Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We all had a busy December trying to finish the semester, dodging the snow and enjoying the season.  I am going to enjoy my family over break and I hope you all do the same.

In the chaos that made up the last few days of school, some students may not have finished assignments or completed missing ones.  I will wait to post grades until after January 1st.  Please let me know if an assignment that was incomplete gets finished so I am sure to update it.  I don't want anyone getting a grade that is lower than it should be.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Math schedule for Mon. & Tues.

Mr. Keefe would like to wait to give the Math1 final so math classes will remain the same.

Changes in 6th Grade Next Week

Due to the snow day, Mrs. Bingham and I have discussed a way for students to complete their assignments next week and still have their party.  Please make sure your child knows what to expect so they don't miss out on anything fun.
On Monday during 1st period:
            6A will take their Math1 final in Mrs. Bingham's room
            6B will take their Math1 final in Mrs. George's room during their Tutorial time
After lunch:
           6A will take their Greek/Latin root test over chapters 1-5 in Mrs. Bingham's room
           6B will take their Greek/Latin root test over chapters 1-5 in Mrs. George's room
Once students are finished with their test, they need to make sure the following assignments are completed:
       Language Arts: Best Story Ever - turn into Google Classroom - see the rubric to ensure your best grade
       Science: complete your presentation for the 4th graders, turn into Google Classroom
       Social Studies: Brick and Mortar questions and essay

On Tuesday, the originally scheduled parties (the same schedule as Friday would have been) will resume for all students who have completed their work.

Early release next week

December 19th & 20th are EARLY RELEASE DAYS.

K-3rd will be released at 1:35, 4th -6th at 1:38, 7-8th at 1:41, 9-12th at 1:45 and buses will depart at 1:50.

Friday Party Day

Because of our snow day last Friday, this Friday became extremely exciting for 6th graders.

The marble party they were supposed to have has been rescheduled for Friday the 16th.  Students may wear pajamas if they want or have a free jeans day pass (modesty rules apply).  They will get to have free time during Tutorial on Friday.

Friday is also our End or Quarter Party.  We will begin our party at about 12:45. Students without missing assignments will be able to watch  Prancer, play games or use other electronic devices to play games.

Students may bring electronics from home to use.  They may also bring games they would like to play with peers.  Students are responsible for the items they bring from home.

Students may also bring snacks.  They may bring a snack for themselves or snacks to share.  If they want to share, they need to make sure they bring enough to share with everyone in their home room (there are 33 students in Mrs. George's home room and 34 students in Mr. Keefe's/Mrs. Bingham's homeroom).

Students with missing assignments will spend that time completing their assignments.  Once they are completed, they may join the party.

Marble Party

Both classes earned 100 marbles and have earned a marble party.

Tomorrow, IF students want they may wear pajamas.  They will have one class of free time tomorrow morning to celebrate.  If for some reason there is no school tomorrow, we will reschedule for a different day.

Skate Night!

Tomorrow, December 6th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm is Skate Night at the Nampa Roller Drome.

It costs $5.00 plus $2.00 skate/rollerblade rental.

Bring your family, friends, neighbors, and cousins and have a great night!

Important Message from Mr. Keefe and Mrs. Oldenkamp

Vision Family,
Due to unforeseen family circumstances, I will not be at school so my main attention will be on my family at this time.

Thank you for your understanding,
Tyler Keefe
~
We can support him during this time of leave by keeping the classroom "business as usual." He will still be directing the instruction, lesson planning, and grading student work in addition to communicating with parents via email, and Edmodo. During this leave of absence, Mrs. Bingham will be stepping in as the substitute for the month of December.

Mrs. Bingham was a substitute for Middleton in all grade levels prior to being hired by Vision Charter School. Over the last four years, Mrs. Bingham has worked for Vision Charter School in the role of substitute and educational assistant. She has worked very closely with 7th-12th grade teachers to ensure the highest level of growth and learning in the ELA department. She has also been a title 1 tutor in reading and math in the intermediate and secondary grade levels. Mrs. Bingham is pursuing her teaching certificate and is in her final semester prior to student teaching. It is her desire to teach at Vision Charter School in fourth through eighth grade in the future. Her favorite subjects are math, reading, language arts, and social studies! She is the mother of four children, two of which attend Vision in first and fourth grade.

Mrs. Bingham will be working closely with Mr. Keefe, Mr. Casey Boothby, and Mrs. George to ensure continuity in the quality and level of instruction your children are currently receiving. Your kids will be seeing a lot of Mr. Boothby as he will be in the room training Mrs. Bingham next week on all the amazing technology that Mr. Keefe uses! Mrs. Burton will be in the room frequently throughout the next few weeks training Mrs. Bingham in the specific learning needs of individual students and supporting the transition in the position of Administrative Intern and Special Ed Director.

