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From the Principal’s desk
It’s hard to believe that we are now entering our final full month of the 2011-12 school year! It has been a year of changes, challenges, and most of all, tremendous successes on the part of all of the members of our Stormonth community. A few paragraphs at the start of a newsletter will not be ample room to highlight all of the incredible work that has been done on the part of the children of our wonderful school!
As we celebrate “Teacher Appreciation Week”, it is important to remember the little things our staff does to make our school special. Has your third grader been hurt on the playground and walked to the office by a kindergarten teacher who saw them crying? Has your first grader forgotten their backpack at the end of the day and personally been escorted back to their classroom by a fourth grade teacher who happened to be nearby? Has your second grader lost their Critter Crunch money and had one of our third grade teachers lend them a quarter? Have you heard one of our specialists ask how a grandma or grandpa is doing after a surgery? These interactions occur at Stormonth every day, and should be celebrated on the same level as our academic achievements. We are truly in a special place where every adult who enters the building assumes the responsibility and opportunity to educate every child.
Thank you, as always, for your support and encouragement. My phone lines and email are always open!
Dan Westfahl, Ph.D.
Principal
Many thanks . . .
On March 30, 2012, the hallways of Stormonth were flooded with an assortment of presenters for our annual “Special Interest Day”. Children were able to choose from a number of interesting topics and were able to hear from a varied list of occupations and careers. We had Air Force pilots, Wave soccer players, forest rangers, live animals, and even chocolate makers and party planners! We learned good manners, spoke to a movie star, and learned how to play chess and other board games. These tremendous activities, along with countless other opportunities for Stormonth kids, could not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our generous PTO. On behalf of the Stormonth staff and students, we express appreciation to our co-chairs of this event, Andria DeToro and Marylyn Scheuer, as well as the volunteers who helped to make this day a success. Our apologies for any names we may have forgotten, but thank you to:
Dickman Family, Seebold Family, Sanderson Family, Jones Family, Miller Family, Janet Thomas, Jill Tobin, Scott Anderson, Dave Navarre, Chris Tocco, Scott Leverence, Heidi Lukinac, Ellen Schneiderman, Wible Family, Maier Family, Mark Kuehn, Zia Maskara, Diana komberac, Katerina Brickman, Faith Rudkin, Thomassian Malsch, Genina Berger, Bridey Richards, Lisa Ellegard, Melinda Mitchell Alyson Stepke, Mai Van, Katie McGregor, Kim Corr, Elizabeth Hannigan, Leigh Wallace, Laurie Woods, Hope Olivia, Jennifer Sperry, Beth Gould, Cindy Bohlen, Dawn Sweet, Brenda Stelzer, Gillian Smith, Kate Hardin, Cindy Breier and Yelina Brezdina.
We are so excited for Special Interest Day 2013!
Read Across America
Our first ever “Read Across America” celebration and Read-A-Thon was a tremendous success! The students of Stormonth read for more than 350,000 minutes in the month of March, and raised more than $12,000 to purchase supplementary reading materials for our classrooms! Each participant received a certificate for a free book from PNC bank, and the top fund raisers and readers received special recognition. Congratulations to Spencer G. from second grade, who raised more than $900 for his reading efforts and also won a Kindle Fire! Other fundraising prize winners include Andrew M. from K5 and Lucy A. from first grade. Mrs. Fliss’ class was the top fundraising class, and enjoyed a pizza party from Rosatis!
Congratulations to our top readers from Stormonth, who received an autographed copy of The King of Ing by our own Cindy (Lou) Bohlen: Mary R., Marshall V., Andrew M., Grace R., Tristan M., Wyatt C., Makayla H., Emily T. and Elise S.
Our top reader for Stormonth was Ethan S., who received a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card. The top three readers from each grade level also received a $5 Barnes and Noble gift card. They are:
K4: Callyn W., Claire H., and Lukas V.
K5: Andrew M., Theresa R., and Kate M.
1st grade: Hafsa H., Nathan V., and Annika H.
2nd grade: Ethan S., Mary R., and Marshall V.
3rd grade: Audrey t., Zain H., and Ryan T.
