Principal's Message

April/May 2012

April Highlights
The red carpet has been rolled out for the STARs of Morning Creek!  We welcome all students with a red carpet welcome during the California Standards Testing weeks. This welcome helps to encourage students to shine and show what they know. We want to build confidence as students take this important annual state test. 
We were honored to have Mayor Hayahsi from Yokohama, Japan and President of Yokohama City Council, Shigaru Sato visit us on April 10th.  This event was a great learning experience for our students to hear thanks and appreciation from students in Ishinomaki, Japan.  This was truly an opportunity for our students to see the impact of good character actions.  Thank you to Darlene Garvais and Amy Budde who lead the support efforts for Japan in 2011.

Thank you to our PTA and Foundation for their amazing support this year!  A Country Affair is April 20th and we look forward to our school community’s support for fundraising to continue to provide value added learning for our students.

May Highlights
As the school year begins to wind down, we look toward next year. Parents begin asking about next year and new grade level/classroom assignments.  I would like to explain the process we use for placing students into classes.  I meet with each grade level team to begin the process of making initial placements into classes. To realize the Poway Unified School District’s value “Equitable Access to Learning” and achieve the best result for the maximum number of students, our school district subscribes to the practice of heterogeneously grouping students. Research into students’ learning supports the practice of creating classes that are relatively balanced with high, average, and low achievers, boys and girls, etc. Our goal is to create classes that are as equal as possible. The following criteria will be used to create “balanced” or heterogeneous classes:

The teachers and I dedicate much time and effort toward achieving a “balance” in each classroom. Each student’s current teacher completes a profile describing the student’s academic performance data, on-task behavior, ability to work independently, special program participation, class conduct, and other students that should not be in the same class. We are fortunate to have an outstanding teaching staff that works closely with parents to meet the unique needs of each and every student.  We find that most students can perform well with any number of teachers.  If you have specific concerns regarding your child’s health or learning needs, you may provide me with a written note regarding the type of teacher you feel would enhance your child’s learning.  Please do NOT make a request for a specific teacher.  Due to the extreme difficulty of balancing classes, we cannot honor parent requests for specific teachers. 

The topic for the May 4th Principal Coffee will be supporting your child’s transition to new grade levels.  I will talk about all transitions but pay special attention to the transition from 3rd grade to 4th grade.  I hope you will join me for this meeting.

The final Friday Flag of the year is June 1st.  We will present the Distinguished School plaque and flag, along with recognition of student accomplishments.  We are very proud to receive the Distinguished Schools Award this year and look forward to our continued achievement and success as a school community.

Together, we create a better tomorrow.
Principal Osborne

March 2012

Each time I look at the calendar I have to look twice, “March already?!”  Our school year is flying by again this year.  March 9th was the end of our second trimester which means reports cards will be coming home on March 19th.  (An extension was needed due to technical issues.)  MAP reports will be included with the report cards for students in grades 1-5 and Mrs. Carpenter’s class.  The report card reflects day-to-day progress toward standards based on daily work and a variety of assessments.  The MAP report is a benchmark assessment we utilize in Poway Unified to monitor progress with a standardized test, three times a year.  The report card reflects MAPs but also is based on multiple measures and information.

Report cards also provide feedback related to the amount of effort each student demonstrates in school.  Is Success Related to Effort or...? Many students look at their report cards and believe that outside factors control their successes and/or failures; for example, their success has to do with the teacher(s), their basic intelligence, or just plain and simple luck. While it is true these factors can affect success in school, children often exaggerate the role these factors play.  They tend to ignore their own responsibility for their success or lack thereof. As parents, you can help your child accept the fact that the amount of effort they exert plays a huge role in determining the amount of success they will experience in school.

As you review this report card with your children, ask them what they believe are their strengths, as well as their challenges. Then, try to help your children realize the time they invest in studying, reading, and producing quality work will positively impact their ability to meet or exceed their academic goals. Motivating our children to succeed at Morning Creek means, in part, helping all students realize they can improve their school performance if they put in the “NO EXCUSES… I’m getting ready for college” effort we expect of everyone on our campus.

This is also an important time to check in on your child’s progress toward their goal area.  Each student at Morning Creek has goals from kindergarteners working toward “Bead-a-Week” or upper grade students’ goals based on MAP performance.  Students are aware of their goals and need reinforcement for putting extra effort and focus on their goal areas. 

I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for your support and collaboration with teachers at Morning Creek to ensure all students are achieving to their highest potential!

Together, we create a better tomorrow!
Principal Osborne

January 2012

Happy New Year!  I hope 2012 is off to a great start for you and your family!  It certainly is at Morning Creek.  Students are working hard and will be taking their MAP’s test beginning January 9th.  MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress and all students in grades 1-5 take this assessment.  Students are involved in reviewing their progress in reading, math and language usage and setting learning goals based on their areas of need.  When students are actively involved in reviewing their assessments, they are able to see the relationship between their effort and their progress.

Parent Nights have been scheduled to provide in depth information to parents on key topics.  The Parent Nights are scheduled for January 12th and February 2.  You may attend any of the sessions based on your area of interest.  These sessions will be presented by our teachers and are sure to be beneficial to families.  Please see our website for additional details.

An important component to supporting your child’s school success is to help them reflect on their learning.  A great way to check in with your child about school is to ask them, “Tell me three things you feel good about from school today.”  At first, children may have difficulty thinking of things.  Help them by asking, “Did you raise your hand today?  Did you check your work when you were finished?  How did you feel when you corrected your math homework?”  Keeping the conversation focused on the positive reinforces strengths and successes.  After they share the positives, ask about two things they may not feel good about and see where the conversation goes.  These more specific conversations help strengthen the home-school connection and provide you with more detail than the old, “How was school today?” 

Many of our students are voracious readers and often have to be reminded to put their books away to focus on other subjects.  This is wonderful as their love for reading is solidly in place.  However, some students would choose anything but a book for their free time.  At home, you can instill the love for reading by sitting down together as a family and sharing a chapter a night from a good book.  Reading, talking and thinking together creates a love for reading and builds a lifetime memory.  I still remember reading the Happy Hollister’s as a child with my mom and siblings.

Thank you for all you do to support teaching and learning at Morning Creek! 

Together, we create a better tomorrow,
Principal Osborne