| Upcoming Meetings |
9/26/15
Diocesan School Board Training
8:30 AM-Noon St. Mary's School Walnut Creek
9/29/15
MOMs Club Meeting
at Mountain Mike's
6:30 PM
School Board
6:30 PM
Computer Lab
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Important Dates
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9/28/15
Discount Cards Fundraiser Ends
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Dear (Contact First Name),
Happy Fall!
From the Diocese of Oakland:
We are excited to launch a new service that will enhance communication by allowing us to deliver important information to you via SMS text messaging. The service is powered by
SchoolMessenger. In order to receive announcements and emergency communications via text, you must "opt-in" to receive these messages.
On Wednesday evening (TONIGHT), you will receive an SMS text message asking if you are willing to receiving texts from the Diocese of Oakland Catholic Schools. Although this system is shared by all Diocese schools, you will only receive messages from our school except in the case of a regional emergency.
Please note, although there is no charge for this service, it does not pay for text message charges that may be incurred by you for sending or receiving text messages. Please check with your wireless carrier about any charges you may incur. You can cancel this service at any time by texting the word STOP to 68453.
Making the Grade!
As I explained in the auditorium at both Back-to-School Nights, we are in our second year of assigning "formative" and "summative" scores to all assessments.
This little summary is to recap that information for you.
"Formative" assessments occur
in the course of student learning. Formative assessments allow teachers and students to determine how students are progressing in learning the desired skills. Some forms of formative assessments might be practice and classwork.
"Summative" assessments occur
at the end of student learning of desired skills to determine how successfully students have mastered those skills. Summative assessments can take the form of quizzes or tests but may also be assignments the teacher chooses to use as summative assessments. Our teachers are working on being very clear about what assessments will count as formative and what will count as summative.
The Department of Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Oakland has determined that a student's final grade in a class must reflect the weight of 80% summative and 20 % formative scores. In the years to come, the plan is to shift to 90% summative and 10% formative and then to 100% summative.
The philosophy behind this approach is to not overly penalize students for errors which occur in the learning cycle or for exercises and assignments meant to practice new learning while it is occurring. Placing most (and soon all) of the emphasis on scores earned in a summative assessment allows the teacher, student, and parent to know to what extent the student has
mastered the learning targets after having adequate time to practice them in the learning cycle. The goal of grading is to provide specific feedback to the student and parent and to be very clear about what each child knows and is able to demonstrate independently.
Feel free to discuss this further with your child/ren's teacher(s) when you come for Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences in a few short weeks!
WASC Surveys
As part of our accreditation process, it is important for us to know what you think about St. Leander School and our programs. Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey by clicking on the link below, and provide us with some honest feedback about what you love about St. Leander and some great ideas about how we can make our school an even better learning environment for all students. Your input is very important in this process, and we hope to get participation from every family. Anyone who prints a confirmation of completion of the survey will receive one parent service hour and free dress for your child on Friday, September 25th. WASC PARENT SURVEY
Community Discount Cards:
Our Fall Fundraiser is in full swing! We kicked off the sale of our Community Discount Cards during Back to School Nights. Please remember that this is the first of two mandatory fundraisers according to your tuition contract for this school year. If you have not chosen the Opt Out Fee option on your contract, you do need to participate in this fundraiser. If you have not yet picked up your discount cards, they are available for pick up in the school office.
Each family will sell 10 cards at $10 each. The total payment of $100 is due no later than Monday, September 28th.
Even if you have not picked up your discount cards, you will still be billed $100 for the cost of the cards under your fundraising agreement on the tuition contracts.
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Festival Survey
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We would like your feedback to help improve next year's festival.
Please complete this survey and return it to the school office by Friday, October 2nd. Festival Survey
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Friends of the Poor Walk/Run
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St. Vincent de Paul will be holding their annual Friends of the Poor Walk/Run on Sunday, October 4th. It will be held this year at Moreau Catholic High School. Donations from St. Leander and the proceeds from pledges of those in our community who participate in the walk will go directly to the St. Vincent de Paul group at St. Leander Parish. This group provides very important support to those in need in our parish, such as food, assistance with finding housing, paying electric bills on an emergency basis, etc.
If you would like to participate in this day of service, please contact the school office for an information packet. All participants receive a tee shirt and will enjoy great free food at the event. This would be a wonderful way for your family to honor Pope Francis's presence in the United States this week and his call to reach out to and walk with the needy and those most vulnerable in our society.
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High School Information
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Saint Joseph Notre Dame is holding an Open House on Sunday, October 25th from 3:00-5:00 PM. RSVP is recommended. [email protected] OR 510.995.9458
St. Joseph Notre Dame is also offering a high school test prep session on Saturday, October 10th. Please fill out the application form if you are interested in signing up for this test session. Click on the link to print a form HSPT Prep Course
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Have a wonderful week!
Sincerely,
Principal
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