Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Hunt PTO Update 3/20/15

Hunt PTO Update
March 25th, 2015


What's happening at HUNT over the next two weeks?
Please check the HUNT activities calendar on the website for up-to-the-minute updates!


 Monday 
 Tuesday
 Wednesday
 Thursday
 Friday
23
24
25
Hairshpray School Workshop 1-2pm
26
Hairspray school performance 4pm

Early Release Day- 12:00

Parent Teacher Conferences
27

No School

Hairspray Performance- 7pm

Parent Teacher Conferences
30
31
1
2
3
 End of Quarter

Coffee Chat with Principals 8:15




Letter to Parents and Caregivers from 
Vermont Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe:
Also please see note from Liz Curry, Ward 3 school board member and former Hunt parent,  at the end of the Blog re: the VT State Board of Education passing a resolution on SBAC Standardized Tests and School Accountability on Tuesday, March 17, 2015.  (noted in full below.)

March Parent Teacher Conferences- Whether or not your child is having any school challenges, Parent Teacher conferences are a great opportunity to meet with your child's teachers to discuss progress, set goals and build relationships!
Please sign with the link below.  ​
If you have problems with the website you can email Mrs. Barcomb at tbarcomb@bsdvt.org
or call Guidance at 802-864-8470.
HAIRSPRAY coming to the Hunt stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday

You won't want to miss this upbeat musical featuring our own Hunt talent - and the buzz is that we have a Hunt staff member with a cameo roll - who could it be????  You have 3 opportunities to see the show:

School Show - Thursday, March 26 -4pm (great one to bring the kids, grandparents...)
Evening Performance - Friday, March 27 - 7pm
Evening Performance - Saturday, March 28 - 7pm


An invite from the Hunt administration to YOU...



Parent Coffee

YOU ARE INVITED! 
Principal/Parent Coffee

Friday, April 3rd, 2015 8:10am to 8:55am


Have coffee or tea with our Principals. Tell us what's on your mind. Let us know what's working or what's not working. Ask questions or just chat and relax with us in our library. 
Friday, April 3rd, 8:10am.

     Calendar Listings:
  • March 26 - Early Release  at noon- Parent Teacher Conferences
  • March 26 - Hairspray School Show - 4pm
  • March 27 - No School - Parent Teacher Conferences
  • March 27 - Hairspray Evening Performance - 7pm
  • March 27 - Hairspray Pre Performance Meal catered by Papa Frank's -5:30 
  • March 28 - Hairspray Evening Performance - 7pm
  • April 3rd - Coffee with the Principals
  • April 10 - Dance - 7pm
  • April 20-24 - April School Vacation




        VSBE Calls on Congress to Reduce School Testing Mandates
        From LIZ CURRY, LCURRY@BSDVT.ORG, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, WARD 3, BURLINGTON
        Regarding our community discussion about Common Core tests...I am pleased to report that on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, the VT State Board of Education passed this resolution on SBAC Standardized Tests and School Accountability. It is interesting to read the pre-amble provided here: http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=793

        The Vermont State Board of Education proclaims; 
        • - WHEREAS, schools in the state of Vermont are still transitioning to the new Common Core Standards, a progression of various skills to be developed throughout an educational career, and this transition is not yet complete; and 
        • - WHEREAS, This test administration is the first time educators in the State of Vermont have been asked to administer a test using a computerized delivery system which is yet to be proven and the first time many students have experienced this testing format; and 
          - WHEREAS, the Vermont State Board of Education has already expressed in detail their views on the proper role of Standardized Testing on the Resolution on Assessment and Accountability on August 26, 2014; and 
          - WHEREAS, the appropriate and future use of these tests as required in the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act is uncertain, which greatly influences both policy and expenditure decisions for states, and 
          - WHEREAS, numerous states have expressed similar reservations and the California Board of Education suspended the state's school accountability system on March 11, 2015 for one year to give teachers and students time to adjust to new standardized tests aligned with Common Core standards;

          Therefore be it -- 
          - RESOLVED that the Vermont State Board of Education will not use SBAC scores for the 2014-15 year for the purpose of annual school evaluation determinations; and 
          - RESOLVED that the Vermont State Board believes that until students' elementary through high school education has been guided by the new standards and schools have had practice with administering the SBAC test and interpreting SBAC results, the results of the SBAC assessment will not support reliable and valid inferences about student performance, and thus should not be used as the basis for any consequential purpose; and 
          - RESOLVED that until empirical studies confirm a sound relationship between performance on the SBAC and critical and valued life outcomes ("college and career-ready"), test results should not be used to make normative and consequential judgments about schools and students; and 
          - RESOLVED that the Vermont State Board of Education finds it inappropriate to use the results of this assessment, a pilot test, for any form of accountability that could misidentify and/or mislabel schools and divert attention from the more comprehensive Vermont Education Quality Review and any findings that might come out of that review; and 
          - RESOLVED that the Vermont State Board of Education supports the Secretary of Education's efforts to fully implement the Education Quality Standards, through an Education Quality Review process; an assessment that will reflect the values of Vermont and will give a more holistic view of the status of Vermont Schools than the SBAC assessments; and 
          - RESOLVED that the Vermont State Board of Education calls on Vermont state legislators to sufficiently fund the Agency of Education to provide the resources and capacity needed to implement the Education Quality Review Process; and 
          - RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Board of Education again calls on the United States Congress and Administration to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as the "No Child Left Behind Act") to reduce testing mandates, promote multiple forms of evidence of student learning and school quality, eschew the use of student test scores in evaluating educators, and allow flexibility that reflects the unique circumstances of all states.

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