September2015 Jefferson PTA Meeting

Agenda

Welcome – PTA President Welcome- TJMS Principal Budget Presentation- PTA Treasurer IB at TJMS – Ms. Mohammad Communication/Information Access

Administrative/Academic Issues – Ms. Holland IT Tools- Ms. Mills-Mirick Sports/Clubs/Extracurriculars – Mr. Siegel PTA Information- Ms.Booth

Student Advocacy Parent Perspective- Ms. Dowd Teacher Perspective – Ms. Bennett Administrator Perspective – Mr. Jarosz

Questions/Concerns for PTA Attention

PTA President’s Update

Join the PTA – Get Involved! 131 membership forms received to date table in lobby this evening

Supported: new student orientation teacher’s pre-service breakfast picture day organized PTA closet preparing for Fall Fest

Thank you to all of our volunteers!!!

PTA President’s Update

Current Planning/Upcoming Events: Fall Fest – Friday October 16 6-9 pm Day of Peace – Friday October 23 8:30-11:00 am –

Workshops and Activities to learn about tolerance, peaceful conflict resolution, how to respond to bullying – facilitators needed (information at BTSN and Buzz)

Fall Day of Service – Saturday October 24th – volunteers needed, organizations sought!

Reflections Program – October 27 due date for student entries

Book Fair – December 7-11, 2015

PTA President’s Update

APS/School Board Updates: SAWG – S. Arlington ES

Top 3 Site for 2019 ES: Jefferson, Drew, Gunston Top Site for Post-2019 ES: Aurora Hills/VA Highlands/River

House area Community Forum October 1st 7 pm Wakefield HS Cafeteria

Stratford MS/Wilson School SB Work Session is Oct 6 @ 7 pm Little Theatre W-L HS Address cost overruns facing both of these projects

Digital Learning New committee being formed – more information soon

PTA Budget Presentation

FY 16 BudgetFY 14 AuditFY 15 Audit

IB at TJMS

Back to School Night

Service as Action

Focus on learning, reflection and action

Service Community Project

Involved in meaningful service for 2 years

□ Caring for animals

□ Providing food, clothing and companionship for people in need

□ Protecting the environment/Going Green

□ Promoting healthy eating and living/gardening

□ Beautifying the environment through Art (visual, music, drama etc.)

□ Improving educational opportunities for all

□ Promoting peace and resolving conflict

□ Promoting Reading literacy

□ Fighting global and local illnesses

□ Ensuring equal access to technology for all

□ Fighting homelessness

□ Helping communities impacted by natural disasters

By Eighth grade Have actively

participated in projects related to an issue of interest

Have made important contacts with organizations and people

Have sources for the research they will need to do

READY FOR THE COMMUNITY PROJECT!

Service Community Project

“Make a Difference Day”

Kicks off Service in the larger community

At least 5 sites in the larger community Kick-off ceremony at 9:00am PTA support for light refreshments, balloons Volunteers needed to:

Sign-up students during lunch (Please sign-up today) Be site coordinators/monitors Transport students to sites

TJMS Fall Day of Service, October 24th

IB Assessment

Continuous Assessment

Same skills from 6th through 8th

Summative vs. Formative

Formative is practice

Summative is evaluative

Service Goals

Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

RECOMMENDED ACTIVITY GOALS

Do at least 3 activities in the each

semester.

Do at least 4 activities first semester

and at least 4 the second semester.

Do at least 6 activities in first

semester and at least 4 in the

second semester.or

Do at least 1 long-term activity

one semester and 2 single event

activities the other semester.

Do at least 1 long-term activity one

semester and 3 single event activities

other semester.

Do at least 1 long-term activity

one semester and 4 single event

activities the other semester.

or

A student initiated long-term project for the year.

HOURS GOALS

10 hours per year

At least 3 hours in first semester.

15 hours per year

At least 5 hours in first semester.

20 hours per year

At least 7 hours in first semester.

Students reflect regularly on their service describing how activities and projects increased their awareness of their selected global themes. Students have the ability to modify their plans at any time.

Service activities from the curriculum will count towards students’ goals.

