3rd Graders Receive FREE YMCA memberships

Today, Dennis Diesser from The Albert Lea Family YMCA visited our 3rd grade classrooms to remind them of the free memberships they are all given as a result of generous contributions by Alliant Energy Foundation, Alliance Pipeline, and the Hubbard Foundation.  Yes, there is NO charge to third graders! How cool is that?  With a Y membership, students are able to participate in all the youth sports at member prices as well as classes and open gym and swim time. 
Stop at the Family Y to fill out a membership card in order to register your 3rd grader for the year!  If you have other questions, please give them a call at 373-8228. 

Thanks for Coming to Sibley's Open House



PTO picnic



Presentations in media center

Last night, Elementary schools in the district provided an "open house" for parents and children.  It was a time for families to reconnect, meet their teachers for the year, fill lockers and desks with supplies, and hear 15 minute grade level presentations in the media center.  With all things new, there will be room for improvement.  Our goal was to provide parents with multiple options to feel comfortable and excited about the start of the year.  In the past, scheduled interviews have taken place.  This year, we wanted to create a family fun atmosphere and a more efficient way for parents to learn about the upcoming year.  We also still encouraged families to schedule shorter interviews for the following day if they felt they needed to.  We hope to continue this format, but are always open to hearing about items that worked, or did not.  One area that will need another look will be the open houses scheduled with the secondary buildings in our district.  For those that came, we hope this change was meaningful for you. 

   

School Activities . . . . Around The Corner!

Dear Sibley Families,

As we get ready to welcome you to Sibley for this school year, mark your calendars for August 29^th and 30^th for our back to school activities! This year, we will be providing multiple opportunities for families to visit our school and begin building strong connections within the building.

To get things started, Sibley will be hosting an open house on Wednesday, August 29th from 3:00-7:00. This will be an opportunity for students and their families to visit their classroom, meet their teachers and ask questions, and take care of other items such as depositing lunch money and learning about our parent group, SHARE.

Each grade level will also be giving a short presentation during the open house in our media center, highlighting some of the important things to know for that grade. The open house will be followed by our annual back to school picnic, which will be from 5:00-7:00 that evening. More details will come in your back to school letter.  We look forward to seeing you at the open house and picnic.

In addition, students and their families will be invited to sign up for an individual parent teacher interview on Thursday, August 30th if desired. These optional 15 minute meetings will give families another opportunity to discuss more specific thoughts regarding their child. Opportunities to schedule these appointments will be available during the open house on the 29th. 

Finally, a note for kindergarten parents. We know how exciting and important the first year of school is for students. For that reason, kindergarten students will have their interviews pre-scheduled for Thursday the 30^th.  Your scheduled time will be included in the letter you will receive in mid-August along with your child's teacher information.

Sibley, as well as all of Albert Lea Schools, understands the importance of a strong home-school connection, and we hope that you will take advantage of these opportunities to visit our school, and help kick-start your child’s year. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks and beginning a great school year together.

We are looking forward to seeing you.

Sibley in the Top 15%

Last Tuesday, Sibley school was noted as being in the top 15% of schools in the state under the new Multiple Measurement Rating, or MMR.  This new system includes how well schools do at closing the achievement gap among demographic groups in reading and math.  It also takes into consideration student individual growth over several years.  Under No Child Left Behind, individual growth over a year or several, although very important, was not a consideration for schools making AYP or not.  The goal was that everyone was to be proficient by 2014.  Although a great goal, it had its flaws, which is why Minnesota sought the waiver and a new way of looking at school progress.  For further information on the MMR, or to find out how other schools in the state ranked, please read the story by the Albert Lea Tribune here, or the Minneapolis Star here.  Our score of 74 is a result of the last two years of our assessment data.  In late July or August, the 2012 data will be added.  We are proud of our achievement and our students, but recognize that improvement in teaching and learning is ongoing.

Throughout the course of the school year, art classes worked with Mr. Blong to create a mosaic that can be found hanging in one of our main hallways as you enter the school. It was a long project that has been done for about 2 months now.  Starting in late fall, Mr. Blong worked a schedule with teachers and students that allowed them to be involved in this enrichment art project.  Through it, students were a part of the design, creation, learned about grouting work, and even glazing.  Some of the pieces were sent to the high school to be fired in a real kiln. Stop in and enjoy the art as it involved many of our students from multiple grade levels. Well done!