In order to keep everyone in the loop, please include both Mrs. Bingham and Mr. Keefe in any e-mail correspondence. Mrs. Bingham's e-mail is: mattiebingham@visioncsd.org

I feel confident that your children will be in great hands during Mr. Keefe's absence. Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Wendy OldenKamp
K-12 Principal & Charter Administrator Vision Charter School
wendyoldenkamp@visioncsd.org
208-919-9636 cell 208-455-9220 ext 301 office

December

We have entered December when things are fun and exciting and yet a little busy.  The end of the semester is December 20th so we will be trying to finish up units and projects the best we can before then.

Students have a test on adjectives and adverbs tomorrow.  Students had the opportunity to take a practice test on No Red Ink this week to see where they may have had weaknesses.  Hopefully they all took that opportunity.  Next week they will have their first spelling test  on homophones. Students have been creating a list of as many homophones as they can find.  They are also creating clues to help them remember the meanings.

Students completed the setting section of their story and I was impressed with the use of adjectives and adverbs to describe the location of their story.

We have a lot going on.  We are preparing to be at the halfway point in the year where students are closer to being 7th graders.  Students should be comfortable with the schedule and the expectations of 6th grade.

Friday, the 9th is our last Free Learn Friday before report cards.  Friday, the 16th is our end of the quarter party.  I will send more information about that as we get closer.

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving with your family and are enjoying this time of year even though we are all a bit chilly.

Thanksgiving

I am proud of how hard students have been working over the past couple of days.  They have earned a nice break.  I am not assigning any work that is due upon students' return from Thanksgiving break.

Some students may still have a few missing assignments to complete or assignments they didn't complete that were due today.  There are extra credit opportunities posted in each of my classes if students would like to take the time to do them.  The due date for them is December 9th, just before the end of the semester.  The assignments are intended to help students whose scores are low, they are also skills students must know.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This Week's News

This year 6th graders may be a part of the Snow Team! If any 6th graders want to join the team or want to learn more about it, they need to pick up a registration packet from Mrs. Boothby in the secondary office.  It sounds like a lot of fun!

Next week is Thanksgiving break, there is no school from November 21st through the 25th.

Progress reports are coming out soon.  If students have missing assignments, it would be better to complete them before Friday.

Friday is this month's "Free Learn Friday."  Students who have no missing assignments get to choose what they learn about.  The list of students with missing assignments has been decreasing over the past two months.  The goal is to have no students with missing assignments.

Science test

Students received their Space Science Tests today.  Many were unhappy with their grades.  All students may increase their score by identifying why their answer was incorrect, what the correct answer is and why that is correct.  For each question they do this for, they get an extra 1/2 point.

Whether students make corrections or not, it is a good idea to go through the test and identify silly mistakes and reflect on how to avoid those in the future.  I am available to talk with students about their tests.  I am happy to answer questions and help them in any way.

Test corrections are due the beginning of the week.  I am posting the value of each question in Google Classroom so students know how many possible points there are.

Canned Food Drive

The 2016 VCS Canned Food Drive will take place from November 7-16. The Food Drive will be a campus-wide, K-12 effort.

Elementary Classes (Grades K-6) are being asked to collect non-perishable food items. These must be manufacturer canned or boxed foods. We cannot accept any home-canned, home-baked, opened, or expired items.

Each donated item will count as a point for the student’s classroom. A popcorn party will be awarded to the K-3 class with the most points and the 4-6 class with the most points.

Send in all your donations this week!

Density

We are beginning a new science unit this week.  Students experimented with density.  Ask them what they observed in class.  We will continue learning about density during the beginning of next week as we enter into our unit on the lithosphere.

Fun this week!

As you know, tomorrow (Monday) is our book celebration day.  Because the afternoon is taken with our celebration, 6th grade ONLY is having an A/B day schedule.  This means students will have both of their math classes on Monday.  Friday, the 4th will be an A day schedule to get everything back on track.

This week is college application week.  Tuesday is "Collegiate Wear Day."  Students may wear gear from their favorite college.  If they are wearing college gear, they may wear jeans for free on Tuesday.  It's a great time for the whole school to encourage seniors to fill out their college applications and celebrate their ability to "go on."

Minor corrections

I have a couple corrections and additions to make to the previous post about the book celebration.

Costumes are encouraged to be low to no cost costumes and may include masks, wigs, hair color and face paint.  No weapons or look a likes may be used as part of a costume or brought onto school grounds.  Costumes are expected to follow modesty rules.

