Sycamore GEAR Presentation about PARCC Testing

Sycamore GEAR invites you to a special presentation:

“PARCC Testing and the Gifted Student: A Look into the Future”

By Kristen Rojas, Educational Consultant for Hamilton County ESC

Date: Friday, January 9, 2015 at 9.45 am

Place: The Multipurpose Room at Symmes Elementary School, 

11820 Enyart Road, Loveland OH, 45140

Testing can be stressful for both students and teachers, especially when it’s done in a new format. The new PARCC and AIR Assessments use technology-enhanced items that will look very different to students, and require students to “construct” vs. “select" their response.  This presentation will provide an overview to question type and level of rigor on the new assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to review PARCC & AIR sample items in terms of curricular content application, depth of knowledge alignment, and technology skill requirements.  Participants will have a greater understanding of the challenge that is facing our students as they undertake the new assessments.

Milers Fall Session Wrap-up

Milers has ended for the Fall and will start back up in the Spring.  As a school, we reached 1,960 miles!  Way to go Milers!  For the Fall session, the top boy and girl from each grade were awarded a $5 Gift Card for the Book Fair and a “Super Foot” foot charm for their Milers chain.  Students should keep their Milers chains/charms on their backpack or somewhere safe until the Spring because we will continue to add on to those chains for the Spring Session of Milers.

Top Students for each grade level for the Fall Session:

GRADE	TOP BOY(S)	TOP GIRL(S)
1ST Grade	Ethan Barker (13 miles)	Allison Jordan (10 miles) Lucia Wolfenberger (10 miles)
2nd Grade	Cooper Parzynski (16 miles)	Anya Mehta (12 miles)
3rd Grade	Richard Vlady (14 miles)	Calista France (14 miles)
4th Grade	Eugene Harney (20)	Sydney Skinner (20)

The top classes for each grade level are as follows:

Top Classes per Grade Level:

1^st:  Chaney

2^nd: Wasson

3^rd: Cooks

4^th: Emrick

Total Miles per Grade:  3^rd Grade is leading with 560 miles

3^rd: 560

2^nd: 540

1^st: 476

4^th: 384

In the Spring, we also plan to coordinate with the Hog Log to allow students who have achieved 25 miles to run their final mile through the finish line of the Flying Pig Marathon.

Additionally, the top boy and girl from each grade level will get their name on a Milers banner displayed in the Maple Dale gym. 

PTO Meeting- Minutes 11/14/14

PTO Meeting Minutes 11/14/14

Call to order at 9:33 am by Kassi Eckert

Pledge of the Allegiance lead by Kassi Eckert

Approval of Meeting Minutes : Approved

GUEST SPEAKER- Mike Miller, Transportation Manager
Transportation Staff: 55 school bus drivers. 11 on Standby, 4 on Call, 3 in Office.  Job- to get students to school safely.
Rules on Bus: Same rules apply on bus as in school.
Bus Capacity: Designed to carry 72 passengers. 3 Elementary to a seat.
Bus aides: In OH not mandatory. Only a requirement of a student with an IEP with transportation as a related service and must have aide. 16 bus aides currently.
Routes: Covers 20 small square miles of our very compact, dense district. Problems on Montgomery Rd/ Kenwood Rd/ I-71 are cause of untimely drop-offs.  If drop-off will be > 10-15 late then phone calls will go out. *Sycamore is unique because our Special Need students are integrated with regular routes.
Bus Stops: In past not efficient because were making lots of home/ driveway stops. OH law states any student grades K-8 can travel up to ¼ mi for a bus stop. HS can go 3 mi for bus stop. For K students, try to have bus stop so child does not have to cross street.
Ride time: JrHS pulls out at 3:15pm. Ideal to be at Elementary schools at 3:45pm. Time begins when bus leaves the lot. OH law no ideal route time. Sycamore < 45 minutes.

