February Panther Pride

February Panther Pride
PANTHER PRIDE
February 2024

 

We create and maintain a safe and consistent learning community by establishing positive behavioral supports and a culture where all students achieve social, emotional and academic success.

In this issue:

  • iReady Challenge
  • Early Dismissal on February 9th
  • PE News
  • Testing Information and Dates
  • And More
 PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE


 

Dear Fernwood Community,

I would like to take a moment to thank the Fernwood Community for your support and encouragement as Fernwood transitions to new leadership. As you know, Kate Eicher is now principal of Hollywood Hill Elementary. With her leaving, I am honored and thrilled to be your interim principal. Additionally, I am excited for you all to meet Dr. Cox as our interim assistant principal. Together we will continue to uphold the high level of expectations for student learning and success you have come to expect from Fernwood.

 

With the end of the first semester on January 26th, teachers will be preparing report cards to communicate your child’s academic progress and growth. Report cards for the first semester will be available through Parent Vue on February 5th. The information within the report card is more comprehensive as compared to your child’s progress report from the fall. For assistance in understanding the scores provided, please review the following documents based on your child’s grade level:

 

 

You may find the information provided similar to the conversations held during conferences as your child continues to make steady progress. As a result of the home-school partnership, you may also find that your child has made strong progress in an area that was once a challenge. If your child has encountered an area of challenge since conferences, consider having a conversation with your child about holding a growth mindset in this area. To learn more about growth mindset and/or strategies to support your child, we encourage you to explore the following links:

 

 

Taking a team approach to this work will support students in both hearing and using the same language when at home and at school. All of us praising effort will help students shift their thought process from “I can’t” to “I can”! Together, we prepare students to reach their full potential.

 

The beginning of the second semester in school always marks an exciting time of the year. We have the opportunity to look back and see how much progress students have made since September. It is also a time to pause and reflect about adjustments needed through the end of the year to support students’ success. At Fernwood, we recognize that a key part of students experiencing academic success is directly connected to students experiencing a sense of belonging and a feeling of value when at school. One way we work toward that desired outcome is by creating opportunities for students to personalize their learning experience. That personalization can extend beyond our school walls as well. 

 

On February 5th you will be able to access your child’s report card through Parent Vue. We encourage you to talk with your students about their report card. Praise them for their efforts related to progress big or small. To personalize learning at home for your child, first help them identify their unique strengths and needs. Next, assist them to set goals, create a plan towards their goal, and then take steps to achieve their goal. Linked is a resource to guide you through this process. These conversations are essential to personalizing learning for your child and helping them to develop self-efficacy (a belief that they can set a goal and take steps to meet them) overtime. 

 

Our teachers support our desired outcome of students experiencing belonging and a feeling of value not only on a daily basis in the classroom, but also through their time and effort in completing report cards that communicate each student’s progress to date. They work collaboratively with colleagues to calibrate scores as well as individually to communicate each student’s unique strengths and needs to families. Teachers consider a variety of data, including recently completed i-Ready diagnostic scores as well as student work samples to make these determinations. We appreciate their dedication to supporting student learning through strong communication about each student. 

 

As always, it is our continued goal to work in partnership with you to support your child’s learning pathway. If you have specific questions in regards to your child’s progress, please reach out to your child’s teacher. 

 

With appreciation, 

 

Cassie Morton, Principal

 

 DATES TO REMEMBER

JANUARY

   

Date Event Location Time

1/30

IOWA Make Up Testing: Grade 2-5

 

1:30-3:00pm

1/31

IOWA Make Up Testing: Grade 1

 

9:30-11:30am

 

FEBRUARY

Date Event Location Time
2/5

Report Cards Viewable in ParentVue

Online  
2/9 Early Dismissal for Conferences   12:30pm
2/12 PTSA Spelling Bee Finals

Cafeteria

 
2/13 PTSA Spelling Bee Finals

Cafeteria

 
2/15 PTSA Spelling Bee Finals Cafeteria  
2/19 - 2/23 Mid Winter Break - No School    
2/29 Class Picture Day   All day

                                 MARCH

Date

Event

Location 

Time

3/12

PTSA General Meeting

Library and Zoom

7:00-8:00am

3/28

Fernwood Spirit Day and Activity Picture Day

 

All day

3/29

Student Council Neon Day

 

All day

 

COUNSELOR CORNER

 

By the end of February, all students will have had their 5th lesson with their school counselor this school year. Students in grades K - 2 are finishing their Kelso unit, learning about emotions management along with practicing strategies to calm down. We all have BIG feelings sometimes, and we teach students that all feelings are ok. Students are learning how to be self-managers prior to attempting to solve problems using Kelso’s Choices with others. 