4th grade: Grace R., Tristan M., and Wyatt C.
A Baskin Robbins ice cream party was also celebrated by Miss Otto’s class, who read the most minutes for the month of March.
Special thanks and consideration to Miss LaBlanc and Traci Sanderson for their leadership and enthusiasm for this wonderful project, and to all of the Stormonth families who donated time, money and reading to our school!
WKCE scores
In November, our students in third and fourth grade participated in the Wisconsin State Knowledge and Concepts Examination, a statewide standardized test administered in the fall of each year. Students are tested in a range of academic areas, namely reading and math in third and reading, math, science and social studies in fourth grade.
Scores are given ranging from Minimum to Basic to Proficient to Advanced in each area. Scores for the Proficient and Advanced areas are listed below, and additional information can be found at the Department of Public Instruction Website and Information Network for Successful Schools at:
http://data.dpi.state.wi.us/data/
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Reading
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% Stormonth students proficient
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State average
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% Stormonth students advanced
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State average
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Third grade
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29.3
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36.0
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67.4
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43.7
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Fourth grade
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32.5
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38.6
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61.3
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42.8
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Math
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% Stormonth students proficient
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State average
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% Stormonth students advanced
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State average
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Third grade
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32.6
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39.2
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63.0
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37.5
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Fourth grade
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30.0
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38.8
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60.0
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41.3
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Language Arts
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% Stormonth students proficient
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State average
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% Stormonth students advanced
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State average
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Fourth grade
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42.5
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45.4
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47.5
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31.4
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Science
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% Stormonth students proficient
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State average
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% Stormonth students advanced
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State average
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Fourth grade
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48.8
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53.1
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40.0
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24.1
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Social studies
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% Stormonth students proficient
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State average
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% Stormonth students advanced
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State average
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Fourth grade
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12.5
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25.8
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83.8
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66.8
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A special message from our District Administrator, Dr. Rachel Boechler
We read with interest the April Milwaukee Magazine article on ranking area schools using WKCE test scores. We were disappointed to see that we Fox Point-Bayside was not listed in the top ten K-8 schools or in the top thirty-three K-12 school districts and therefore looked closely at the study methodology. Unfortunately, Fox Point-Bayside, the other feeder districts to Nicolet, and Nicolet High School were not eligible to make the list in the top thirty-three K-12 schools because the authors did not consider any schools that were not a part of a K-12 district. In terms of the top ten K-8 schools, the only factor considered was WKCE test scores which are acknowledged as limited in terms of measuring student achievement. We also use MAP scores and other indicators to measure student progress year over year in our district to more accurately gauge student performance. Also, school districts in the Milwaukee metro area have a more diverse student population than you might find in Waukesha or Washington Counties where most of the top K-8 districts cited are located. This is not to take away from the success of those districts, but to acknowledge that one data point cannot possibly tell the whole story around student achievement. Nevertheless we will continue to look at our efforts in the context of other high performing schools and adopt those instructional strategies and practices that best assure our students’ success in high school and beyond.
When we look at the fall 2011 WKCE scores as recently published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel we outperform almost all other North Shore school districts compared to the overall math and reading scores grades 3-8. Again, this is not to diminish the performance of other districts but to again point out that depending on what variables are considered, the results will differ. That said we are very focused on increasing the level of academic rigor in our K-8 curriculum and instructional practices. We have put a particular emphasis on literacy (reading & writing) in the coming year with math another target we will be focusing on in the near future. There is always room for improvement and we take seriously the need to continue to evolve our instructional program to meet the needs of students in today’s world. Academic standards continue to be raised and we are working to respond to those standards with increased focus on K-8 curriculum alignment, clearly identified learning targets and the development of common assessments. This requires not only a change in the content being taught but also the way in which it is taught. Our teachers are working hard to assure our instructional program keeps pace with current best practice and ever-increasing expectations.
In May
12 Cupcake Run!
24 Musical, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
25 Spirit Day!
28 Memorial Day, no school
30 Second grade (Ahles, Makinster, Leitl) to Downtown Milwaukee Walking tour
In June
1 Second grade (Ziegler, Otto) to Downtown Milwaukee Walking tour
7 Last day for students
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