West Side Elementary

Newsletter February 1, 2018

Save the Date 2/2 Hat Day- Donate $1.00 and wear your favorite hat (pennies4patients)

2/6 3rd grade TAG Showcase 8:30-9:30am

2/9 Cultural Arts Assembly

2/12-16 Conference Week

2/12-16 Spring Book Fair

2/14 Valentine’s Parties

2/14 4th grade TAG Showcase 10:30-11:30am

2/15 Dress Down Day - $1.00 or yearly pass

2/19-23 Mid- Winter Break

2/26 LAST DAY to turn in Six Flags reading logs

3/2 LAST DAY to order yearbooks $25

Principal’s Message

West Side Families,

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has released important information to all stakeholders about

Financial Efficiency Star Ratings and the redesigned College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI).

The Georgia Department of Education released Financial Efficiency Star Ratings for schools and school districts

in Georgia. The Financial Efficiency Star Rating provides a measure of a district’s per-pupil spending in relation to

the academic achievements of its students. Star ratings can be found on the CCRPI website,

http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/2017/. West Side received three and a half stars; Marietta City School received two stars.

The redesigned CCRPI has been approved by the U.S. Department of Education. GaDOE is in the process of

informing school districts about the changes, and I will set aside time in February or March to review those

changes with you. Below is a quick snapshot of the new elementary accountability measures. Additional

information can be found below.

http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Accountability/Pages/default.aspx

Elementary Middle High

Content Mastery 30% 30% 30%

Progress 35% 35% 30%

Closing Gaps 15% 15% 10%

Readiness 20% 20% 15%

Graduation Rae -- -- 15%

Grade 2016-17 Expected Lexile Target 2017-18 Expected Lexile Target

3 650 670

4 750 840

5 850 920

Friendly Reminder

The Georgia Parent Survey contains 24 questions. You may complete the survey using your personal computer, smartphone or tablet. All parents should participate in the Georgia Parent Survey because the data will be used as part of the calculation of the School Climate Star Rating. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Results from the Georgia Parent Survey will not be available to the public and will not be posted online. The survey will be open until Friday, March 2, 2018. The URL address for the Georgia Parent Survey is posted below.

Georgia Parent Survey: http://gshs.gadoe.org/parents

Highlights Kindergarten: Kindergarten had a blast celebrating the 100th day of school. Not only did they dress up as the cutest 100 year olds, but they participated in many activities- all working with the number 100

First Grade: First grade celebrated the 100th day of school on Friday. We made designs with 100 pattern blocks, wrote what we would do with $100, made a self-portrait of ourselves at 100 years old, made a 100 transformation, built a domino train that equaled 100, wrote 100 reasons why we love first grade, and many more fun activities!

Second Grade: Look at this face-- - Find out how to take hime home below…

Fourth Grade: Fourth Grade would like to invite all 4th grade parents to our 2nd TAG extravaganza on Wednesday, February 14 at 10:30 a.m. We will work together to use our compost to create seed bombs. Fun! Fifth Grade: The 5th grade class trip to Blue Ridge has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 10th through Thursday, April 12th

FEBRUARY LEGO DRIVE

NEW WALL IN THE MEDIA CENTER

For every sandwich sized Ziploc bag a student brings in, their name will go in a raffle for a Barnes and Noble gift card. Five gift cards will be given away. ie: If your child brings in 5 baggies full, their name goes in 5 times.

Did you know?

West Side’s Annual Science Swarm

What’s the buzz about the Annual Science Swarm? The Science Swarm is our version of a science fair. This is an opportunity to explore the

Science Project Drop Off: Monday, February 26 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (West Side Auditorium)

Science Swarm Reception: Thursday, March 1 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM During PTA Science Night * viewing of projects 5:30 – 6:00 PM

(West Side Auditorium)

wonderful and amazing world of science, and then share your learning with others. All students who

participate will receive recognition during PTA Science Night on Thursday, March 1. Awards for 1st,

2nd, and 3rd place will be given for grades K-2 and 3-5. A special viewing is scheduled from 5:30 to

6:00. We encourage our scientists to attend and field questions from viewers.

What do I have to do to enter the Science Swarm? Your project must be an experiment and you must follow the scientific method (see guidelines on

the next page). Once you complete your experiment, you must display your experiment and results on

a project board. Choose a topic that interests you and remember that your project does not have to

be complicated to be a good project. Your parents are encouraged to assist you, but you must be the

main scientist. The role of your parents is to provide encouragement, assist in choosing a topic,

provide materials, help test ideas, and offer an extra set of hands and eyes. Basically, your parents

are your lab assistants!

Once I complete my project then what? You will drop your completed project board off in the auditorium on the morning of Monday,

February 26 from 8:00 to 12:00. PTA representatives will be available to assist with the intake of

projects, and parents may check the project in for students if needed. Judging will take place during

a closed session by a panel of impartial judges. A reception will be held on Thursday, March 1, during

PTA Science Night to celebrate all participants and announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in

grades K-2 and grades 3-5. A special science program will follow the announcement of winners.

Project Requirements for Grades K-5 Science Swarm

Please read carefully.

Project displays must follow the minimum requirements below or they will be disqualified. **NEW this year: The 5 projects with the highest scores for grades 3-5 will participate in a short question/answer session with a small group of judges. This will count towards their overall score.

Display Board:

must stand on its own (MUST BE A TRIBOARD)

title and subheadings must be large and bold and clearly visible on the display board

display should be neat and easy to read

photos, pictures, and diagrams are included to help show what was done

all parts of the scientific method (see below) are included on the display

all extra materials must fit in front of the display

list your name, grade, and teacher on the BACK of your display board

Display Sections: ***DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT OF YOUR DISPLAY BOARD***

Title: Your title should be catchy so it captures the judges’ interest and quickly conveys your topic.

Question: Your question should be testable and it should drive your research.

Hypothesis: Your hypothesis is a prediction of what you think will happen when you conduct your experiment.

It should clearly answer your project question.

Background: The background section is sometimes called the purpose. This is where you include information

that you already know about your topic. You also explain why you chose the project and what you were hoping to

learn from the project. Cite one or more sources from one or more types of resources and connect the

research to your question in your own words.

Materials: List all of the materials that you will need to complete your experiment. Be specific about the size

and the quantities of each item.

Procedure: The procedure portion of your project is a list of directions you follow to complete your

experiment. The directions should be in order and detailed enough that someone else could follow them. A

picture is worth a thousand words, so don’t be afraid to include photos. When you test your hypothesis, make

sure that your experiment is carefully controlled. Your variables (conditions you deliberately change) should be

tested one at a time while keeping everything else constant. You should complete the experiment three

different times for validity.

Results: Include measured results of your experiment in paragraph and graph or table form. Measured results

are found by counting, measuring distance/weight/mass, recording temperature, etc. Since you will conduct

your experiment three times, you will have three different sets of recorded data.

Conclusions: This is where you explain the results of your experiment in the form of a statement. Make sure

to state if your results support your hypothesis or not. If your results were inconclusive, then your

statement should include the changes you would make to improve your experiment. You may also include other

things that you learned, problems you encountered and solutions to those problems.

Online Resources You May Find Useful

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/index.html#links

http://www.sciencefair-projects.org/

http://www.freesciencefairproject.com/

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/

Examples of Project Boards

Get Connected!

Quick Links

Marietta City Schools: www.marietta-city.org

AR: https://hosted136.renlearn.com/49239/HomeConnect/

ASPEN : https://ga-marietta.myfollett.com/aspen/logon.do

Book find: www.arbookfind.com