 

Students in grades 3 - 5, are finishing their Bullying Prevention Unit and learning the three R’s.  Recognize (is this bullying or conflict? Or is it a misunderstanding?) Report (tell an adult that I trust) and Refuse (assertively tell the person to STOP). Students have learned more about Bystander Power and ways they can use their power and shared responsibility to be supportive—what we like to call “upstanders.”  For grades 4 and 5, aspects of cyberbullying are highlighted. We encourage you to ask your child what they have learned from their Bullying Prevention lessons and how they can use their power to act on their shared responsibility to help Fernwood be a welcoming school for all! 

 

As a whole school, students have heard about the Zones of Regulation in our Morning Announcements to add to their toolbox to be self-aware (recognize their feelings and how they show up in the body) and tools to manage feelings (self-management). These are lifelong skills and the Zones of Regulation is a great conceptual tool that makes thinking and talking about feelings even easier. Ask your child about the Zones and learn what tools they can try when they’re in each zone. 


Lastly, school counselors support students’ learning beyond the classroom setting. For the month of February and early weeks of March, students participating in small groups will be consolidating their learning and applying the concepts and strategies to their everyday lives. And so by mid-March our Winter Small Group sessions will conclude. We counselors have had a busy Winter supporting small groups; and compared to last school year, we had a 5% increase in the number of students referred this year. Topics have included: self-confidence, self-regulation, emotion-regulation, and friendship skills. These group experiences help students increase their competencies, their self-awareness and self-management. Our comprehensive school counseling program contributes to Fernwood’s mission of supporting all students to be safe, kind, and learners. 

Thank you for your support and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

 

Best Regards, 

Jennifer Brisbine (Grades K, 2, & 4) jbrisbine@nsd.org and 425-408-4570

Sarah Cue (Grades 1, 3, & 5) scue@nsd.org and 425-408-4572

 

February 2024 SEL Calendar

IN THE KNOW

 

iReady Challenge

Our students enjoyed an extra fun recess on January 5th after reaching their December goal of obtaining 92% accuracy on individual i-Ready lessons. Students were able to choose from a variety of activities from dancing with music, hula hooping, bubbles and even demonstrating their skills in navigating an obstacle course. We want to thank all the volunteers who came and supported the students in the recess stations as they celebrated their success.  

 

For the month of January, our goal was to pass reading assessments at a 93% percent accuracy. Although our students did not meet their goal this month of achieving 93% accuracy on individual reading lessons, they still did exceptionally well by achieving a 90% accuracy rate.  We recognize that there may have been some disruption with the snow days that impacted our students ability to complete these lessons. We will extend our iReady Challenge goal through Mid-winter break and will celebrate with an extra fun recess on March 1st.

 

As was shared within the introductory letter, now is a great time of year to teach students about goal setting since they have a better sense of their strengths and needs. With that in mind we will use the fact that students have not yet achieved this goal as a teachable moment on setting attainable goals that still push us forward. 

 

Thank you for your partnership in supporting students to do their best on individual school-wide goals. To date, we have had 679 students participate. If you would like to know more about the who, what, why, and how of our school-wide i-Ready goal, please follow this link

 

Friday, February 9th

Students will be dismissed at 12:30 pm on Friday, February 9th. The remainder of the day is set aside for parent-teacher conferences. Teachers selected families with whom they would like to meet to further discuss student progress for the 2023-24 school year. Since only an afternoon is set aside, teachers are not able to meet with all families. If you have further questions, please reach out to your teacher. 

 

SBAC DATES

Students in grades 3rd-5th will take part in our state’s Smarter Balanced Assessment this spring. Fernwood will begin testing after spring break and will wrap up testing during the beginning of June. A specific schedule with testing dates for each grade level will be shared soon after we return from mid-winter break. 

 

IOWA Make-Up Testing

The Highly Capable Department will be conducting make-up IOWA testing for anyone that qualified for IOWA testing but was absent.ese make up dates are the following:

  • Grade 2-5: Tuesday, January 30 from 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. 

  • Grade 1: Wednesday, January 31 from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.

WIDA Testing

The WIDA testing for students who are multilingual learners enables us to identify students who qualify and continue to qualify for English language development support. The window for this testing runs from January 30 through March 22. If your child is scheduled to take the WIDA, you can support their success by making sure they get plenty of rest and have their computers charged and ready to go for this assessment. You can find more information by visiting this link through OSPI

 

Skyview Counselor Visitor for 5th Grade Students and Parent Meeting

The Skyview counselors will visit Fernwood to talk about registration for the 2024-25 school year on March 8th. 5th grade parents should anticipate information about course selection and electives to come home with specific next steps and timelines. 

