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THIS WEEK—
After-school
art program starts (T/Th) —
Monday, Mar. 14
• Hall Asian Day
• 12:30pm | Hall Yearbook meeting
Tuesday, Mar. 15
• Hall Pasta Day
• 1:15pm | Hall PTA Executive Board meeting
• 3:30pm | Special School Board meeting, Hall Library
— see agenda
•
3:45pm | Hall Mathletes competition, San Jose MS
Wednesday, Mar. 16
• Walk & Roll to School Day
• Hall Jamba Juice Day
• 3:10pm | Hall deadline for Hall Weekly Bulletin submissions
— submit item
• 7:00pm | Parent Ed: Drug Prevention Speakers Panel, NC Music
Room
Thursday, Mar. 17
• Hall Pizza Day
Friday, Mar. 18
• SIP Day: NO SCHOOL for students
Sunday, Mar. 20
• 10:00am | Hall Campus Improvement (until 1:00pm)
NEXT WEEK:
Monday, Mar. 21
• Hall Asian Day
• 12:30pm | Hall Yearbook meeting
Tuesday, Mar. 22
•
Hall Pasta Day
• Hall 7th grade field trip (Wolfe’s classes)
•
3:15pm | Hall Mathletes (?)
Wednesday, Mar. 23
• Walk & Roll to School Day
• Hall Jamba Juice Day
• Hall 7th grade field trip (Thuesen’s classes)
• 3:10pm | Hall deadline for Hall Weekly Bulletin submissions
— submit item
• 7:00pm | School Board meeting, Hall Library; an agenda will be posted
as soon as it is available
Thursday, Mar. 24
• Hall Pizza Day
Friday, Mar. 25
• End of third quarter
• Hall “Teen Transitions” opt-out letter due
AHEAD —
Mar. 30: Hall 8th grade “Teen Transitions” program
May 14: Corte Madera Larkspur Schools Foundation
25th Anniversary Gala
— Detailed 2004-2005 District Calendar
— Year-at-a-Glance 2004-2005 District Calendar (pdf)
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PRINCIPAL’S
MESSAGE: Mar. 14, 2005 |
Teen Transitions Program
On March 30 the eighth graders will
learn valuable Family Life information in compliance with state
requirements. School counselor Ms. Cohen has organized a rich
learning opportunity for our students. Throughout the day, the
eighth graders will hear from a variety of guest speakers.
•
Claudia Asprer, a health practitioner with
the Marin County Health Department will speak about the risks
of early sexual activity.
•
Dr. Gabriel Farkas, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.,
will present information about sexually transmitted diseases.
•
A
representative from Huckleberry Youth Programs will address healthy
relationships.
•
Christin Brew from Spectrum will discuss sexual
orientation and gender issues.
•
Cio Hernandez, a health practitioner
with the Marin County Health Department will talk about contraception,
pregnancy, and healthy relationships.
It will be an informative day for the eighth graders. If you
have any questions about the program, please contact Ms. Cohen
(x2264) or Sharon Schielein (x2260). If you do not wish your
eighth grade child to participate, please return the form that
went home in backpack mail last week.
Staff Improvement
On March 18, while students are enjoying a three-day weekend,
the staff will be working together at our last staff development
day of the year. The staff will be tackling such issues as learning
differences between boys and girls, language arts deficits, and
how we scaffold study skills through the years and in each department.
We will work as a whole staff, in grade level teams, and in department
teams to continually work to improve our practice.
Campus Improvement
A short walk around campus quickly reveals the amazing
work that has been done by Maija Norstad and the students and parents
who give their time to campus improvement. This is my official
plea for more involvement. Spending an hour or two with your
child planting daffodil bulbs or spreading soil is a great experience.
The work is fun and the social interaction is great. I encourage
you all to set aside some time and come get your hands dirty.
The next Campus Improvement Day is Sunday, March 20 from 10:00am
to 1:00pm.
STAR Scores
The final piece of the STAR test
performance data has been released: the school rankings. Compared
to all other schools in the state, Hall scored in the top ten
percent, earning a ranking of ten out of ten. Compared to schools
like us in the areas of socio-economic status and parent education
level, we earned a ranking of six out of ten. This means we scored
higher than sixty percent of schools like us. Like our overall
API (Academic Performance Index), this represents a drop from
our previous year’s score.
As a staff we have focused our energy on analyzing last year’s
scores and implementing strategies to address them. Our staff
development work next week will focus on two key areas we identified:
gender gap and deficits in language arts. We will also work proactively
with our current eighth graders to ensure that they put their
best effort forward when they take the tests this April, as the
slightly lower API score and school ranking was, in part, due
to a significantly lower performance in the eighth grade.
—Daniel Norbutas, Principal
ADDITIONAL NEWS—
— on the Hall PTA pages
— on the Hall Weekly
Bulletin (full online version; password required)
— at the Corte Madera Larkspur
(CML) Schools Foundation website
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