Bear Cub Digest #4

What an amazing start to the school year! We want to thank every parent and guardian for supporting our efforts to continue with high levels of learning here at NCES. As we move into this 4th week of school (and the month of September) please be sure to make sure your child is at school daily, and on time. See some of the great things happening at Narcoossee Elementary School this week.

Most of our 3rd through 5th grade students have completed their first FAST Progress Monitoring assessment of the year. This week we will begin our testing for our Kindergarten through second grade students.

Please remember that the results of the first assessment will only be used to help teachers understand what areas to focus on with students. It is important that students take the assessment seriously, so teachers have accurate information to use for planning future lessons. You can find more information about the test and see sample questions at flfast.org/families. Once on the site, just select the grade band appropriate for your student(s). Please check out the resources below for more information about the assessments.

Special thanks to Ms. Bethzaida Garcia, school board member for District 2, for her fire safety presentations to our primary K-2 students. The presentation included valuable information on what to do when there is an emergency, steps to take should there be a fire, and other fire safety facts. Ms. Bethzaida Garcia is a dedicated community leader with over 25 years of experience as an educator. Ms. Garcia also works as the Public Education Coordinator for Osceola County Fire Rescue and EMS. We thank her for taking the time to visit our school and giving this presentation to our students.

We continue to celebrate the fact that we have achieved a school grade of an "A" by the Florida Department of Education. We are so excited to begin talking to students about this year's planned activities and rewards for their achievement. We will be holding data chats with our students to go over their PM1 scores and their goals for the school year. We want to take this opportunity to thank you parents and guardians for your continued support as we maintain our "A" this year.

Teachers have been implementing small group rotations with students. Small group rotations are ways for students to get small group support from the teacher on skills learned within the unit, and ways for students to practice skills they have been learning. Students rotate through learning stations either on a fixed schedule or at the teacher’s discretion. At least one of the stations is an online learning station (like Progress Learning). This learning strategy allows teachers to spend more time working individually or in small groups with their students to customize and personalize instruction. The rotations may contain the following components:

Teacher-Led Station: Focused, small-group instruction for targeted reteaching, assessment, or intervention.

Independent Practice: Individual assignments, journaling, or skill sheets related to past lessons.

Technology/Digital Station: Computers or tablets used for adaptive learning software, research, or instructional videos.

Collaborative/Hands-On Station: Peer-to-peer projects, games, manipulates, or partner reading.

See some pictures below of these small groups in action.