GUEST SPEAKERS- Jean Staubach and Diane Adamec, Sycamore Board of Education members
About Board of Education: Attends a PTO meeting at each school once a year. BOE sets policy for the district, sets the overall direction and hires the Superintendent & Treasurer. BOA meets twice a month.1st Wed at 7:30am at District office and 3rd Wed at 7:00 pm at Greene school.
Finances: Look long term and set budgets. In 2009 converted to a continuing Levy. We are operating on the same Levy the last 10 years but getting close to the end (Levies typically last 2-6 years).  Effort to target where we can be smarter to save money. MD was built with Geo-thermal wells. Saves ½ in energy costs!
Legislation: Last 5 years BOE has been developing strong relations with our legislators. Meet annually. BOE continually monitors legislation.
Common Core: Only in Language Arts and Math.  Goal is for every state to be more rigorous than it was.  www.corestandrds.org Standards for what every student should know. It was developed by the Governor’s Association but teachers were involved. Problems with Common Core is excessive testing.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT- Shawn Rosekrans
Girls on the Run:  After school program for 3rd & 4th grade girls. 12 week curriculum ends in 5K race this Saturday.  They collected donations for Operation Shoebox for our troops overseas.
Testing: COGAT helps identify students to qualify for gifted services. Testing for 2nd &4th graders starts week of Dec 8th. Tues, Wed, Thu am
1 book 1 school: PTO purchases 1 book for each family. Runs from Jan to Feb. Celebration at Literacy Night Thu Feb 26th

PRESIDENT’S REPORT- Kassi Eckert

May PTO Meeting Minutes: Approved
Directories: Over 300 were printed and distributed to those that paid their $5 PTO dues.  Some still available. Contact Kassi Eckert or Anne Berg
Teacher Lunch Carts: purchased from Sears
I-pads for Special Education Teachers: $3,000 approved. Money will not be taken from Walk-A-Thon earnings.
Winton Woods Sister School: MD donated Halloween candy to their teachers. MD considering recycling our gently used library books to them if interested.
Operation Give Back: MD will collect items for their Holiday Store.  Donate your personal care items- deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc
Lunch Bunches: Chance for parents to connect. Contact Kassi Eckert for 1st   grade, Pam McCallen for 2nd grade, Diane VanderBrink for 3rd grade. Looking for parent to organize lunch bunch for K and 4th grade parents.
January Speakers: Karen Naber, Director of Academic Affairs
                            Anne Marie Reinke, Assistant Director of Academic Affairs

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT’S REPORT PROGRAMS- Kassi Eckert (Pam McCallen absent)
Green Team: 2nd meeting Tues Dec 2nd at 9:20am. Contact Anne Berg to help.  Miss Georgia is seeking volunteers to assist with the composting table at lunchtime. We now have commercial composting through Rumpke and can compost meat& dairy. Before we would create 13 bags of trash. Now only 3.2 bags!
COSI: Dec 3rd. Volunteers needed contact Courtney Simon

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT’S REPORT FUNDRAISING- Jean Phillips
Walk-A-Thon Recap:  MD raised $11,200! Approved to give $7,000 to Mrs. Smith immediately to start buying books. In Feb will vote again on additional money needed to be distributed. Transparency of the distribution of future funds will be included in the plan.
GAO Holiday Shopping: Don’t forget to shop online- gift, photos, holiday cards. 30-40% goes back to MD
Target REDcards, Krogercards:  Enroll your cards and earn money for our school.
Carnival: 1st meeting in January. Sub-committees established. Still seeking a co-Chair. This year we are hoping to free up parents from volunteering night of carnival by inviting MD grads to run games

TREASURER’S REPORT- Kari Crusius
October Financials: approved
SECRETARY’S REPORT- Diane VanderBrink
Shoe Drive: MD delivered 185 shoes for the Cincinnati Food Bank's Back on Track Program!
Assembly T-shirts: All new students will receive their shirts for their 1st class field trips.
Milers:  Great feedback from students and parents. Kids very motivated by charm incentives.  Last Fall session day is Nov 19th. Remind your child to keep chain on backpacks over winter. Milers will resume March 18th for another 10 weeks.
Wellness Committee:  1st meeting was held Oct 31st. Brainstormed healthy changes for our school community.  Contact Diane VanderBrink to help.

TEACHER REPRESENTATIVE – Mrs. Arnold
Thank you for the lunch carts.


