Attendance Line Number - 490-3062

March 3, 2006

Shepardson's Home Page: http://schoolweb.psdschools.org/she/

In this issue...

(Table of Contents)   (Top) PRINCIPAL REFLECTIONS

Spring Break and the state CSAP testing are quickly approaching. Students in grades 3-6 will be tested in reading, writing and math immediately after our return from Spring Break. Third grade has already completed their reading test earlier to allow for results to arrive before the end of the school year. These early results are used to comply with a state law that requires documentation for how well our third graders are doing in reading. The rest of these results will not arrive until next fall.

These state tests are directly aligned with the standards that we are teaching every day. While we recognize that these results indicate performance at "one point in time," we do appreciate receiving more information now about how each child performed on each skill as well as our ability to show growth each year. Such individualized and group information helps us review program and student growth to determine instructional needs. Teachers will be reviewing these data along with other information next fall to plan best for your children's learning!

It is a time when our schedules and the entire building use will be different. Teachers and staff who are administering these tests have been well trained. We always take this process seriously and are careful to follow all of the expectations. Counselor Rea Kreider and I both attend trainings to assist staff in this process. Since we have so many parents volunteering on a daily basis at Shepardson, it is important that we all be more aware of the "TESTING: DO NOT DISTURB" signs posted on many doors throughout the school. No one may enter or disturb students from performing their personal best. The office will assist you if you have specific needs related to your child during this period.

We do know that Shepardson students are prepared and will do their personal best. We ask you to join us in this effort by making sure they get enough sleep, get a good breakfast and lunch, and have reduced anxiety. If they believe they can do it, they are more likely to do their best. Mr. Kreider has written a great article especially for parents on this topic. While we do not want sick children at school, we do ask that parents avoid having them be absent for other reasons that can be addressed at other times. Seeing adults relaxed and confident is contagious; the opposite is also true. Giving the appropriate type of support for your children can be critical to their success.

We hope you and your family have a wonderful spring break! Please encourage your children to read over vacation. Keeping their skills "tuned" helps them feel more comfortable when returning to the routine of learning.

Happy Spring!

-	Mary Kay Sommers
	email: msommers@psdschools.org

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CALENDAR

March 03, 2006

MARCH 2006			MARCH 2006
7	Tue	PTO Meeting - 7:00 pm	24	Fri	End of Quarter
10	Fri	6th Grade Wax Museum 1:30-2:30-Gym	31	Fri	Report Cards Distributed
13-17	Mon-Fri	SPRING BREAK	APRIL 2006
3/20 - 4/7	Mon-Fri	CSAP TESTING	1	Sat	Odyssey of the Mind District Competition
23	Thu	SIT - 4:00-6:00

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A STAR PERFORMANCE! On Tuesday, February 21 four members of the Shepardson choir took part in the District Honor Choir concert at the Lincoln Center. Our four singers were: Lyzette Van Zyl, Emily Green, Michelle Slawson, and Sarah Gloor. These girls attended evening rehearsals along with singers from all the other PSD elementary schools for about a month to learn their music. They were under the direction of Mrs. McKelfresh, choir teacher at Boltz. The performance put on by the Honor Choir was outstanding! Their voices were inspiring and their choreography was exciting to watch. This was an experience these girls will remember for a long time!

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SHEPARDSON CHOIR PERFORMS AT LINCOLN CENTER In addition to the District Honor Choir performing last week at the Lincoln Center, three area choirs were invited to perform at the concert as well. Those schools invited were Bacon, Laurel, and our own Shepardson Choir. The 78 members of our choir and percussion ensemble performed very well. They sang a song about winter, one about rain, and a piece in Latin accompanied by nine percussionists. It was great to see the singers perform with such enthusiasm. Shepardson was well-represented by this fine group of singers and nearly outperformed the Honor Choir! We were also pleased to have former Shepardson teachers Mrs. Wyman there to play piano for the choir and Mrs. Bell to assist her as well. As we know, not all schools have choirs. This special opportunity is directly the result of the energy, commitment and time given by our music teacher, Mrs. Caren Everett. We can't thank her enough for her extra hours spent to provide this wonderful opportunity for our students. Awesome job, Choir and Percussion Ensemble!!! The choir performance will be broadcast on PSD Channel 10 at a future date. We will let you know the schedule when we receive it.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) COUNSELOR'S CORNER

