Access

Letter to Parents: August 2015

ACCESS

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! We hope you had a wonderful summer with your family and friends.

Each morning at KCMS, your child will have an ACCESS class. A thoughtful, collaborative group of teachers and administrators created routines and expectations for this class based on research-based best practices. The two primary goals of ACCESS are to help students transition to an academic mindset for the day and to provide students with additional opportunities for literacy development.

Please look over the ACCESS syllabus given to your student. Pay close attention to the expectations and grading rubric. Your student will receive a grade in ACCESS every five weeks, once in the middle of each quarter and once at the end. ACCESS will be a pass/fail class based on his or her performance on this rubric. If your student is failing ACCESS, a series of interventions will be taken for him or her to find success in subsequent semesters.

You play a vital role in your child’s success in all of his or her classes at KCMS. You can help your child be successful in ACCESS by checking to make sure he or she has an engaging book to read every day. You can also discuss with him or her nightly any homework assignments and plan with him or her how to best use the ACCESS academic time the following day. As a Learning Team, together we can help your child succeed.

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s ACCESS teacher. After reading this letter and the ACCESS syllabus, please sign the bottom section and have your child return it to their ACCESS teacher. Your signature will indicate that you understand ACCESS expectations, the grading criteria, and your important role in your child’s literacy development.

Thank you so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Ken Caryl Middle School Staff

Child’s Name: _________________________________________

• • I have read the parent letter, syllabus, and grading rubric for ACCESS.

  • I will support my child at home by promoting reading and helping them organize their homework assignments for on-time completion.

Parent Signature: _________________________________________

Ken Caryl Middle School 2015-2016

ACCESS:

(noun) A means of approaching or entering a place;

(verb) Obtain, examine, or retrieve

1. Learning Targets for ACCESS

• • I will ACCESS teachers, ensure my homework is finished, and organize my learning materials so that I can prepare myself for a successful school day.

  • I will set personal reading goals and monitor my progress towards those goals throughout the semester so that I can become an independent, self-sufficient reader.

  • I will engage in sustained reading so that I can improve my reading comprehension and stamina.

2. ACCESS Grading Rubric

3. Classroom Expectations

• • 7:20-7:30 Preparing for ACCESS

  • Students will be making sure they come to ACCESS prepared for both academic time and DEAR (Drop Everything and Read).

  • Students will get passes from their classroom teachers if they need help that morning. They will return to their ACCESS classroom to show the ACCESS teacher the pass.

  • Each ACCESS class will have two library passes. Passes will be distributed equitably.

  • Think of this time as ‘running errands’ for a successful day.

  • Once a week, ACCESS students will go to an electives teacher’s classroom while their ACCESS teacher attends a department meeting.

  • 7:30-7:50 Academic Time

  • Students will ACCESS teachers, ensure homework is finished, and organize their learning materials.

  • Students may talk quietly to get help on homework.

  • Students are expected to be back in the ACCESS classroom by 7:50 (prior to the start of announcements).

  • 7:50-7:55 Announcements

  • Students will put away all homework and headphones. Students should take out reading material at this time.

  • 7:55-8:20 DEAR (Drop Everything and Read)

  • Teachers and students will read from 7:55 to 8:20. Reading will begin promptly at 7:55.

  • Students will not be able to go to the library for book check out during this time.

  • Students will read with purpose everyday. This is ideally be an ongoing book. Magazines, short stories, and graphic novels are also considered reading materials. Reading text on a general website is not allowed at this time.

  • Reading may happen independently, in pairs, small groups, and in conjunction with audio versions of the text. The key is that all reading is done with purpose.

  • Headphones will not be allowed during DEAR.

  • Cell phones as reading devices are not allowed. eReaders (Kindles, Nooks, iPads) will be allowed (unless abused by the student). Schoolwide consequences for the misuse of electronic devices will be strictly enforced.

4. Grading

• • Students will be evaluated every four/five weeks based on the ACCESS Grading Rubric (once in the middle of the quarter and once at the end).

  • Students will use the ACCESS Grading Rubric at the beginning of the grading period to set goals in each of the evaluation categories.

  • At the end of the grading period, students will self-evaluate on the ACCESS Grading Rubric. Teacher will review student’s self-evaluation and determine a final score.

  • Teachers will enter the student’s score (out of 10 possible points) in their gradebook each four to five weeks.

1st Quarter Midpoint- September 26, 2015

End of 1st Quarter- October 16, 2015

2nd Quarter Midpoint- November 14, 2015

End of 1st Semester- December 18, 2015

3rd Quarter Midpoint- February 13, 2016

End of 3rd Quarter- March 18, 2016

4th Quarter Midpoint- April 23, 2016

End of 2nd Semester- May 25, 2016

• • The student’s total class percentage to determine their pass/fail status. A passing grade is 60% or above.

5. Interventions

• • Student gets a five or lower on the ACCESS Grading Rubric once:

    • Student writes a letter to the ACCESS teacher and parents/guardians reflecting on his or her struggles during the failed grading period and setting goals for the next grading period. See reflection form for specific directions.

    • Student gets grading rubric and letter signed by parent or guardian.

  • Student gets a five or lower on the ACCESS Grading Rubric twice in a row:

    • Student must write letter as mentioned above and attach to grading rubric.

    • Student gets grading rubric and letter signed by parent/guardian.

    • Teams will discuss struggling student at Team Meetings. Appropriate and individualized supports will be determined and implemented.

    • ACCESS teacher will contact parent/guardian directly.

    • Teams will inform teacher librarian of students specifically. Teacher librarian will develop individualized supportive measures for the student.

6. Rewards

• • ACCESS teachers have a stack of book completion templates for students to complete when they have finished a book during ACCESS. The cut out will have the book title, author, rating, one sentence summary, and a space for the ACCESS teacher’s signature. Students will fill this out in black permanent marker and turn it into the library for a piece of candy.

  • Each team will have a different color for the book completion template. At the end of each semester, the team with the most books completed will receive a team celebration donut breakfast.

  • Teams will reward a ‘Reader of the Month’ in family meetings