On March 30, 2012, Ham-mond Eastside Elementary Magnet School’s PYP Coor-dinator Designate, DeShea D. Johnson, submitted our application for candidacy for the International Baccalau-reate (IB) World Schools’ Primary Years Programme (PYP) completing the consid-eration phase of the appli-cation process. School offi-cials were notified on Mon-day, May 14, that Hammond Eastside Elementary Mag-net is recognized as an IB candidate school for the Primary Years Programme as of September 1, 2012. Congratulations Hammond Eastside; we are an IB can-didate school! An IB consultant was as-signed to guide and support the school in its endeavor on September 1st. She will visit the campus this spring for two days, but until then, she will electronically guide us in writing Units of Inquiry and our Programme of In-quiry. Not only that, but teachers have been given

access to the Online Curric-ulum Centre (OCC), where teachers can obtain elec-tronic versions of IB publi-cations and teaching mate-rials. Access to the OCC also gives the faculty the opportunity to participate with IB practitioners world-wide in online forums on programme-related topics. Hammond Eastside Ele-mentary Magnet School will continue to implement PYP practices by writing, teach-ing, and reflecting upon more Units of Inquiry. We will continue to put into

action the PYP standards and practices as well as the policies of IB. Also, we are required to train all faculty and admin-istrators at a category 1 workshop during the candi-dacy phase. Because of this requirement and be-cause workshops are be-ing offered so close in New Orleans on December 15—17th, the school board has voted to close Hammond Eastside on December 17,

2012, so that each faculty member can attend the workshops. The application for authoriza-tion will be submitted by Oc-tober 1, 2013. An IB authori-zation team will visit the school shortly after that to evaluate the implementation of the entire programme at the school. After this visit, the school will be notified with IB’s decision on whether it would be authorized as an IB World School.

HEEM Becomes an IB Candidate School

Save the Date — You are invited!

Hammond Eastside will be hosting its 2nd annual PYP Inquiry Night on Novem-ber 29th, 2012 from 6:00-7:30 pm. We will give a brief presentation about the IB authorization Pro-cess and our new Learner Profile Written Reports in the Multipurpose room before you are invited to share with your child or children in an inquiry les-son in their classroom.

A Message from the Principal, Maureen Terese

Dear Parents: We are proud that Ham-mond Eastside Elementary School is a community of life-long learners, built upon a collaborative spirit that fosters inquiry-based learn-ing. Our purpose is to pro-mote and develop responsi-ble, active and reflective citizens of the world. I firmly believe that our par-ents are the most influential teachers for our children. Our students look to you for both emotional and physical support. Parents serve as educational role models to

their children when they are learners themselves. Hammond Eastside Ele-mentary Magnet believes that students, parents, and teachers all share equally in the educational develop-ment of the whole child. Please know we are your partners, and we value your ideas and feedback. Please feel free to contact us if you have any ques-tions or concerns. We want to make sure we are taking proactive steps to create a safe learning environment for your children.

October 2012

McDonald’s Night OCT. 25

End of 2nd six weeks

NOV. 2

Election Day (No School)

NOV. 6

Report Cards NOV. 13

Learner Profile Written Reports

NOV. 13

PYP Inquiry Parent Night

NOV. 29

Professional Day (No School)

DEC. 17

Dates of Interest

PYP Newsletter Principal: Maureen Terese PYP Coordinator Designate: DeShea D. Johnson deshea.johnson@tangischools.org

International Baccalaureate Candidate School for the Primary Years Programme

Our Mission Statement

The new HEEM mission state-ment, adopted in the Spring 2012, was developed by the faculty of HEEM making sure it aligns to the IB mission state-ment. It reads as follows: Hammond Eastside Elementary Magnet School empowers stu-dents to become internationally minded and compassionate citi-zens who reflect on local and global challenges and actively contribute to peaceful resolutions. Through inquiry-based learning, students make conceptual con-nections which are engaging, rele-vant, challenging, and significant to lifelong learning.

During our Pre-K "Who We Are" unit, students are learning about how to keep their bodies healthy. Re-cently, during letter F week, the students created healthy "fruit kabobs" for a snack. We integrated our math skill of patterns into the unit. The students had to create a pattern with the fruit on the kabob.

In Performing Arts, Mrs. Flanagan’s class studied The Wizard of Oz with Mrs. Joy Chun. They role-played different characters from the story. In the picture to the left, they're wearing "costume" hats that they created and decorated, and they are posing like one of their favorite char-acters from "The Wizard of Oz." Next, this class started their Spanish instruction with Mrs. Hilda Sanchez.

The 3rd grade just finished their “Sharing the Planet” unit of Inquiry in which the stu-dents made connections in understanding that systems help maintain organization. They experienced inquiries into the levels of government, roles of citizens, and commu-nity services. For one of our learning en-gagements, students created trees illustrating the branch-es of government.