Meeting adjorned at 11:00 am by Kassi Eckert

Minutes submitted by PTO Secretary, Diane VanderBrink on November 17, 2014

MD After School Enrichment (ASE) Program

The After School Enrichment program runs 6 Mondays, Feb 9- March 23. The PTO provides a snack from 3:45-4 pm for the participants. Classes run from 4-5 pm. Potential classes for this year's program are Pottery, Mad Science, Circus Arts, a Musical Extravaganza, and Legos. The cost runs btwn. $50-70, typically.

We need an Attendance Monitor, and onsite contact person for all 6 Mondays from 3:30-5:15 pm.  Ideally, a 1st grade or K parent will step up to help weekly with this kid (and parent loved ) program. The program can only run if a volunteer can consistently monitor the program while it is in session. There is a strong team of volunteers to assist w/ the snacks, and to organize the program this year. Next year, The After School Enrichment Coordinator position is up for grabs! (and it is VERY fun to do)! Click here to contact Jean Phillips 

Volunteers Needed: COSI

COSI's Exploring Ecology hands-on lesson is coming to Maple Dale on Wednesday December 3rd and we need your help!  This is your opportunity to interact with your child and their classmates!  You do not need to be a science nerd to help with this great event!!!  

Mark your calendar  for  Wednesday December 3rd and sign up for the morning session (8:30 - 12:30), afternoon session (12:45 - 3:35), or all day. We need a lot of help to make this event successful, so please give some of your time if you can!  We are also looking for a few people to help with set up after school on December 2nd for approximately one hour. Click to contact Courtney Simon  to volunteer  

Fundraising: SCRIPS- gift card program

The Maple Dale PTO is pleased to announce that the 2014 SCRIPS gift card program is ready to help you with your shopping while, in turn, helping Maple Dale PTO funded projects. Maple Dale will earn a percentage of your gift card purchase with no extra cost to you!  This is an easy, no hassle way to help raise money for our school.  Buy cards for friends, teachers, or relatives as great gifts! OR just use a gift card to buy gas and give a little to Maple Dale as you fill up your tank! The letter and order form will be sent home on Monday, December 1, 2014.  Any questions?

Please Click Here to email Karen Griffin 

OBG Holiday Drive

November 2014


With the holidays right around the corner, many area companies, organizations, churches, and families look for ways to reach out to those in need.

Operation Give Back (O.G.B.) will be hosting the 10th Annual Free Holiday Store on December 12-13, 2014 for underprivileged families in our community. Last year, this event served nearly 1,800 individuals (400 families). This is our goal again this year. We are partnering once again with Sycamore Community Schools and if you live or work in the Sycamore School District, many of these families are your neighbors!

With each year, the store has grown and so must our collection efforts. This is where we need you!
There are several ways to contribute to the Free Holiday Store. We would be grateful if you would consider a donation in one or more of the following ways:

Donation of items: New toys, new hats and mittens, new or near-new clothing/shoes/coats, gift cards (McDonalds,Walmart, Target, etc.), teenage gift items, non-perishable foods, paper products such as paper towels and toilet paper, personal care items, etc. A comprehensive list of items is on our website www.ogiveback.com. We can provide you with containers for collections at your site and arrange for pick up.
Volunteer your time: This is a great opportunity for the whole family, your church small group, organization, or business community.  We need all kinds of help: Sorting and setting up, acting as a personal shopper for individual families as they “shop,” gift wrapping, parking, etc. You can go on our website www.ogiveback.com to sign up.
Financial donation: Checks can be made out to Operation Give Back and designated for the Holiday Store

If you know of anyone who is in need this holiday season, have them contact us at 513-489-2023 or    513-489-0141 to register for the Holiday Store.

Whether your contribution is monetary, time or donated items, it will be appreciated and cherished by the families we serve.  The consistent success of the Free Holiday Store can only be attributed to the generosity of community partners, like yourself.  Thank you so much for your consideration in helping out with this awesome project!

If you have any questions, we can come and share our story with your organization or if you would like to tour our facility and learn more about Operation Give Back, please call us at 513-489-2023. We would love to show you what we are all about!

Sincerely,
Lee and Wendetta Langston

Lee & Wendetta Langston
Co-Founders & Directors

Operation Give Back (OGB) is a registered 501(3)(C) non-profit organization located in Blue Ash, Ohio. We offer opportunities for the youth in our communities to develop and realize their fullest potential as productive, responsible, caring individuals.  Specifically, we offer after school tutoring and mentoring to nearly 40 at-risk children in grades 1-8 on an on-going basis.  Periodically, OGB also hosts special programs and events, such as summer camps and the Back-to-School Supply Drive.

