From the Principal

Dear Parents,

We want to remind you about planning for winter weather, and how Seattle Public Schools communicates school delays and closures to both staff and families.

When we are expecting snow or inclement weather, a Central Office team continually monitors conditions across the District. That includes having staff drive some of the streets that are typically more treacherous in snow and ice. After consulting with other agencies, Seattle Public School staff decide whether to delay school by two hours or if a closure is necessary. That decision is typically made by 5:30 a.m.

You can learn if there is a school delay or closure through:

• local TV and radio stations;
• the District website at www.seattleschools.org;
• an automated phone call you will receive; and
• the Public Schools Emergency Communications System at www.SchoolReport.org

Staff and families will receive one of the following four messages:

1. Seattle Public Schools: Schools open on time – buses operating on snow routes. No door-to-door service. No Preschool or Head Start. No A.M. or P.M. Kindergarten.
2. Seattle Public Schools: Two hours late – buses operating on snow routes. No door-to-door service. No Preschool or Head Start. No A.M. or P.M. Kindergarten.
3. Seattle Public Schools: Two hours late – buses operating on regular routes. No door-to-door service. No Preschool or Head Start. No A.M. or P.M. Kindergarten.
4. Seattle Public Schools: Schools closed.
Arbor Heights will post on our website information related to school delay or closure, as soon as we receive the news from the Seattle Public Schools’ communication officer. http://arborheights.wikispaces.com/
Sincerely,
Christy Collins, Principal
Arbor Heights Elementary

DonorsChoose.org

A great opportunity for families and community members to support your teachers!

Dear Families, Thanks to support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, over 1,000 project requests from King County teachers will be funded on DonorsChoose.org this fall. This means over $500,000 worth of supplies and resources will be delivered to classrooms in your area. All public school teachers in King County who submit requests by October 1st are eligible to be considered for this funding.  Teachers at Arbor Heights Elementary are registering for project funding through the DonorsChoose website.  For example a first grade teacher is looking to fund classroom computers and another teacher is looking to fund class sets of books.

Starting the week of October 5th hundreds of DonorsChoose.org gift cards will be distributed through Starbucks locations in King County*. Anyone who receives a card will be able to visit DonorsChoose.org and apply $10 to a local classroom project. 

Teachers are asked to post pictures of funded projects and send thank-you notes acknowledging donor support of the project.  Please visit the DonorsChoose website to see what projects our teachers are hoping to fund through your donation of the DonorsChoose gift cards.

Thank you for your support of our teachers and this great opportunity!

Best regards,

Christy Collins

Safety Information:

A few days ago we encountered a near miss in our parking lot due to cars pulling in at the gate and our dear children not always showing awareness of moving vehicles.  During the rainy fall days, please show extra care when driving to and from the school. I am confident everyone desires a safe walking environment for all Arbor Heights students. Please note:  The yellow gate in front of the school will be closed daily from 8:30-9:30 AM and from 2:30 until 3:30 PM. 

Reminder:  EARLY DISMISSAL – Wednesday, September 28 dismissal at 1:00 PM. This is a Professional Development training day with our focus on Professional Growth and Evaluation for all teachers.

Dear Arbor Heights Parents and Students:

As the new Principal of Arbor Heights Elementary School, it has been my sincere pleasure and honor to become a member of this great school community. Arbor Heights enjoys a rich history of academic and cultural excellence that is the result of a collegial partnership between the school staff and parents who provide a diversity of experiences for the students. During my first weeks in the district, I have indeed found this close working relationship and focus upon what is best for children to exist. I am truly honored to be selected for this position and am looking forward to working with the dedicated staff to provide the best possible educational program for our students.

 Before coming to Seattle Public Schools, my professional career was entirely within Lake Washington School District, Redmond, WA. for many years. I held the positions of special education and general education teacher, principal, staff trainer of mathematics and literacy, and central office administrator, in special education. Although my former school district was not as large as Seattle Public Schools, what I find comparable is the child-centered approach to education that characterizes both districts and results in an excellent school program. Parents and staff who collaboratively work together each day for the students is the exemplary quality that attracted me to Arbor Heights Elementary. I am very excited to be a part of the Arbor Heights family and to closely work with everyone to make our school even better.

