Support for Haiti: Thank you to all of the students and family members who donated money during the month of January to support the people of Haiti. The Silvermine School Community raised $3,140 which was given to Save the Children in February.

Jump Rope for Heart Day on March 2^nd: The children will be jumping rope today to raise money for the American Heart Association. Thanks to all of those who sponsored the students in this worthy cause.

Parent reading volunteers during the school day: Mrs. Katz, our literacy specialist, is looking for parent volunteers who can spare an hour a week on a regular basis to listen to a child read and help them with reading work. If you are interested, please contact her at 899-2950 x107 or katzr@norwalkps.org, or send a note to her attention in your child’s backpack.

Message from the Assistant Principal:

Dear Silvermine Families,      

As we enter the month of March, thoughts of springtime begin to enter into our minds – waiting for those first days of warm temperatures, the sweet songs of the birds, and the appearance of the first spring flowers.  March also brings with it a very important time of year for many of our students – CMT Testing and Grade 2 Screening.  Beginning March 2, our third, fourth, and fifth grade students will be taking the CMT test.  This very important annual state assessment is the primary indicator used to evaluate the success of each school as well as one of the most important tools of assessment used to measure individual student progress.  Students will take subtests in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics – in addition, students in Grade 5 will take a science subtest.  Testing will begin promptly each morning at 9:30 – therefore, it is imperative that students arrive at school on time prepared to begin testing.  All of our teachers have done an excellent job preparing our students for these tests, and the students themselves have been working very hard to be ready.  It is important that students get a good night’s sleep each night during the testing period as well as eat a healthy breakfast each morning to help them be better prepared for this serious work.  A parent letter with additional information as well as test calendar will be sent home in this week’s Wednesday folder to the families of all third, fourth, and fifth grade students.

In addition to CMT Testing in Grades 3-5, our second graders will take the annual Grade 2 Screening Tests over the course of three days during the third week of March.  These consist of a DRP Reading test which measures reading comprehension as well as two Structure of Intellect (SOI) tests used in evaluation for the Academically Talented (AT) program.  In addition to their use in evaluating for the AT program, the results of these tests also provide teachers with useful information about students’ creativity, learning styles, and levels of reading comprehension. As with the CMT testing, a good night’s rest and healthy breakfast each morning are good recommendations to help be prepared each day.

Finally, March also marks the end of the second marking period and our annual spring conference dates.  Please remember to make an appointment with your child’s teacher for your annual spring conference, where you will receive your child’s progress report for the second trimester as well as have the opportunity to converse with his/her teacher about his/her performance in school.  One of the keys to a child’s success in school is a strong home – school connection and open communication between parents and teachers.

 I wish everyone a very happy month of March and happy beginning of Spring!!

Sincerely,

Ed Wachowski

Assistant Principal