April 23, 2012
Dear Bowen Parents/Guardians:
Once again, now that spring vacation has passed, it is time to begin work on placing students in classes for the upcoming year. It will take time, thought, and considerable energy to create well balanced groups of children who can work together educationally and socially. In order to accomplish this, we solicit input from many people. Continue reading
March 23, 2012
Dear Bowen Community,
I would like to share with you some personal news. Over the past week, my husband and I learned that the likelihood of me delivering a preterm baby has dramatically increased in spite of the preventive medical interventions that were started earlier in this pregnancy. I am being closely monitored by a team of doctors who believe that, at this point in the pregnancy, it is important for me to Continue reading
Dear Families,
Welcome back from February vacation. I hope you enjoyed the time with your family. We took advantage of the extra day in February to prepare for the Bowen March Madness, as March is a very busy month. Continue reading
MCAS Begin in March – Mark Your Calendar
MCAS assessments will begin March 20th. 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will participate in various MCAS assessments that include English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science. The best way you can help your child during this testing period is to be sure your child rests, eats healthy and arrives to school on time. Our staff will continue to work with students in the classroom and in small groups to prepare for MCAS.
Please be sure to mark your calendar!
| Reading* | ELA Long Comp.** | Math*** | Science*** | |
| 3rd Grade | March 29 & 30 | May 14 & 16 | ||
| 4th Grade | March 26 & 28 | March 20 | May 10 & 11 | |
| 5th Grade | March 22 & 23 | May 7 & 9 | May 17 & 18 |
Directions will be given at 8:45 and students will begin the test at 9:00.
Please note that school will be dismissed at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20 and at 12:30 on Wednesday, March 21 to accommodate the MCAS schedule
*Reading Make-Ups: completed by April 2
**ELA Long Comp Make-Up: March 27
***Math & Science Make-Ups: May 21
February 6, 2012
Dear Parents,
As always, your participation in classrooms, on field trips and with special events is much appreciated by our staff and students. Your generous gift of time is one of the most precious and special attributes of our school. As a reminder, please read the following guidelines for volunteering or chaperoning at Bowen School. Continue reading
Dear Parents,
Progress Reports will be sent home with students on Friday 2/3/2012. Please look for your child’s report in his/her backpack. The Progress Report Guide below includes tips and guidelines for understanding your child’s report. On the last page of your child’s Progress Report, you will find important information to read and save regarding the new ParentCONNECT portal which will be available to families in February.
As always, please call or email me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Diana
BowenElementary School
Progress Report Guide
Reporting Student Progress
The Newton Public Schools has published grade level benchmarks that are directly linked to the content and learning standards of each subject area developed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These benchmarks summarize the essential understandings as well as identify the most important principles, ideas and concepts for each subject area. The expected and desired knowledge, skills, and processes based on age, grade, and developmental level are also included in these benchmarks.
The Newton Public Schools has a process for reporting student progress and performance, including fall and winter conferences as well as winter and spring progress reports. The conferences provide parents and teachers the opportunity to discuss student progress and achievement. The progress reports provide detailed information about how a child is doing in relation to the grade-level standards for each subject area based on ongoing assessments including standardized tests, informal inventories, observations and student work.
The Newton Public Schools Progress Report is aligned withNewtonbenchmarks. It reports performance and effort in the following areas:
In addition, it includes:
How to Utilize the Progress Report Information
Read the Progress Report and look for patterns and trends. In what areas and subjects does your child thrive? What is challenging for your child?
Progress Report Levels
Level 4: Consistently Exceeds Standard
The student:
Level 3: Demonstrates targeted degree of proficiency at mid-year or end-of-year and is making satisfactory progress at this time
The student:
Level 2: Has made progress toward standard, but is not meeting expectations for this time of year
Level 1: Has made limited, inconsistent, or no progress toward standard
January 30, 2012
Dear Bowen Families,
The past two weeks have been challenging for our community as we try to process the recent news about a popular former second grade teacher at Underwood. Although we did not discuss the news events in school we understand that some children have information and are attempting to process it in a way that is meaningful to them. Continue reading
School Council, All-School Meeting & Football Friday
Today, January 19, 2012, School Council met and we also held our January All-School Meeting. I would like to share goals and highlights from both meetings:
School Council
Our meeting opened up with a brief discussion about the recent event at Underwood that has impacted theNewtoncommunity. We also began work on the School Improvement Plan 2011 – 2014. Our goal was to review the draft of the document and revise it to reflect system-wide goals as well as school-based goals to meet the needs of our learning community. This discussion will be continued at the next School Council meeting on February 16. All members of the Bowen community are welcome to attend and participate.
January All-School Meeting
At today’s All-School Meeting, we honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his work promoting peace, justice, hope, opportunity, respect and love. The 5th Grade December School Council led the meeting and shared the following announcements:
Football Friday
Tomorrow, January 20th, is Football Friday. Wear the colors of your favorite football team!
In September the following letter was sent home to all families. Some families have requested that this letter also be posted.
September 23, 2011
Dear Bowen Parents or Guardians,
This letter is supplementary to the attached letter from Newton Public Schools Superintendent David Fleishman. Please read Dr. Fleishman’s letter on Newton Public Schools’ website first about the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) results for the district. While Dr. Fleishman’s letter addresses information about the district, I would like to share information specifically about Bowen Elementary School.
At Bowen Elementary School, the preliminary MCAS results show that our school earned a “Very High” performance rating in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics tests this year. The overwhelming majority of our students achieved performance levels of proficient or advanced on both of these tests. However, we did not meet the improvement target range for the subgroup identified as Special Education. Based upon these results, this is the second consecutive year that we have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in English/Language Arts for this subgroup and received a status of “Improvement Year 1 – Subgroups.” The official MCAS results will be released later this week when you will receive your child’s individual scores.
We are disappointed that we missed achieving Adequate Yearly Progress for a group of our students in English Language Arts. Our faculty and staff have worked hard to raise the achievement of all students, and we will continue our efforts to implement effective and supportive interventions for students and provide professional development opportunities for teachers. Listed below are some of the improvement steps we took last year and will continue for the coming year:
We’re pleased that so many of our students are doing so well, but we will never be satisfied until all of our students are performing proficiently in all of their subjects. This is a large challenge, but I am confident that together we can achieve it. We look forward to working with you to help your child learn, grow, and prosper this upcoming school year.
Sincerely,
Diana Guzzi, Principal
No Child Left Behing Report Card
The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires states and school districts to give parents/guardians report cards on the district and schools. Included in the report cards are student achievement data, information about the professional qualifications of teachers, testing and accountability. The report card helps to ensure that parents/guardians have important information about the schools their children attend. Involving families as full partners in the education of their children is a cornerstone of NCLB. We encourage you to become involved. The district and individual school report cards are available here.
http://www3.newton.k12.ma.us/curriculum/newton-annual-nclb-reports . Please connect through this link to the report card for our school. A copy of the report card is also available in our school office.