My greatest initiative is to provide the leadership that will facilitate a school environment to provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each student. The educational program must be academically challenging, engage each student by linking the curriculum to previous knowledge and experience, and also be exciting to promote further exploration of new ideas. Parents, teachers, support staff, and administration all have an important role to encourage our children to become active learners. It is my sincere desire to provide expanded opportunities for our students to acquire the skills to become productive citizens in a changing society.

 Through a close and collegial partnership with everyone associated with Arbor Heights, I am confident we can make our school an even a better place for our students to learn and grow, so before schools begins, September 7, I wanted to share information specific to the Spectrum Program and some back-to-school information, too.

 Spectrum Programming at Arbor Heights

It is our mission at Arbor Heights to enhance the potential of all students through challenging and meaningful learning experiences, so all students may become creative producers and responsible problem solvers in a multicultural world.

Identification of Spectrum Students:  Multiple points of data are taken into consideration when identifying gifted students.  They may include, but are not limited to, achievement scores, academic profile, portfolios, teacher and parent referrals, and other various pieces that build a body of evidence.  The identification process may be initiated by students, parents, teachers, or other district personnel.  Gifted students’ strengths usually lie in specific areas – they need not be advanced across the board to be considered gifted.  It is also possible for gifted students to have a disability in addition to their strength(s), in which case they are referred to as twice exceptional.  Each gifted student is unique, and may or may not readily demonstrate his/her strengths in the classroom for various reasons. 

Programming:  The purpose of Spectrum is to promote the development of gifted students’ high potential through proactive programming.  Teachers should be aware of gifted students’ strengths and passion areas and allow for various opportunities through the curriculum for related growth and learning.  At this time we do not have enough students identified as Spectrum or exceeding standard for fully self-contained Spectrum classes. However, Arbor Heights’ teachers, support staff and principal are committed to meeting the needs of all students and will work diligently to grow our Spectrum and “Exceeding Standard” students this year and in the future utilizing a strategy know as clustering.

What would clustering look like at Arbor Heights: Clustering, or cluster grouping, is placing three to six gifted students in a group in a mixed-ability classroom working with a teacher following a lesson plan aimed at providing a faster pace or greater depth.  This is not a magnet classroom as there is range of students within the classroom for instruction in a specific content area; however, each cluster group within a grade level will be grouped with like abilities.  It is not tracking as much of the school day is spent in mixed-ability education.
What are the benefits of clustering? Some benefits of clustering are that one teacher can more easily address the needs of a small group than three teachers each creating lesson plans for 1 or 2 students apiece.  Clustering allows gifted students to interact with similar students.  Gifted students also are with peers who are capable of learning at the same pace.  They can better understand and accept their learning differences if there are other like students in the class instead of sticking out as the sole gifted student, which often leads to hiding of one’s abilities.  In addition to clustering, our teachers will be learning more about evidence-based instructional practice to meet the needs of our students, with an emphasis on instructional practice and curriculum for high-achieving Spectrum Students.

 Preliminary spring 2011 test data indicates mathematics as an area of focus for Arbor Heights’ students. Utilizing the Seattle Public schools M.A.P., Washington State M.S. P. and baseline assessments given to students this fall, we will determine cluster groupings for mathematics.  Our goal is to differentiate instruction and utilize a variety of curriculum resources to meet the needs of students and accelerate the trajectory of achievement for all learners.  Spectrum students will have opportunities to utilize curriculum at an advanced level within their cluster grouping, as well as explore areas of interest to challenge their knowledge and talents.

Arbor Heights’ staff is dedicated to high performance so all students benefit from enriched experiences. We believe it is our collective responsibility to identify, program for, and be held accountable for, commensurate academic growth of our gifted and talented students. 