By Rea Kreider, Shepardson School Counselor

This year's CSAPs are upon us. Students in 3rd grade have already started and were given Reading Assessments in February. A second testing window will take place from March 20th through April 12th. During this time period 3rd graders will be assessed once again in Writing and Math, while students in 4th, 5th and 6th grades will be tested in Reading, Writing and Math. This year, Science assessments have been added to the 5th grade schedule. Over the last few years we have all heard more and more talk about higher standards for students and increased teacher accountability. Now, with the passage of "No Child Left Behind", CSAP tests have become an instrument used to measure students' annual yearly progress and to establish a resulting "grade" published in a School Accountability Report (SAR) each year. You most likely know that during the last few years Shepardson has been awarded an "excellent" rating on annual SARs, and this last year was graded as "high." If you are interested in knowing more of the specifics in any of those reports, we have them available here at school and you can also find the most recent report on the school's website.

As we approach CSAP testing after we return from Spring Break, I wanted to share a few thoughts and suggestions from a book entitled Test Anxiety and What You Can Do About It by Dr. Joseph Casbarro. In his introduction he states:

"It is a simple fact. There's just too much anxiety in our lives. Each day it seems that we are finding newer and more creative ways to worry. Some say it's due to the information age, where television and the Internet bring instant news about every real or potential danger in the world into our homes every day. Regardless of the causes, there's certainly no shortage of things to worry about. What I have found most troubling, and a primary reason that I chose to write this book, is that adults' anxieties and worries are being increasingly transmitted to children."

Dr. Casbarro proceeds to site as example foods that cause cancer, mad cow disease, medicines found to have long term side effects, car airbags that are potentially harmful to small children if deployed, September 11th, the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks and the unspoken, underlying feeling of being on orange alert all of the time, a war in Iraq, increased level of worry about our financial security and the list goes on. (This year it's the Bird Flu scare.) Then he asks...

"Why then have we as a society purposely added more anxiety to the childhood experience? And why is a major source of that anxiety coming from our schools? With the move toward higher standards came a very negative and unintended outcome-anxiety. With higher and more rigorous standards came greater accountability. With greater accountability came more tests. With more tests came more anxiety. We raised the bar, developed high stakes testing, and created one of the most stress-filled learning environments in history- all in the name of higher standards. We want to raise achievement, but in the process we raised anxiety which actually can produce the opposite effect."

In a later chapter entitled "Parents, and Teachers and Kids...Oh My!" Dr. Casbarro points out the "trickle down affect" that higher standards and teacher accountability has had on students. State education departments know that one very effective way to control what is taught in schools is to control what gets tested. In Colorado, as in many other states, the CSAP tests are closely aligned with curriculum standards, and classroom teachers are being held more accountable for their students achieving those standards. As expectations are raised, higher demands get placed upon classroom teachers to have their students achieve annual yearly progress. The logical result is teachers are demanding higher expectations of their students. Instructional goals and teaching practices are adjusted accordingly. Parents want their children to be "smart" and successful in school, and if higher test scores are being emphasized, then how their children perform on these tests becomes more important to parents as well. Perhaps, Dr. Casbarro suggests, this is why private test prep and learning centers have thrived in the last 5-10 years. The important point is that messages communicated to students, either directly or indirectly, from teachers, from parents and even from peers can greatly influence the level of a child's anxiety and resulting test performance. The following strategies are among those strongly suggested by Dr. Casbarro to help reduce students' anxiety:

• Differentiated Instruction throughout the year helps meet the diverse learning needs of students.

• Emphasis on Multiple Intelligences helps children know they are smart in many ways. Standardized tests, like CSAPs, are only one way for teachers to understand how well students are learning.

