about our recent graduates, I think that parents of Edison students can rest assured that their students are receiving one of the best educations in a rural El Paso County School. In fact our success rate matches up against some of the best schools in Colorado Springs. Good things are happening at Edison. My thanks to Mrs. Paul, the teachers, the students and to you parents for making Edison a school in which we can take pride!
Edison Elementary is nearing completion. They are laying carpets and vinyl. The painting is nearly complete. The sinks and cabinets are being installed. The heater was turned. The kitchen will be set up on the 17th. The furniture starts to arrive on the 16th. All construction personnel should be finished with punch lists by the 24th. WE ARE NEARLY THERE!! On the 19th the teachers will pack to move to their newly assigned rooms. Many of the teachers are soliciting help packing. Please call if you’re interested in helping. I am assembling a crew to help move boxes and put furniture together over Christmas break. We will start school in the new building at 10:00 on January 7 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The elementary students will go to see their new classrooms and return within 15 or so minutes to bring their parents and other relatives to see the new building. If you come to see the new building on the 7th, please understand that we will only have limited time to fully prepare for the new semester. Not everything will be in place. I’ve asked the teachers to remember that their mission is to be ready to teach their classes on the 7th. If they still have boxes left to unpack or their bulletin boards aren’t up to the quality that you see when you visit, remember that we just moved in. I’m very happy about the way that the building looks. I know that the students and teachers are excited about being in their new classrooms. The cooks are chomping at the bit to occupy their new kitchen. To demonstrate their pleasure, they’ve invited all attending the opening ceremony to a chicken dinner prepared with our new deep fryer. We’ll have cake to go with the lunch. All will receive a special commemorative prize for attending the opening. We hope that you’ll come to visit the building that should serve the Edison Community for the next 50 years!
-- David L. Grosche
PRINCIPAL’S CORNER
I would like to wish our community a Happy New Year. 2009 will bring many new changes to Edison School District, the most exciting being the new building! I have walked through the building many times recently and can see the changes and the finishing touches. I hope that you will join us for the open house celebration. I can’t wait to see the faces of the students the first time they enter the new building for classes.
I would also like to congratulate our staff and students for their EXCELLENT ratings from the State of Colorado. This is our first time to be in this category. Our students are doing quite well and we are proud of them. Our staff is working hard all the time to move kids forward and to teach them to be life-long learners. Thanks also to our parents who are supportive of our school and the things we are striving to accomplish. Let’s all keep up the good work and continue on the upward path!
The basketball season is in full swing. Our teams are training hard and are busy all the time. The weather in December and January can play havoc on our schedule. Please keep yourself informed as a parent by checking our calendar on the website for changes and rescheduled games. The boys B team and the boys JV team do get some games, but many teams are cancelling these programs due to lack of participation. When weather cancels a game, you should receive a call through Global Connect to let you know the game has been postponed. Good Luck Eagles!
-- Rachel Paul
SPORTS NOTES
Our junior high and high school basketball teams are in full swing. The high school boys placed second in the Edison tournament and the girls placed third. That is a great start to our high school season. Our junior high teams are close to half way through their season. They have had some exciting games that have been close at the end. January brings a busy schedule with many opportunities to come and support our teams. See you at the games!
DATE CORRECTIONS
There is a date correction for the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new building. It will be on the 7th of January at 10:00 AM-12:00 PM. This will be a Ribbon Cutting, Open House, and lunch. There will be a reception and tours available.
PRE-SCHOOL
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The preschoolers had a busy December! They enjoyed mixing science with art when making their snow people. They made the snow by mixing shaving cream and glue. They also were busy decorating snowflakes and Santa pictures.
Preschoolers enjoyed comparing an Orange to a Clementine. We made a graph and found that 5 out of 7 in our class liked eating the Clementine.
We have been learning about Native American Indians-Our multicultural board has some neat hands on items, such as, clay whistle, beaded necklaces, arrowhead and a dream catcher. We have enjoyed many stories on different tribes in America. We will be making our own dream catchers this month.
The letters L, M, and N have been added to our Alphabet Center! We have also been learning how to sign the letters in the alphabet as well. We have successfully completed our color chart, ending with the colors black, white and gray. We will start the New Year with learning about our shapes.
A few stories we have enjoyed in December are: Always and Forever by Alan Durant, Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep by Joyce Dunbar and “Our Favorite”---The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aytesworth.
Smiles J,
Ms. Christine
KINDERGARTEN
Kindergartners have learned so much this first half of the school year! Students have enjoyed exploring letters, sounds and concepts of print, and are excited to be reading several words already. We have applied our new skills to reading decodable books and other leveled readers and stories as well. A favorite part of our wonderful new reading curriculum is listening to fables and folk tales weekly, and then acting them out. We have completed our pre-writing Squiggle Books, and are now writing and drawing in our journals daily. In math, we have explored many new concepts, including position and classification, sorting, graphing, patterns, number concepts and number sense, measurement, and solids, shapes and fractions. As you can see, we have been very busy!
December found us enjoying many special activities to celebrate the season, including decorating gingerbread houses, bringing The Polar Express to life in our classroom, making gifts for loved ones, and practicing for “Christmas at the OK Corral”, Edison’s Christmas musical. I’d like to wish you all the happiest of holidays, and a wonderful 2009 filled with many blessings! Teaching at Edison continues to be one of the biggest blessings in my life.