 I am dedicated to working with you and the teachers at Arbor Heights to implement a variety of opportunities for our students by listening to parent hopes and dreams for their children, watching students at work, and carefully examining instructional practice to ensure all students’ hidden talents are discovered and met with a variety of opportunities whereby students reveal and develop their giftedness.

 I invite parents to meet with me for my first “Brown Bag” coffee and conversation scheduled for
September 13, in the Library, beginning at 9:15 AM/ending at 10:30 AM, with refreshments served.  My focus is to listen and to plan with you as we move forward growing our school and community.

Respectfully,

Christy Collins, Principal

Back to School Information:

Monday, August 29- class-lists posted at 3:00 PM – front windows of the school. 

Monday, August 29- Kindergarten Orientation – in the cafeteria beginning at 7:00 PM.

Wednesday, August 31-Seattle Public Schools FURLOUGH Day. No school activities or programs permitted.

September 1- Staff Training Day – all staff training at Arbor Heights until 3:30 PM.

September 1- Change of Placement forms due by 12:00 PM. If a change in placement is requested, forms must be completed and returned by 12:00 PM.  Forms are available in the office.  Parents will be notified by Ms. Collins by Friday, September 2, if a change in placement can be made.   Most grades have very full classrooms, so changes may not be available unless a child moves from Arbor Heights, or if room becomes available due to movement.

September 7- FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL- New, school START time: 8:55 AM and END time: 3:00 PM.

Staff Changes at Arbor Heights

Ms. Sally Nguyen, kindergarten teacher joins Mr. Wilkie and Ms. Weaver this year!.  We are excited to have her join the team!

First grade has a new group of happy and eager teachers– please welcome: Mrs. Marcia Ingerslev, Mrs. Cate Simmers and Ms. Sue Wilson.

Intermediate Special Education teacher, Mary Jo Couts and Bilingual teacher, Sharon Baez-Garcia are new Arbor Heights this year and join a great team of teachers supporting our ELL students and students with special needs.

Back to School Reminders:
SOON we will have a new format for providing families weekly calendar happenings, principal news, school news, updates, plus P.T.S.A. news, too!

In the meantime, we will send calendar dates via the GREEN SHEET.

Calendar:

August 29                  Kindergarten Orientation
7:00 – 8:30 PM

August 29                  Class lists posted
3:00 PM

September 7             First Day of School & PTSA Back-to-School Coffee
9:15 – 10:15 AM

September 13          Principal “Brown Bag” Coffee & Conversation in the LRC.
9:15 – 10:30 AM                   

September 15           Hot-dog Cookout & General  PTSA Meeting
                                            5:30 – 8:00 PM

Classroom Change Process
Please see the attached procedures for reviewing your child’s classroom placement.

Kindergarten Orientation
This meeting for kindergarten parents will be on Monday, August 29 at 7:00 pm in the Arbor Heights Cafeteria.  Both full day and half day programs will share information about kindergarten procedures, expectations, transportation and safety. SOAR Grant provided refreshments and “Back-to School” bags for all kindergarten students who bring their parents!  PTSA Co-presidents, Cori Roed and John Christiansen principal,

Student Placement
Class lists are posted outside the exit door of each classroom at 3:00 pm Monday, August 29. 

First Day of School
Start time:  8:55 AM Breakfast served at 8:30
End time: 3:00 PM

Emergency Information
It is essential that you notify the office with any changes in your home, cell or work numbers address or emergency contact information.  An emergency form will be in the first full week, Friday Packet. Please return it promptly.  Thank you!

Attendance Policy
State law requires that students attend school.  The district requires a written note or a phone call from the parent explaining the absence or late arrival.  After two unexcused absences, a parent conference is required. 

I am counting on everyone being in his or her classroom by the 9:00 AM tardy bell.  Due to supervision and safety concerns, students should not arrive before 8:4o in the morning, unless participating in the breakfast program.

Behavior and Discipline
Our goal is to provide an environment where children can be inquisitive, caring knowledgeable, responsible and self-controlled. 