• Adult action, vocabulary and tone of voice must send messages that feeling some nervousness is normal and can even be motivational, that many kids feel this way and "we love and respect you no matter what the results."

• Prior experience with similar testing formats and discussion of basic test taking strategies.

• Well-organized accommodations for students with identified special needs.

• Physical exercise, rest and positive visualization prior to testing.

• Positive self-talk and deep breathing during testing sessions.

Dr. Casbarro goes into much more detail in later chapters as he discusses pre-testing strategies and in-progress strategies for schools, parents and students themselves. In an appendix he actually covers how nutrition plays an important role in childhood anxiety. In conclusion he challenges us this way!

"As we attempt to help our students in an era of increasing accountability, we must effectively address the impact of high stakes testing. No longer can the preparation for these tests be limited to drilling for content and taking practice tests. We must remember and incorporate a wider range of strategies and techniques to ensure that the negative effects of test anxiety do not contribute to lower performance."

As the brunt of our annual testing approaches, we as a faculty are aware of the anxiety these kinds of tests can create in children. We help students understand that while it is important they do their best, this is only one way to measure how "smart" they are. We do what we can to keep the adult anxiety about these tests to a minimum, teach kids about deep breathing, positive self-talk and other anxiety reducing techniques to help them stay focused, provide healthy snacks and fun activities once sessions are finished and repeatedly give them messages that we have confidence in their ability to do well. We will breathe a collective sigh of relief when this period of the year is behind us.

Test Anxiety and What You Can Do About It is available to any Shepardson parent or caregiver and can be found in the resource library in the counselor's office.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) SNACKS DURING CSAP TESTING

In past years the Shepardson Student Council has provided each student involved in CSAP testing with a healthy snack during each testing session. Due to the fact that many students bring their own preferred snack each day, and that providing individual snacks for that many testing sessions has become both expensive and time intensive for Student Council, we are making a change for this year.

Current brain research shows that chewing gum during academic tasks can actually stimulate brain activity, increase attention and may result in higher levels of performance. This year Student Council will provide chewing gum to any interested student during CSAP testing, and we ask that parents provide students with their own healthy snacks. Please try to make student snacks nutritious "brain food" rather than empty calories. Also, remember that students, especially in 5th grade where they will have 12 testing sessions total, might have more than one testing session in any one day.

There will be extra snacks available in the counselor's office for any student who may need them. Thank you for your understanding.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) WAX MUSEUM

Here ye! Here ye! Let it be known to all that the time has arrived for sixth grade's Wax Museum. After much research and hard work, the sixth graders will present a short monologue as a person of historical significance. Each student researched a person that had made a positive contribution to society, wrote a research paper, created artifacts that might have been owned by that person, and prepared a one to two minute speech as their person. On Friday, March 10, 2006 (that's the last day before Spring Break), students will present to classes throughout the building in the morning. Beginning at 1:30 and ending at 2:30, students will set up their Wax Museum in the gym. Here they will present for parents and other family members. So, come one, come all to the greatest event of the year (for sixth graders anyway)!

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YOUTH ART MONTH Youth Art Month is being celebrated at the Lincoln Center, March 3 to March 30. Created in 1961 by Art and Creative Materials Institute, Youth Art Month emphasizes the value of art education for all children and encourages support for quality school art programs. Each art teacher in the district could submit five students' artwork for the show. From Shepardson the following students will have their work displayed at the Center for this celebration. They are Camryn Berry (2nd), Rachel Olsen (3rd), Emily Green (5th), Lizette Van Zyl (6th) and Lauren Smailes (6th). A special thank you to Lisa Tuttle for matting and framing the art work for the show. Gallery hours: M-F 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat. 12 - 6 p.m. Admission is free.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) REMODELING UPDATE

The remodeling process for Shepardson is in full swing! The committee is meeting regularly with the architect to determine the best plan that is within our budget that will address our priority needs. In spite of our best hopes, building a new gymnasium does not appear affordable. We are now narrowing our choices into the building of an auditeria or flexible space that will allow us to have a separate space for eating lunch as well as other activities. With this addition, our current gym will remain available for its primary purpose of physical education. Our PE teacher Greg Neal will not have to be assisting Stretch, our custodian, in the floor cleaning process each day to ensure that the floor is safe for PE activities immediately after lunch! For that reason and to give students more time to eat, we are truly excited that this remodeling dream will become a reality.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) PARTNERSHIP WITH UNC