Operation Give Back

Sycamore Community Schools will be partnering with Operation Give Back once again to support their annual Free Holiday Store.  OGB’s 10^th Annual Free Holiday Store will be open December 12-13, 2014.   Last year, this event served nearly 400 underprivileged families (1800 individuals) in our community and they have the same goal this year.  We will begin a collection of personal item donations at Maple Dale December 1^st. 

Green Team: Next Meeting

Maple Dale's Green Team is up and running! Our next meeting is Tuesday, December 2nd at 9:20am. We will be talking about our Earth Week Fair and Events, Maple Dale's sustainable design, and other directions our team will take this year. Please  Contact Anne Berg  with any questions.

District Recycling- Abitibi Bins

Thanks to everyone who has contributed paper recycling to the Abitibi bins in the Sycamore School District!  In the past, the green and yellow dumpsters earned funds for our schools as well as raised awareness about recycling.  Unfortunately, Abitibi is no longer providing this free service, and now the district is utilizing the dumpsters to enhance their co-mingled recycling program.  The students are doing a tremendous job of identifying recycling opportunities within the buildings which is leading to the bins being full much more quickly!  Fortunately for our district residents, there are other many other public recycling drop-off sites located throughout our community:

Blue Ash

• Blue Ash Municipal & Safety Center, 4343 Cooper Road, 45242
• UC Blue Ash College, 9555 Plainfield Road, 45236
• Blue Ash Sports Center, 11540 Grooms Road, 45242
• Blue Ash Public Library, 4911 Cooper Rd, 45242 (also accessible from Hunt Road)

Kenwood

• Sycamore Township Maintenance Bldg., 8540 Kenwood Rd, 45236

Montgomery

• Montgomery Public Works Dept., 7315 Cornell Road, 45242

Symmes Township

• Township Administration Office, 9323 Union Cemetery Road, 45140
• Hopewell Meadows Park, 9131 Hopewell Road, 45242
• Camp Dennison Nature Trail, Munson Ave & Campbell St, 45111

Visit Rumpke Recycling Locator for more recycling centers.  For more information on recycling in the county and your neighborhood, please see Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District, Rumpke, Blue Ash, Montgomery, and Symmes Township websites.

A Fun, Friendly Walkathon on a Gorgeous October Day

Congrats to the Maple Dale community on a successful Walkathon!  We met the goal of $7,000, and raised over $11,000. Soon, new library bound books will be in the hands of our students! 

Since we met our goal, Mr. Brooks will be in the 2nd annual.... Obstacle Course Spectacle with the top student earners.

Thanks to all the diligent work of Christy Banke, who has run this fun event for 4 years, and her team of over 40 parents. Most of all, a big THANKS to ALL our Maple Dale students who show us such excitement to learn, to be active, and to support their school!

All the students, including preschoolers, participated in the walk.   Many wore their new, bright green Maple Dale t-shirts, and were very happy about them. The students, teachers, and administrators walked, ran, and danced their way around the walking track that is on the playground.  Even the Sycamore Superintendent, Adrienne James, joined the MD Walkathon.

COSI Exploring Ecology

COSI is bringing its Exploring Ecology program to Maple Dale on December 3rd. We are still in need of volunteers to facilitate hands-on sessions with the students. This has been a fun day in the past and is a great way to interact with your child! A short training session will be provided in the morning.

We need volunteers for the full day, or you can choose only the morning or afternoon session. A few volunteers are also needed to help set-up after school on December 2^nd.  Below is a schedule of the session times and classes, in case you would like to coordinate your volunteer time with your child’s session.

AM session (8:30-12:30): Bates, Campbell, Howard, Carey, Hayes, Cooks, Thiel, Becker, Emrick.

PM session (12:45-3:30): Klein, Wasson, Rigdon, Hillenbrand, Howard, Joyner, Mathews, Fagel, Hill, Chaney, Schuh, Horner, Marino, Johnson.