All Arbor Heights Community Members Are:

Responsible              Respectful                  Kind

Every effort will be made to achieve a positive school climate where the needs of all individuals are recognized and where kindness, courtesy, and respect for one another prevail. Each classroom teacher will be developing classroom rules, consequences/rewards, and lessons on school behavior.  Your child’s safety is of critical importance to me.   Although I do not foresee problems related to behavior, know that aggressive behavior will not be tolerated.  There will be significant consequences for fighting, injuring, or threatening another child.  Consequences include students going home for the day, parent/student/ counselor conference, restitution/school service and possibly, short term suspension.  Please read carefully the Parent/Student Handbook for additional information. Consistent school and parent support is vital to making Arbor Heights a great place for students.  NOTE:  During this school year I invite parents to join Arbor Heights staff and me in the review of our Student Behavior Policy and to consider new ways to support students in their social and emotional growth.

PTSA
Your Arbor Heights PTSA needs your support.  Please consider committing to join as a member and to help on at least one project this year.  PTSA provides many special events and funding for our students and classroom teachers. Please join the Arbor Heights P.T.S.A. –Hot dog cook-out and general meeting:  Thursday, September 15 beginning with hot-dogs served at 5:30 PM!

Office Hours
Office hours during the school year:  8:00 am – 4:30 pm.   My door is always open – please stop by and say, hello!

The daily school schedule and district calendar are published in our Parent/Student Handbook and the twice-monthly Green-Sheet.  Note: we are looking at new ways to communicate school information and happenings.  Please let us know the manner you would like to receive school and PTSA information. 

I look forward to another year of opportunities and student growth.  Arbor Heights Elementary has an incredibly dedicated staff, supportive parent community, and a wonderful student body!  If you have any questions, please call me at 206-252-9250 or email, cacollins@seattleschools.org. 

Sincerely yours,
Christy Collins, Principal

Dear Arbor Heights Parents,

The beginning of the school year is near, the last dog-days of summer are quickly coming to a close and we are very excited to begin a rigorous year of achieving, believing, and caring- A, B, C!

We welcome 87 eager kindergarteners and will soon begin the final elementary steps of our journey with over 60, fifth graders.  As I have visited teachers and staff working in classrooms to prepare for a busy new year, I have observed an atmosphere of positive anticipation for a great year of learning.

During the next several months we will be analyzing MAP and MSP test data in order to develop a new Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP) that will set forth priority areas for the school year.  The purpose of the plan will be to align our systems so they focus on promoting high levels of achievement for all students.

As we begin this process, I am already very proud of the work our staff has done to focus on improving the academic performance of our students.  The CSIP will help guide our grade level teams, special education staff, specialists, and support staff to meet or succeed the high academic standards set by our district and the state.  These standards define what students should know and be able to do at all grade levels.  It is our vision that every student will be successful at meeting these standards. 

We commend our students for their academic achievements.  District and State test scores and classroom performances continue to show positive strides being made by our Arbor Heights students.  While we are filled with pride at the accomplishments of our students, we know they will need our continued help to succeed.  We have focused our school resources to provide support targeted for those students that are struggling in kindergarten through fifth grade. We will continue to develop ways to challenge those already meeting grade level expectations in order to extend their abilities. Our Spectrum program will be served in balanced classrooms where teachers are working to differentiate the learning needs of all students, including Spectrum students.  Clustering and walk-to-math are just two ways we plan to extend the learning opportunities for Spectrum students and those needing extra support and practice.

However, students and staff can’t do it alone.  I encourage you to get involved with your child’s classroom and school activities this year.  Visit the classroom.  Call your child’s teacher.  Let us know how to better serve your children and how you would like to be further involved in their education.  I believe a home-school-community partnership is a powerful one. It is the one that will bring maximum success to our students this coming year. 

I welcome your comments and encourage your involvement.  I can be reached by calling 206-252-9250 or by

Email: cacollins@seattleschools.org. 

Sincerely,

Christy Collins

Arbor Heights, Principal