Shepardson is one of the schools that serves in the mentorship role for college students who are seeking a degree in Elementary Education. Each year the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) sends us a group of students who will be in classrooms to learn from their supervising teachers. This year our students are in their Junior Year and will serve more as a learner and tutor. During their Senior Year, they will serve in a Student Teaching capacity in a different school. The amount of time they spend here is considerably longer than is typical for this program, which allows them to truly master many critical skills as well as serve our students by having another educator in the classroom. This partnership is dependent upon teachers being willing to assume this mentor role. Major thanks to these colleagues and best wishes to their protégés!

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From left to right: Back: Meaghan Clayton, Patrick Brown, Jamie Meeker, Marilyn Feik Front: Joseph Edwards WELCOME, STUDENT TEACHERS With Mrs. Cooke: My name is Patrick Brown. I am from Denver Colorado and now a senior at the University of Northern Colorado. With Mrs. Brown: My name is Marilyn Feik and I am originally from Rocky Ford, Colorado. I am a senior at UNC with an elementary education major and a special education minor. With Mrs. Hanson: My name is Meaghan Clayton. I am a senior at the University of Northern Colorado. I will graduate in December of 2006 with a degree in Elementary Education and my concentration in Fine Arts. With Mrs. Martinez: My name is Jamie Meeker. I am from Sterling, Colorado and a senior at UNC. I am an Elementary Education major with a concentration in Ethnic/Gender studies. With Mrs. Shibles: My name is Joseph Edwards. I am a junior fulfilling the elementary education major at the University of Northern Colorado. I was raised in Englewood, Colorado where I completed my primary education in the Cherry Creek School district.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) SHEPARDSON BOUNDARY UPDATE

By Debbie Bostak
Shepardson Boundary Rep

The PSD Boundary Committee began meeting again in January to discuss potential boundary changes beginning in the 2007-2008 school year. Given that the Board of Education has decided to have the district investigate grade configuration changes (i.e. possible 9-12 grade high school and 6-8 middle school), the changes that the Boundary Committee is considering are only changes that absolutely MUST be made now due to major overcrowding and the building of new schools. Thus the changes to be made this year are limited to setting boundaries for the new elementary schools in Wellington and SE Fort Collins, addressing overcrowding at Zach, Timnath and Bacon Elementaries, and addressing overcrowding at Preston Junior High. Below, I will provide specific information only about changes affecting the Shepardson community.

PROCESS:

The process for any boundary changes is as follows: 1) the Boundary Committee, comprised of one representative from each school in the district, recommends potential changes 2) community input is gathered and 3) the Board of Education makes the final decision on boundary changes. Community input sessions for the proposed changes will be held March 21 through April 3.

UPDATE ON POTENTIAL CHANGES FROM LAST YEAR:

Last year, the Boundary Committee had considered 2 changes affecting the Shepardson community. The first change was to make the Village East neighborhood an O'Dea only attendance area; it is currently a joint Shepardson/O'Dea attendance area. This change may be on a list of potential changes for next year, but is NOT being considered at this time.

The second potential change affecting the Shepardson community that was on the table at the end of last year was feeding the Shepardson neighborhoods west of Timberline into Lesher Junior High; currently, these neighborhoods are in the Boltz attendance area. This change is NOT being considered this year.

CHANGES RECOMMENDED BY THIS YEAR'S COMMITTEE:

There are 2 major Jr. High changes that the Boundary Committee voted to recommend. The rationale for both changes is that Preston is overcrowded. The 2 changes being proposed are to feed the Linton attendance (207 students) area to Boltz instead of Preston. The second move is to move the neighborhoods west of College (98 students) that go to Boltz to Blevins, thus making room for the Linton students at Boltz. Based on projections, these 2 changes would result in a 93% utilization at Boltz. If both proposed changes are eventually approved by the Board of Education, the numbers at this point look good in terms of still being able to school of choice into Boltz in the future. Boltz will probably be more conservative this first year until they are assured that the numbers of real students are within their workable range.