Book Celebration

On Monday, October 31st we are celebrating our book.  This year it is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  We will begin our celebration at about 12:00.  During this time, students will be watching the Disney version of the movie.

The students are welcome to bring treats for themselves or they can bring treats to share with their homeroom.  My homeroom has 33 students.  Mr. Keefe's homeroom has 34.  We do have food allergies in both rooms, please refrain from using peanuts in any snacks.  Please check with your student's homeroom teacher for other allergies.

Students may dress up as a character from the book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  They can wear costumes to school.  Students may not use hair dye or face paint.  They may wear masks, but they can't be worn during class.  All modesty rules apply.

Feel free to email us if you have any other questions.

This week's news

It was great to see so many of you at conferences last week.

Many of you got signed up to receive notifications from Google Classroom so that you can see how your child is doing on their assignments.  If you didn't come to conferences and you would like to receive those notifications, let me know.

I will be sending out information about the book celebration on October 31st soon.

Picture Retakes

Picture retakes are tomorrow.

Students who want retakes need to have their order packet filled out and with them.

Any students that are new to Vision Charter School and didn't get their pictures taken in September will have their picture taken.  Students having their picture taken may wear clothes they want their photo taken in rather than their uniform (modesty rules still apply).

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone enjoyed the fall break.  My husband and I spent it celebrating our 20th anniversary in Ireland.  It was such a blessing to have that opportunity.

Conferences
This Thursday and Friday (20th and 21st) are conferences.  If you have not heard from us about a scheduled conference on Thursday, please feel free to stop by anytime between 3:30 and 7:00 on Friday.  We would love to talk with you about your child's progress.

Remember, we are on semesters so these quarter grades are more of a progress report.  Students have until December until their grades are final.

Short Week

This week is short week for students.  They have school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Wednesday is an A/B day and it is the last day of the first quarter.  Time is flying!

Students have a Ratio test in Tutorial and an Adjective test in Language Arts.  Both of these tests are open note and students may use any notes they have in their notebooks.  I will not be assigning any new assignments this week since Fall Break is coming and I would like students to have a break.

Some students may still have missing assignments.  It is best if you check Parent Portal for student's progress.  You can email Amy Bowers (amybowers@visioncsd.org) if you aren't sure how to use parent portal or if you don't have a login.

First "End of Quarter Party"

Friday, September 30th is our first End of Quarter Party.  The party will begin at the end of the day.  Students without missing assignments will be able to watch  Finding Nemo, play games or use other electronic devices to play games.

Students may bring electronics from home to use.  They may also bring games they would like to play with peers.  Students are responsible for the items they bring from home.

Students may also bring snacks.  They may bring a snack for themselves or snacks to share.  If they want to share, they need to make sure they bring enough to share with everyone in their home room  (there are 33 students in both home rooms).

Students with missing assignments will spend that time completing their assignments.  Once they are completed, they may join the party.

Important Information

As we are nearing the end of the first quarter, I wanted to make sure that our homework expectations and assignment and test policies were clear.

Students should expect some school work nightly.  They need to complete their reading minutes (20) and work on improving math skills using IXL (smart score of 80 or 20 min). Specific assignments will be listed on the blog, http://www.visioncharter.net/users/tyler-keefe and Edmodo for Mr. Keefe and on Google Classroom for Mrs. George.  

You can expect these assignments to be posted on the blog every Monday or Google Classroom everyday. Teachers allow time at school to complete assignments; however, If students do not complete assignments at school in the time allotted, they may need to bring them home to complete the assignment before the due date. If students are spending more than 1 hour each night on school work, please let us know.

Assignment/Test retake 6th Grade policy

In an effort to best transition students from elementary to secondary, during the 1st Semester students will follow: Unexcused late work will be assigned as homework or assigned for completion during recess or in place of attending an enrichment club. Unexcused late work will not be accepted for full credit. Students who score less than a 75% on a test will be able to retake a test one time, within three days of receiving their test score. The student will be given the new score; however, the final score assigned to the student for the makeup test will not exceed 85%.

During the 2nd Semester students will follow: unexcused late work will NOT be accepted. Unexcused late work will be an automatic zero. Students who score less than a 75% on a test may be offered an alternative form of mastery of the teacher’s choosing.

First Tests

Students had their first test in Science this week.  They all did really well.

They will have a test on ratios on Friday of next week in Tutorial and an adjective test the beginning of October, before Fall Break.

Students will also be finishing their first argument paper by the beginning of October.  Ask your child to show you how they use Google Classroom and you can see some of their great work.