On Friday, May 4^th our Sibley 5^th graders traveled to downtown Minneapolis to see the professional performance at the Cowles Center For Dance and The Performing Arts building. This activity was made possible through a grant earlier in the year that also provided dance sessions with the performing artist. We did these sessions by using the Apple tv set up and ipad technology in the music room. The students not only watched them perform but participated in a routine that they taught to them. Our whole trip (bus cost, substitute and lunch) was paid for by the grant. The history of the building and program was part of the tour information that the Cowles Center shared with our students. It was a really good experience for our students to become aware of another form of the arts. - submitted by Teresa Bergene. 

Online Assessment Update

In an earlier post, I shared with families information about our MCA's.  Although The Minnesota Department of Education allows for up to three opportunities with online tests to show proficiency, our district has decided to allow our students to take the test twice if their parent/guardian wants them to.  Direct conversation concerning this has probably already come from your child's teacher.  As a district administration, we have forgone the opportunity to take the test three times because there is more to education then testing our children repeatedly.  The reading test remains a paper test that is given once.

"We are in the process of putting systems in place that take a much more methodical approach to educating our students.  Through the development of essential outcomes, the study of student data, and the collaboration of our professional learning communities, we are laying the groundwork for long-term success. It is my hope that these systems will bring us to the point that the MCA tests become a validation of what we are doing as a district, rather than the stressful experience it is for many now," says Dr. Funk.

2012 GT Program Summary

Gifted and Talent Development Program

New this year to the Albert Lea Area School District is the redesigned Gifted and Talent Development program. Several changes and additions have occurred across grade levels. Focusing on goals set out by the National Association for Gifted Children, our program is integrally connected to our district mission of equipping all students to think, achieve, and care. The opportunities created for our students are intended to meet the needs of our students with unique academic needs by providing challenging educational programs and services to help them reach their full potential.

Prior to this year, several opportunities were offered to our students. Math Masters, Spelling Bee, Science Fair, and Young Authors/Young Artists gave elementary students options for enrichment and extension. At the middle school, Geography Bee, Math League, and History Day were some of the opportunities, with the high school offering such options as Robotics, Honor Choir and Band, SuperMileage, Mock Trial, Career Day, State Capitol and History Days.

New to our program this year was DestiNation Imagination, an international program for kindergarten through university students with its purpose being to teach creative problem solving strategies. Teams of students met for several months prior to competition, working on challenges involving technical, scientific, fine arts, improvisational, structural or service-learning themes. Our district had 10 teams, from the four elementary schools, middle school and high school, and were coached by volunteers who committed an incredible amount of time to collaborating, researching, designing and building. Nine teams participated in the regional tournament, with seven of those teams progressing to the state competition. Student and leader enthusiasm was apparent, as indicated by students’ comments. “Participation in the DI tournament was the best thing I have ever done!” “It stretched my mind”, “I didn’t know that I could be so smart,” “Now, I think that I want to be engineer”, were some of the comments heard from involved students.

This year approximately 75 students were involved in Chess Clubs. The opportunity to learn and play chess as well as develop strategies was an exciting focus for these after-school meetings. Clubs at each of the four elementary buildings, Southwest Middle School, and Albert Lea High School were coached by staff and volunteers. Elementary students had the opportunity to compete in a tournament held at the Albert Lea Family Y on Apr. 14. The response of students to the Chess Clubs was overwhelming, as indicated by the large number of students pursuing their interest in chess.

Students identified as having specific academic strength in grades three through five had the opportunity this year to receive additional instruction during the school day. These pull-out groups were instructed by the Gifted and Talent Development Coordinator using materials and activities that foster the development of critical thinking, abstract thinking, creative thinking and problem-solving.

The Gifted and Talent Development program is evolving with plans to continue the current offerings while adding additional opportunities over the next years. At the forefront of all programming is our district’s focus on student learning and providing resources with a strong research-base that will best meet the needs of our students.