As we prepare to move into our new elementary building, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those who have made it happen, especially our administration and board, and the many supportive community members! Thank you!
Sincerely,
Andrea MacDonald
INTERNET USE SURVEY
Please complete the attached survey on Internet use and return it right away. The purpose of this survey is to find out how much interest there is in the many Internet-based services we could provide you. Some of the things we can give you include monthly newsletters delivered by e-mail (at a great savings in paper, postage, and money); e-mail notification of school closures, delays, or early dismissals; and up-to-date information posted on our school homepage. What do you want us to provide to you? We need your help to identify what you want to see. The first step is to find out if there is enough community interest to justify the work and any costs. Mrs. Binkley-Jones’ technology class will compile the results and I will report back to you. Richard W. Briggs, rbriggs@edison54jt.org
1st GRADE CLASS
What an exciting month this has been! We have been busy practicing songs for the elementary Christmas program, making special Christmas gift ornaments for our parents, and studying poems about the holidays. With seasonal read-aloud storybooks, math-related color sheets, and Christmas writing projects, our first graders are happy and productive!
The students are especially looking forward to returning in the New Year, for they will experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—that of moving into a brand new beautiful elementary building! Here are some thoughts they have:
Sarah G: I’m so glad that it has a bell.
Shayla M: The classroom is going to be a little bit bigger.
Ethan S: Well, the cooks will get you what you want.
Meghan L: There’s a little board you can slide your tray on when you get your food.
Moroni C: I’m happy that the school is going to be a little bit bigger.
Sara F: I’m so happy that our classroom is going to be great when we see it on January 7.
Alexus C: The school building is new and it will have an eagle above our heads.
Isaac C: I like it because the floor is going to be bigger.
Andy C: I like that school because when it’s done it’s going to be like a maze.
Tyler A: I think the inside of the school will be cool.
We are so grateful for all the efforts of so many people to provide our district with a new elementary building. Thank you all!
~Elizabeth Frank
INFO@EDISON54JT.ORG
Did you ever have a question and didn’t know whom at Edison to ask? Ever want to e-mail a teacher but not know the teacher’s e-mail address? We have set up the above e-mail address to gather your questions. You will be notified automatically that the e-mail was received and then I will let you know to whom I have forwarded the e-mail. If you want the e-mail forwarded to a particular Edison person, just note it in your subject line. Richard W. Briggs, rbriggs@edison54jt.org
2ND & 3rd GRADE CLASS
This year’s second and third grade is full of exciting, enthusiastic, energetic, and creative students. I must admit that at the beginning of the school year I was a bit nervous about all of the energy that this group has. I am thrilled to report that the vivacity of the children is being channeled into learning and the advancement of their understanding.
We have a great deal of curriculum to cover during second semester and much more to learn, but I am very pleased at the progress of the students thus far. Beginning in January I will be honing in on the skills some of the children are struggling with and making sure to create challenges for students who can go beyond the traditional grade level. My goal is to have each student acquire the skills needed to move on to their next grade with the knowledge and confidence needed to succeed.
As I reflect on the first half of the school year I realize how thankful I am to have the privilege to teach and interact with every one of my students. Each of them has a special gift that they bring to our class. Remember to hug them and share your love with them (take time to read to them too!) They are young for such a short time. Savor every minute. May 2009 bring you and your family many wonderful blessings and treasured Memories.
Sincerely,
Ms. Hotop
4TH – 5TH GRADE CLASS
Just like many of you probably feel – December has flown! The month has been filled with science fair, Christmas program, mid-year testing, and other holiday related activities. Right now the best gift is the excitement of moving into the new building. Packing and planning for the new space has created excitement that everybody is enjoying. Please be sure to check out the information in this newsletter regarding the ribbon cutting ceremony and other activities. We would love to have any parents and community members who can make it be here for the kids first day in the new building! This will be one of the most exciting days in my teaching career! I appreciate Mr. Grosche and the board for all the hours and energy they have put into making this a reality for our district. I have attended many of their meetings and watched them work through the challenges that came up along the way, this was no easy task.
Our annual Elementary Science Fair has been postponed until January in order to take advantage of the new building and more room! We have spent this month working hard with multiplication and division properties. The students have moved from writing paragraphs to essays and are working hard to meet personal reading goals. I am pleased with their progress and look forward to the second semester. May each of your families have a blessed Christmas and happy New Year.
Paul Frank
A Special Thank You
Once again we had a successful Grandparent’s Day. Everyone worked together to make it a great day. Thank you to all the people who volunteered on that day. It takes a lot of dedicated people to make it work. Thanks to the cooks who made a fabulous lunch and to Mrs. Canzonieri and the elementary teachers for putting together a super program. Thanks to all those who brought in pies. Thanks also to all the folks that chose to spend their afternoon at the school.
BOOKMOBILE
Starting in January the bookmobile will be at Edison from 1:40 to 2:40 on Fridays. This is so the bookmobile staff can have a lunch. Thank you for your cooperation.
FROM THE COUNSELOR
AVP Visitation Days at PPCC
9-11:40 AM
Friday, January 16
Friday, January 30
Monday, February 9
AVP office – 502-3111