CHANGES BEING CONSIDERED BY THIS YEAR'S COMMITTEE (not yet voted on by Committee):

1. A temporary change...Shepardson would take overflow from Timnath Elementary to ease crowding there until the new southeast elementary school is built. Based on demographic projections, this would significantly affect our student numbers only in the 2007-2008 school year, perhaps by as much as 80 students. When the new SE school is built, then these students will return to their neighborhood school. This process is also adjusted at the time based upon the real space that is available in the "overflow" schools and grades.
   
   
2. A permanent boundary change...This would designate a new neighborhood as a Shepardson attendance area. This neighborhood is bordered by Harmony on the north, Ziegler on the west, Rock Creek Drive on the south, and CR 7 on the East. The neighborhood is currently being developed. Based on currents projections, this neighborhood would add 51 students to Shepardson in 2007-2008, up to 77 students by 2010-2011.
   
   
   1. This proposed change is particularly positive for Shepardson given that a significant part of our ELL population that lives in the Linton attendance area will be going to Linton's new ELL program starting in 2007-08. This drop in numbers will then be counteracted by the increase from this new attendance area, keeping our numbers large enough to keep the staffing and services that we value.

Projections of school enrollment by school and neighborhood are prepared by a demographer contracted by PSD. Last year, projections for Shepardson enrollment predicted declining enrollment. This year's projections are actually predicting flat to slightly increasing enrollment for Shepardson's current attendance areas (not including any potential boundary changes such as the ones above).

NEXT STEPS:

The PSD Boundary Committee will meet on March 8 to finalize their recommendations. Please feel free to call or e-mail me with any feedback, questions, or concerns....207-0446 or bostak@verinet.com.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) HEROES AMONG US

Healthier Communities Coalition of Larimer County (HCC) is excited to be hosting the fifth annual Heroes Among Us celebration dinner, where we will recognize and honor adults in Larimer County identified by youth as being significant role models and mentors. This year we have expanded it to give youth throughout Larimer County the opportunity to nominate their "heroes." Our hope is to honor at least 150 of the truly caring adults in our community at this special recognition dinner.

Please encourage kids with whom you work to nominate an adult, other than their biological parent, who has meant a lot to them or is someone they would like to emulate. Nomination forms are available at the school or from HCC by calling (970) 495-7503 or on the HCC Web site: (www.healthylarimer.org/upcoming_events.html)

As this is an annual event, please let youth know that if they've nominated someone in the past, they cannot nominate the same person again, but they can nominate someone new. If the adult they nominate is chosen, they will be invited to the recognition dinner to be held on Wednesday, April 26, at The Ranch/Larimer County Fairgrounds.

Teachers! If you use the nomination as an assignment for a class, please ask your students to mail in the form on their own rather than collectively submitting the forms from your entire class. Experience has shown us that when we require young people to take the extra step of submitting the form themselves, we receive the nominations that are really sincere.

The deadline for receiving nominations is Friday, March 10, 2006. If you have several forms to submit by that date, a Heroes organizing committee member will pick them up at your location. Call HCC at (970) 495-7503 to arrange for pick up. Otherwise we ask that the forms be mailed to HCC, 1029 Luke Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524.

What better way to discover and recognize outstanding adult role models in the community than by asking the kids whose lives they impact? Thank you for your time.

Kim Sharpe, Coordinator
Healthier Communities Coalition of Larimer County

(Table of Contents)   (Top) CALENDAR REMINDER

Thursday, April 13 is a school day and classes will be held as normal. Please ignore any versions of the 2005-2006 PSD school calendar printed prior to the June 13, 2005, amended date which listed Thursday, April 13, 2006, as a school holiday. The correct version of the 2005-2006 calendar is posted on the PSD website at www.psdschools.org under the Quick Links pull-down menu.

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