I am proud of the work ethic that is beginning to blossom among these 6th graders.  They are learning that if they work hard during the school day, there is very little to take home.

Week of 9/19/16

Here are the educational happenings this week!

In Tutorial we are working ratios.  Students are making connections between equivalent ratios using real world examples.  Students also have 30 minutes of time to complete assignments in class.

In Language Arts we are writing our first paper.  Students will be using claim, reason, and explanation to state their opinion on whether our personalities come from birth or experience.  We are also working on using adjectives in our own writing to make it more powerful.

In Science students will use the models they created and learned about to make predictions about moon phases, seasons, eclipses, and day and night.

Progress Reports & Pictures

Progress reports came home today.  Please look them over, sign and return the signed portion.
Missing assignments haven't been figured into student's grades because they have this week to remedy that.

Pictures are tomorrow!  Everyone will get their picture taken whether they choose to purchase them or not.  Students are allowed to wear what they would like to have their picture taken in (modesty rules still apply).  They do not have to be in uniform.

Back on Track

I am happy to be back.  Washington D.C.  was more amazing than I expected.  I got to see many national monuments and federal buildings.  Mr. George did us proud.  It was such an honor to get to see him get his award.  It is the highest teaching award given.

Last week was tough on students.  It's always tough when the teacher is gone and I was gone for 4 days and it is still early in the year.  I'm sure that students feel much more at peace today.

This week we are checking in on what we attempted to learn last week.  If students were confused or uncertain, we are taking care of that this week.

Reminder:  I don't assign homework.  I assign assignments.  I give students time in class to complete their assignments.  The only part they should be doing at home is what they couldn't finish in class.  Please let me know if students are spending a lot of time at home and I will figure out what is going on.  I want students to be able to enjoy their families and other activities after school.

Washington D.C.

 As many of you know, Mr. George won  The Presidential Award for Excellnce in Science and Math Teaching.  Because of that, we are both in Washington DC this week. We are attending conferences and award celebrations.  We had time to visit many  monumental sites.  Later this week, Mr. George will meet the president. This is a great honor and opportunity for both of us.

 Unfortunately, all this mean that I am not at school this week. I will check email and Google classroom when I have an opportunity.  I can already see many students getting their assignments done early. Don't forget to keep your agenda updated.

 I'm looking forward to a great report when I return. 

Week 2

We had a great first week last week!

This week we are doing some MAP testing in Math and Language Arts.  Students will also have a pretest in Science.  These beginning of the year tests are to help me measure where students are right now.  This helps me plan their growth for the rest of the year.

First Days

These first two days of school have gone wonderfully!

You should have seen a yellow note come home asking for your signature about 6th Grade Information.  Please sign it to let me know that you have seen the 6th Grade Syllabus.

Students learned about Free Learn Fridays.  Once a month, students will get to choose their learning.  Here are the dates when this will happen.  Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 9, Jan. 20, Feb. 17, Mar. 31, April 28, and the final one will be on May 12.  We added these dates to our agenda today.

Back to School

School will be starting again soon.  The first day of school is August 16th!
Don't forget to come in between 3:30 and 6:30 on August 15th to drop off your supplies, see your classroom, and meet both 6th grade teachers.

This will be a great year!

Upcoming Dates

February 8th - Skate Night!
*There are only 2 left, come and bring your friends.  This is how we raise money for our lock in.
6:00-8:00
$5 entrance, $2 rental

February 11th - Spirit Day -Super Hero Day
No hair dye

No face paint

Costumes allowed

Masks may be worn and taken off during class time

$1 donation or wear uniform

Students may also just participate in the regular jeans day attire for $1 donation.

End of Quarter Party

Sixth grade will celebrate the end of the 2nd quarter and 1st semester on Friday, 1/22, from 1:05 to 3:05. 

They have decided to watch a G rated movie or read in one room and Wii with Just Dance or electronics in the other room. Students are welcome to bring their Wii remote if they want. Students are also welcome to bring their personal gaming system, ipods, phones, etc. to play games on or listen to music. The school is NOT responsible for any damage or loss of items brought from home. These items will ONLY be allowed to be used by the student who brought it and ONLY during the party.

Students can choose to NOT wear uniforms on Friday for no cost.  They can also wear PJs, sweats, etc. as long as they meet the modesty standards and such of the regular dress code policy. Students wanting to bring a blanket or pillow for the movie must be able to fit it in their lockers/backpacks.

The teachers will be providing popcorn during the party. Students have the option of bringing a snack for themselves or bringing snacks/treats for everyone.  NO peanut products are allowed as we have several students with allergies.