If you are able to help, please  Click to email Courtney Simon

Lunch Bunch for Parents

Lunch Bunches are a good way to meet and connect with other parents in the community.  2nd and 3rd grade Lunch Bunch has been established. Kassi Eckert would like to announce the start of the Lunch Bunch for 1^st 
grade parents.They will be held on the third Wednesday of the month from 12:-1:00.  The first one will be Nov 19^th at Verde in Montgomery.  An official invite and reminder will be sent out by the 1^st grade homeroom parents the first week of the month.

Milers Update Week 7

Milers Week 7: Total # of Miles School Completed- 1428
                          Top Grade- 3rd  426 miles
                          Top Class- Mrs. Cooks 124 miles
                          Top Walkers- Eugene Harney 4th grader 13 mi
                                              Sydney Skinner 4th grader 13 mi
                                              Richard Vlady 3rd grader 12 mi
                                              Cooper Parzynski 2nd grader 10 mi
                                              Noah Poore 1st grader 8 mi
                                              Ethan Barker 1st grader 8 mi
                                              Alex McGarth 1st grader 8 mi

Schoolwide Testing for Grades 2 and 4

ANNOUNCEMENT OF SCHOOLWIDE TESTING FOR GRADES 2 AND 4

All 2nd and 4th graders will take the Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT) the week of December 8, 2014. For those students in 1st and 3rd grade, you may request that your child participate in this round of testing. This is in accordance with HB 282, which requires that school districts provide multiple opportunities for testing to identify students as gifted. PLEASE NOTE THAT SCORES ON FIRST GRADE TESTS WILL NOT BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION FOR PULL-OUT GIFTED SERVICES.

If you would like to have your grade 1 and/or grade 3 child(ren) participate in the December administration of the CogAT, please contact Mrs. Shawn Rosekrans, in writing. You may make this request via email or kidmail.  This request can be emailed to Mrs. Rosekrans at rosekranss@sycamoreschools.org  No requests will be accepted after Monday, December 1, 2014.  Please mention the teacher and grade level in your request. It would be helpful to copy your request to your child’s teacher, as well.

Please note that your child will be tested sometime during the aforementioned week. No specific date or time can be offered. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Girls on the Run Service Project- Candy Collection

Girls on the Run Service Project: “Candy Collection”

Collection of items for care packages for our troops.

The Maple Dale Girls on the Run team is collecting candy for Operation Shoebox. 

Operation Shoebox, is a non-profit organization that assembles care packages for military men and women serving our country overseas.  

We are collecting items the week of November 3rd- 7th.

Items to donate:

• Candy (heat resistant/individually wrapped- NO chocolate)
• Fruit Breezes (throat drops)
• instant oatmeal
• instant coffee
• powdered drink mixes
• Gatorade
• tea mixes (sweet)
• coffee creamer
• ramen noodles
• beef jerky

Ms. Hill Spotlight

 Ms. Hill is so excited to be teaching first grade at Maple Dale
Elementary. After receiving her Bachelors degree in Education from the
University of Cincinnati, she began her teaching career in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana.  Now that she has relocated to Cincinnati she has
begun to peruse her Master’s of Literacy. Not only has she chosen this
career because of her passion for teaching children, it allows summer
time for traveling which she loves to do. She feels blessed to be a
part of the Maple Dale family and looks forward a great school year.

Maple Dale Milers Update: Week 4

 Maple Dale Milers:

Milers Week 4: Total # of Miles School Completed- 990
                          Top Grade- 3rd  300 miles
                          Top Class- Mrs. Cooks
                          Top Walkers- Eugene Harney 4th grader 8 miles
                                                 Sydney Skinner 4th grader 8 miles

PTO Minutes- October 9, 2014

PTO Meeting

October 9th, 2014

Call to Order and Welcome at 9:35 AM by Kassi Eckert

Pledge of Allegiance led by Kassi Eckert

Approve September meeting minutes Approved

GUEST SPEAKER- Melinda Briggs, Sycamore’s Chief Information Office

She is the ‘district storyteller’. Uploads information on district website, FB, Twitter. Creates district mailings, staff newsletters, videos and district wide phone messages/ texts. Asked for feedback from parents present at meeting. Discussed forms of communication and frequency.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT- Ron Brooks