Criterion-Based Assessment

MATHEMATICS INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETIES

Criterion A: Knowledge & understanding•Demonstrate understanding of the mathematical concepts.•Use appropriate strategies and skills.

Criterion A: Knowledge and Understanding•Demonstrate knowledge and understanding supported by relevant evidence.

Criterion B: Investigating patterns• Describe patterns, justify mathematical

relationships and draw conclusions.

Criterion B: Investigating•Formulate, follow an action plan to investigate,

and use methods to collect information.

Criterion C: Communication in mathematics

* Communicate mathematical ideas and reasoning, using appropriate language

Criterion C: Thinking Critically•Analyze concepts, … and arguments; evaluate sources; recognize perspectives and implications.•Give relevant opinions and well-supported arguments.

Criterion D: Applying mathematics in real-life contexts•Select appropriate strategies.•Justify a degree accuracy of a solution.

Criterion D: Communicating•Communicate information in a style appropriate to an audience and purpose, structure information according to directions.

8th Grade Science

Criterion D: Reflecting on the impacts of science0 Student’s work does not reach a standard identified by the descriptors below.

1-2 Student is able to:• state the implications of using science to solve a specific problem or issue, interacting with a factor• sometimes apply scientific language to communicate understanding• document sources, with limited success

3-4 Student is able to:• state the implication of using science to solve a specific problem or issue, interacting with a factor• apply scientific language to communicate understanding• sometimes documents sources correctly

5-6 Student is able to:• describe the implications of using science to solve a specific problem or issue, interacting with a factor• usually apply scientific language to communicate understanding clearly and precisely• usually document sources correctly

7-8 Student is able to::• Discuss and analyze the implications of using science to solve a specific problem or issue, interacting with a factor• consistently apply scientific language to communicate understanding clearly and precisely• document sources completely

IIncomplete

  Percentages

0E

50%

1E

59%

2D

65%

3C

73%

4C+

78%

5B

83%

6B+

88%

7A

93%

8A

98%

8 point IBMYP Scale and the Percentage Equivalents

Communication & Information

Administrative/Academic Issues

IT Tools

Sports, Clubs & Extracurriculars

PTA Information

Administrative/Academic Issues

Ms. Susan Holland, Director of Counseling Services

IT Tools

Ms. Tammy Mills-Mirick, IT Coordinator

Sports, Clubs & Extracurriculars

Mr. Jeremy Siegel, Activities Coordinator

PTA Information

Ms. Megan Booth, PTA Communications ChairTJ PTA ListservBuzz (weekly electronic newsletter) via

Constant ContactPTA Website (link from TJMS Website)Opt-Out Form or automatically signed up for

Listserv and Buzz

Student Advocacy

Parent,Teacher & Administrator Perspective

Beth Dowd, Mrs. Bennett & Mr. Jarosz

Perspective of a Parent

Stories to Consider

Progressive independence towards self-advocacy

Our School Goals

Our goal is to provide students with means and support for addressing concerns independently

Student-led conferences promote student self-awareness and responsibility for their own learning

We also want parents to be involved in our school community, and for lines of communication to be clear and open

Students’ Thoughts

I asked a few students in my classes: “What do you do when you have a problem or question about your schoolwork?”

Most popular responses: Talk to my teacher in person before or after class If I’m at home I usually e-mail my teacher

While these are great, there are things students and parents can do besides contacting a teacher directly.

In School

Students should use their agendas to record homework, tests, and projects

If there is no homework, students should write “none” in the box for the subject area

There are often large projects, and some students need help breaking these longer projects into nightly tasks

On the Web

ParentVue- make sure contact info is correctVue.apsva.us Help ticket

Google ClassroomBlackboardE-mail the content teacher for academic

issue, TA teacher or counselor for personal/social issue

ParentVue

Google Classroom

•Classroom.google.com

•Student uses the same login as APS Onelogin: Studentvue, google docs, etc.

Phone and Face to Face

Always reach out to set up a meeting time in advance, just arriving at school unannounced is hard for everyone.

E- mail is always easier to answer than phone. Many teachers have meetings during planning and before/after school.

When you want a meeting with the whole team, e-mail your student’s TA teacher or team leader.