 

Skyview’s Parent Night is on March 13th.  Watch for more information to come.

 

5th Grade Camp Cedar Springs

Our 5th grade students will have the opportunity to attend in-person camp this year at Cedar Springs. Our scheduled dates at this time are April 22nd through the 24th. We will attend along with Shelton View. This will be a great culminating activity for students at both schools to end their time in elementary together. More information regarding parent meetings to come. Please visit the link to learn more about Camp Cedar Springs.  Message from the nurse- If your student needs any medication while at camp, a medication authorization form is required to be completed prior to camp. Please contact the school nurse (Nurse Pavi) at 425-408-4506 to discuss what forms may be needed. The camp nurse does not have any stock medication and is not allowed to give any medication without proper authorization. 

 

PE NEWS

Families, please click on this link to learn more about your child’s learning in PE and ways you can be involved with your child’s growth and development as they build their fine and gross motor skills.

 

DISTRICT INFORMATION

 

K-5 Enrollment for 2022-2023

The Northshore School District’ enrollment for 2024-2025 school year will begin soon. When the enrollment opens, we will included the information in our Weekly Updates.  All enrollment is submitted online. Please use this link for information and the online process for enrollment. When registering a kindergartener, they must be 5 years old by August 31, 2024 to be eligible. Enrollments are not contingent on the date and time of submission. All enrollments for students living in our boundaries will be accepted.

 

PACE Application Deadline For The 2024-2025 School Year

PACE (Parents Active in Cooperative Education), a choice educational enrichment program offered through the Northshore School District, is currently accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year. All applications are due prior to the February 8th PACE lottery drawing deadline, and a site tour is required prior to application.

 

The hallmarks of PACE include an enhanced educational experience due to high parent involvement, enrichment activities, encouragement for students to become self-motivated learners and a strong sense of community among families. Families commit to a minimum number of volunteer hours per year of program support. PACE is located at three elementary school sites in the district with feeder patterns from all Northshore elementary schools. 

 

A tour is required prior to applying to the PACE program. To register for a site tour hosted by PACE at Woodmoor Elementary, please email enrollment@paceatwoodmoor.org 


For more information about the PACE program, please visit http://www.nsd.org/PACE

 

   PTSA INFORMATION/
Please be sure to check the PTSA'S website for all the up to date information and calendar


Spelling Bee
Be looking for more information to come regarding the final rounds of the spelling bee.
 

Fernwood Spirit Wear

Did you miss out on buying Fernwood's newest spirit wear? 🐾 It's not too late to still order spirit wear and show your Fernwood pride! The shop has REOPENED for a limited time and is OPEN NOW through February 11 at midnight.  

You'll also want to plan ahead as your Fernwood Yearbook Committee presents…FERNWOOD SPIRIT DAY - Thursday, March 28th! Photos will be taken of students wearing Fernwood spirit wear, and/or pink and black!

Order here: https://fernwoodpanthers.itemorder.com/shop/sale/

Questions? fernwoodyearbook@gmail.com or fernwoodfundraiser@gmail.com 

*The store is open NOW until Friday, February 11th at midnight. All spirit wear will be delivered to classroom teachers, so there are no shipping costs. Please be sure to select your child's teacher at checkout (select your oldest child's teacher if you have multiple students).

 

PTSA Meeting

There is no PTSA meeting in February.  Please join the meeting on March 12 at 7:00pm.  More information to come in the March Panther Pride.

 

Fernwood Dines Out!

After the  success of our MOD Pizza Fundraising earlier this year, the fundraising team is proud to offer our latest event Fernwood Dines Out!  On the 1st WEDNESDAY of EACH MONTH we will be working with a local restaurant to help raise money for Fernwood!  So mark your calendars, and get ready to enjoy some great food and a night of not having to worry about what's for dinner!

Upcoming Events:

  • February, 7th 2024 - Chipotle Mexican Grill, Bothell: 33% of all sales between 4pm and 8pm will be donated to Fernwood if you use code PYYTMMX online or show the flier in store.  Flier Linked here.

 

Other Information

Join the PTSA: https://www.memberplanet.com/s/fernwoodptsa/membership-form-2023-24

 

Keep up on events, key dates, spirit days, and more by following us on Social Media!

Check us out on:

If you have questions, please reach out to fernwoodpanthers@gmail.com

 

Yearbook Sales information

The pre-order has been included in the first-day packet.  The single form can be found at the location below: https://www.memberplanet.com/s/fernwoodptsa/yearbook2023-24-preorder-form

 

ONGOING SCHOOL-WIDE COMMUNICATION


PAST NEWSLETTERS AND WEEKLY UPDATES