Maple Dale is a large school. Went from 400 to 555 students. Went from 8 buses to 13+ (4 for preschool). Discussed parking issues. No easy solution. Shuttle buses from Montgomery Presbyterian Church will be available for some school wide afterschool/ evening events.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT - Shawn Rosekrans

Testing:

STATE: In Fall, Ohio requires all students to be assessed in reading before September 30th- for 3rd grade guarantee. Elementary Schools must assess all students 3rd grade and under for on track for reading. Kindergarteners required to have KRA (Kindergarten Reading Assessment)- individual, time consuming.  3rd graders had OAA (Ohio Achievement Assessment) this week.  Come spring students will be required to take the PARK Assessment instead of OAA.

DISTRICT: Sycamore invests in MAP (Measure of Academic Performance) testing done on laptops. It is a good tool that is geared towards individual student assessment. It is done 3X/ yr for benchmark and progressive. It provides a standard on consistent measurement.

GREEN TEAM- Miss Georgia

Wasteless Lunch Day: Done once a quarter district wide. Next day is Tuesday October 14th. If your child packs lunch that day garbage will be sent back home.

Composting/ Recycling Center: District now does commercial composting with Rumpke. Kids need constant reminders about separating. * Needed 1 parent volunteer 1X/ week 11:20am - 1:15pm

Green Team Committee: Anne Berg is Chair. Watch for upcoming meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

State of the district- Meeting

Membership: Numbers are lower than last year. Currently only 188 parents have joined. Only $5 to join. *You will not receive student directory unless a PTO member.

Monthly ‘Lunch Bunch’: Chance to meet/ converse with other parents in your child’s grade. Kassi Eckert organizing 1st grade, Pam McCallen 2nd grade, Diane VanderBrink 3rd grade. Still looking for parent to run K and 4th.  Good opportunity for networking.

Lunch Carts: Request from some teachers for new lunch carts. About $20 each. Need 5+?

VP PROGRAMS REPORT

Language: begins week of Oct 6th. Offered to 1st-4th graders.

Vision & Hearing Screening- Week of October 13th-17th

Nominations: Positions still open- Eating with the Stars Chair and Carnival Chair. Carnival already has strong sub-committees formed with Chairs☺

VP FUNDRAISERS REPORT

Pipkins: Submit your itemized receipt in box in office and school gets 4% back.

Walkathon: Thu October 23rd. Chair Christy Banke. Sponsorship form will go out Oct 10th. Need volunteers for Oct 23rd   9:00am-12:00pm or 12:30- 3:30pm .  Students can place new book suggestions in box in Media Center.

GAO Fundraiser: >20% of school participated. Met goal of $3,000. Money earned will go towards programs offered by PTO. Delivery will be Tues Oct 21 3-6pmin Cafeteria. Need 6 volunteers Tuesday Oct 21st 2:00-4:00pm or 4:00-6:00pm to divide up & distribute orders.

SCRIPS: Purchase gift cards and school get s percentage. Starts after Thanksgiving. Will receive before Winter holidays.

Krogercard and Target REDCard: Enroll your cards online then free money goes to school. Our school code for Kroger is 80834

TREASURER’S REPORT

Approve August and September Financials: approved

SECRETARY PROGRAMS REPORT

Wellness Update: Maple Dale achieved Healthy Schools Program Bronze Award. Wellness Committee meeting scheduled for Friday Oct 31st 9:30am. Request to PTO Staff representative for some Maple Dale staff as a liaison.

Directory: Draft completed. Must pay $5 PTO membership fee to receive a directory.

Assembly T-shirts: Offered every other year. Off year but preschool, K, Montgomery and new students will receive in time for October field trips.  Parents of 5th graders! We will be having a shirt collection to recycle their good condition assembly shirts for redistribution.

Online Communication:  We were using Constant Contact. Had to pay a fee and we had to upload email addresses. This week switched to Blackboard Connect because free, consistent with other Sycamore schools format, updated nightly so no need to enter new contact info. Emails should be received Tuesday mornings, every other week.

Next Meeting: Thursday November 913th 9:30 AM

Guest Speaker: Mike Miller, Sycamore’s Transportation Manager

**Minutes submitted by PTO Secretary, Diane VanderBrink on Friday October 10, 2014