2nd Grade — Who We Are

Pre-Kindergarten — Who We Are

3rd Grade — Sharing the Planet

Koby Anderson is proud of his work!

were so thoughtful in vol-untarily helping one anoth-er tie their bracelets.

Ms. Lori Smith’s class made bracelets to rep-resent the French flag. The students placed a bead (blue for justice (principled), white for peace (caring), and red for strength (bravery) on their bracelet to represent the colors of the flag. They dis-cussed the meaning of each color, and they compared the colors to the American flag. The students really enjoyed this learning engagement and were proud of their finished product. They

“We learn in

experience, not

just from

experience.”

Levi Johnson says, “Look at mine!” Page 2

Action in the Classroom

Mrs. Flanagan’s class in Performing Arts with Mrs. Chun

Aiden Melton and Savannah Johnson making their Fruit

Lenmorrow Lawrence, Brandi Haw-thorne, and Miracle Brumfield

During the 2nd grade “Who We Are” unit, students investi-gated how connections in the world cultivate diversity. They studied the contributions of different cultures to Louisi-ana. Princess Tiana gave the second graders a surprise visit and read to them!

Princess Tiana reading

Learner Profile Attributes

Caring

Open-Minded

Principled

Reflective

Thinker

Knowledgeable

Risk-Taker

Inquirer

Communicator

Balanced

Mrs. Bottolfs’ class creating their government trees.

Attitudes

Appreciation

Commitment

Confidence

Cooperation

Creativity

Curiosity

Empathy

Enthusiasm

Independence

Integrity

Respect

Tolerance

Page 3

The fifth grade’s unit of inquiry’s transdisciplinary theme was “How the World Works.” In the unit, the students explored how and why observations and ex-plorations lead to discov-ery. They investigated laws

of motion, reasons for ex-plorations, transformations of energy, and data inter-pretations. In one learning engage-ment, the students ex-plored plant and animal cells by making an edible cell. They were given a certain shape cell and then had to choose what kind of organelles went on that cell. They had a writ-ing component for this task and an edible model as their final product! In another learning en-gagement, the students worked on identifying po-tential and kinetic energy and changing one from the

other. They explored how changing the height of a ramp effects energy. They had to change the height of the ramp to see how far the marble would move the cup.

Spanish as our Second Language

5th Grade — How the World Works

Special Events and Field Trips

Spanish is offered in grades Pre-Kindergarten through sixth grade this year. Not only are the stu-dents learning to speak Spanish, they are learning about contributions His-panic cultures gave to the American culture. In Mrs. Hilda Sanchez’s class, the students will be making their very own piñatas soon. She will make con-nections to the second grade’s unit of inquiry of “Who We Are” based on the central idea that con-

nections in the world culti-vate diversity. Not only that, but she also teach about the visual arts in the Hispanic cultures. In Mr. Nickson Elidor’s class, students used class-room related vocabulary and pictures to decorate backpacks.

“Inquiry is

contagious!”

Ethan Turpin and Kayla McClendon are excited about exploring cells!

Last year’s second graders were proud of their piñatas!

Action in the Classroom

Mrs. Navarre’s class are working together on their ramps.

1st grade students Day-shana Ducre and Joshua Bourn

Brittany Mader and Taylor Kin-chen investigated gravity !

Chris Broadwater and Staff Sergeant Pate answering student questions about their services to the community to the third grade classes.

The 5th graders went to Laser Interfer-ometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO). There they learned about Newton's Laws. Shown here are Cheyenne Frere, Emma Grace Broadwater, and Janii Dixon.

Key Concepts

Form

Function

Causation

Change

Connection

Perspective

Responsibility

Reflection

Transdisciplinary

Skills

Thinking

Social

Communication

Self-Management

Research

Learning to Make a Difference

Mrs. Trosclair’s class incorporates inquiry into their daily routine!

Glossary of PYP Terms

Unit of Inquiry: Students inquire into and learn about globally significant issues in the context of units.

Central Idea: A concise statement that expresses the enduring understanding of the unit.

Lines of Inquiry: These clarify the central idea and define the scope of the inquiry.

Key Concepts: A set of eight concepts that serve as a research tool that is both manageable and open-ended. The concepts are not key in the sense of important; they are a way into a body of knowledge through structured and sustained inquiry. (See key concepts on page 3)

HAMMOND EASTSIDE ELEMENTARY MAGNET

Phone: 985-345-8481 Fax: 985-345-2469 E-mail: maureen.terese@tangischools.org

Mrs. Navarre’s Class investigating energy.

Check out our website!

http://www.tangischools

.org/heems

45050 River Road Hammond, Louisiana 70401