A MESSAGE FROM Captain Goodrich

Hello Palencia Elementary families,

We are more than halfway through the second nine weeks and the teachers, staff, and I could not be prouder of the student growth we have watched unfold before our eyes.
Each week, deliberate scheduling allows grade level teacher teams to meet for an hour to specifically examine how students are progressing. This allows them to sync up their
acuity regarding what mastery of curriculum (standards) looks like through student work and student assessments to determine where pockets of misunderstanding may lie.
Through this process, they can determine next steps for enriching or extending knowledge for students who already mastered grade level content. I so enjoy listening to the teachers celebrate student success and I take pride in teachers’ commitment to making sure ALL students demonstrate proficiency on essential standards.

Our teachers are, indeed, passionate about what they do. You may have heard teachers, or your students refer to these meetings as the PLC (Professional Learning Community) process. A basic principle of the PLC process is teachers working collectively will serve our students better than teachers working alone. Teacher teams capitalize on each other’s strengths to benefit the grade level student population. You may have heard your little one say “we switch classes” or you may have heard a teacher mention “flexible grouping” at Curriculum Chat. For instance, a gifted certified teacher may work with a handful of students in other classes who show the need for more challenging material on a given topic. Another example, most of the class scored well on an end of unit test, but two students in the class earned lower scores. Those two students may attend re-teach sessions with another teacher on the grade level who had a different approach delivering the information, or with another teacher with a different teaching style. The idea being, we will not give up on students. If what we tried at first was unsuccessful, we try something else. We only have eighteen more instructional days in this first semester. Wow, time flies!

A special THANK YOU to our Veterans and those who are actively serving in our military. I was fortunate to spend last weekend with my adult son who is in the Navy. I have so much respect for the sacrifices those who serve make.

Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday ahead. My wish is for each of you to enjoy blessings, a slower pace, and loved ones.

Catherine Goodrich, Principal