October 18, 2021

Greetings Gunston Families,

I hope this SchoolTalk message finds you well and leaning into the routines of school.  While we continue to make adjustments, there is a familiar flow to school.  In addition to managing the extras that come with in-person schooling in the pandemic, like lunch duty outside, contact tracing, and COVID testing management, I have been able to spend some time in classrooms.  Good things are happening in those spaces and that makes my heart glad!

Parent-Teacher Conference Day, as identified on the APS calendar, is this Friday, October 22nd.  The district made the decision for those conferences to be held virtually.  But the challenge is by only having one day for conferences, there is not enough time for feedback for all families.

So, using an equity lens, wanting all families to receive feedback, not only those who would/could sign-up for a conference, we have rebranded this day to Parent-Teacher Feedback Day.

We have placed students in groups.  Depending on which group your child is will indicate the type of feedback you will receive.

Students who are not showing progress towards mastery on formative or summative assessments or if there is no data about students’ performance – these families will have a virtual meeting.  If the student is showing the same type of performance in 3 or more core content classes, the school counselor will arrange the meeting with the family and the teachers.

If there is little evidence, meaning students are not submitting work or if the teacher is unsure about the students’ progress, these families will receive a phone conversation from the teacher of that class.  Some of those conversations started last week and will continue through the end of the month.

For those students who are demonstrating mastery, either a 3 or 4 on our standards-based grading scale, families will have access to a video message from the teacher about what is currently being learned in class.  The videos will be shared by Friday of this week.

We tried this model of conferences in the spring last year.  The feedback was mostly positive.  One element that some families missed was the opportunity to share with the teachers about their child.  Based on that feedback, we are including an option for families this go-round.  HERE is google form to share some feedback, information, cool stories, aspirations – what you would share about your child during an individual conference.  There is also the option for you to upload a video!  We all have grown in our tech skills, feel free to share yours with us!

We believe that all families have a right to feedback about their child’s performance.  We have devised this plan to attempt to give every family what they need for their child’s success with a limited resource of time.  I hope this model works for you.  I will ask for some feedback about the process after and we’ll go from there!

Cheers, Dr. Wiggins

A Few Calendar Reminders
10/19 – 6:30 pm, Padres Latinos Parent Meeting – Topic: Standards-Based Grading

• Padres Latinos Meeting
• Meeting ID: 878 1288 0647
• Passcode: 975517

10/20 – 6:30 pm, PTA Meeting – Topic: Standards-Based Grading

• PTA Meeting
• Meeting ID: 836 6604 8811
• Passcode: 510654

10/20 – Picture Day during PE on Purple Day Schedule

10/21 – Picture Day during PE on Teal Day Schedule

10/22 – Parent-Teacher Feedback Day – No school for students